Paletwa residents say military restricting transport of some commodities

By DMG 15 Feb 2022

DMG Newsroom
15 February 2022, Kyauktaw

The Myanmar military has restricted the transportation of four kinds of goods, including rice, on a state-owned vessel plying a water route between Kyauktaw in Arakan State and Chin State’s Paletwa, causing high local commodity prices and food shortages, residents say.

The military has barred locals from carrying basic necessities such as rice, cement, fuel and iron via a state-owned vessel. If merchants want to carry the goods, they must submit a letter seeking permission to the military regiment in the Paletwa area, along with a letter of recommendation from the ward administrator or the township development committee.

“The Myanmar military doesn’t allow the merchants to carry rice sacks on the state-run vessel,” a merchant in Paletwa, who did not want to be named, told DMG. “Each rice merchant is allowed to buy 50 bags of rice from Kyauktaw and the rice sacks are transported to Shwepyi village. People from Paletwa had to go to Shwepyi village to transport rice by boat.”

Some merchants are resorting to arranging for separate shipping by motorboat, but only with a letter of recommendation from the military, to carry rice for local consumption.

In addition, merchants are finding it more difficult because the military has granted such permissions for limited periods of time.

A local in Paletwa told DMG that the specified goods were not allowed to be loaded on the state-owned vessel and that prices were doubling in Paletwa as a result of the restrictions.

“At present, the price of a barrel of gasoline has risen to K350,000 in Kyauktaw and K450,000 in Paletwa. We want trade to return to normal. I want the Myanmar military to allow unrestricted loading of goods,” another merchant in Paletwa said.

Locals in Paletwa told DMG that rice traders have sometimes run out of rice due to restrictions on rice imports. They want the military council to allow them to ship on a vessel officially operated by the military council.

“I would like to urge the military to allow transporting rice, cooking oil, iron and cement because the state-owned vessel runs just twice a week. If the military does not allow these items to be carried, we will incur higher transportation charges,” the merchant added.

DMG contacted U Hla Thein, a spokesman for the Arakan State Administration Council, about restrictions on certain goods being transported on the state-run vessel, but he said he was unaware of the matter.

“I don’t know about that. What I know is two state-owned vessels currently operate twice a week. I don’t know who restricts transportation of rice, cement and fuel on the state-run vessels,” he added.

DMG contacted Arakan State Security and Border Affairs Minister Colonel Kyaw Thura about the military’s restrictions on transportation of certain goods, but he could not be reached.

The state-owned vessel Yay Nayar (1) began operating the water route between Kyauktaw and Paletwa on December 23 of last year, transporting passengers and goods.

Local people in Paletwa Township, Chin State, heavily rely on commodities shipped in from Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township.