Arakan State News Summary (November 24-30, 2021)

By DMG 30 Nov 2021

24 November

• Out of 100 hotels, motels and guesthouses in Arakan State that closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 66 have been allowed to resume operations, the state’s Directorate of Hotels and Tourism (DoHT) said.
• Local residents and internally displaced people (IDPs) are seeking an immediate replacement for the lone doctor at Tin Nyo cottage hospital in Mrauk-U Township, who left the position more than a month ago.
• A scuffle broke out between municipal personnel and vendors at a Sittwe market as local authorities sought to evict the latter from the market’s no-vendor area.
• A K30,000 fine will be imposed on three-wheeled motorcycles and motorbikes entering and stopping at Myoma Market in Sittwe, according to the township development committee.
• Myanmar reportedly exported about US$1.2 million worth of goods to Bangladesh through the Maungdaw border trade centre from November 1-24. 

25 November

• More than 30,000 viss of palm oil that were bought with the aim of curbing palm oil market prices in Arakan State were reportedly being sold for K4,000 per viss.
• Amid rising agricultural costs and low paddy prices, farmers may struggle to repay their loans even though this year’s paddy yield looks to be above average, the Arakan Farmers’ Union has warned.
• The Arakan State-based writer Aung Kyi Moe (Thin Pone Tan) held the launch ceremony for his second book, entitled “A Biography of Successful People,” at the Mingalarpa Motel Hall in Sittwe.
• Fishermen in Arakan State said they are struggling to make ends meet due to rising prices for fishing gear.
• The planned construction of a Buddhist religious edifice, known as a dhammayon, on the Sittwe University campus was criticised by some students as an affront to the values of religious pluralism.
• A cycling campaign was launched in Sittwe on to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against
• Residents of Sin Gaung village in Thandwe Township were instructed to report overnight guest lists, according to local villagers. 

26 November

• Min Di Par, a young writer from Mrauk-U Township’s Panmaw village who was arrested in October on suspicion of financing the anti-regime People’s Defense Force (PDF) militia, appeared before the Mrauk-U District Court facing Counter-Terrorism Law charges.
• The Department of Immigration and Population issued National Registration Cards (NRCs) to 1,578 people under the Pan Khin project at U Ottama Hall in Sittwe, according to the state’s military council.
• The Small-Scale Industries Department will organise a basic training course on bamboo handicraft in Sittwe.
• The 47th anniversary of Arakan State Day will be observed in the Arakan State capital Sittwe on December 15, the state’s military government said.
• The Arakan People’s Authority reportedly indicated that some people involved in a brawl at the Eain Phyu Taw (White House) KTV in Sittwe, along with the owner of the KTV venue, are being investigated.
• The military council said final exams would be held next March for students attending school in the 2021-22 academic year. 

27 November

• Universities and colleges in Sittwe are reportedly expected to reopen in early December, with a plan arranged to provide Covid-19 vaccines for higher education students.
• U Hla Thein, a spokesman for the Arakan State Administration Council, said a letter was presented at the Union level to collect tolls at 10 roads and bridges in Arakan State.
• Four coronavirus patients had died in Arakan State during November as the month drew to a close, according to the state’s Covid-19 control committee, with the pandemic’s third wave in Myanmar receding even as global concerns grow about the new omicron variant.
• The Arakan State Administration Council spokesman said 36 people arrested on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA) would soon be released as a letter had been sent to the Central Committee for Counter Terrorism in the second week of November seeking to drop the charges against them. 

28 November

• The popular Arakan Thazin flower will face extinction within the next decade if it is not better protected, according to the Rakhine Coastal Region Conservation Association.
• The closure of waterways between Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, and Paletwa Township in Chin State has slowed the flow of goods and pushed up commodity prices in Paletwa, locals said.
• Covid-19 vaccines were administered to people between the ages of 18 and 45 at the Hnet Chaung Muslim IDP camp in Pauktaw Township.
• A robbery took place in front of Sittwe’s Myoma Market, with the perpetrators making off with more than K1 million in cash and a mobile phone.

29 November

• Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, Future Fund, is significantly invested in companies that do business with Myanmar’s military regime, the advocacy group Justice For Myanmar announced.
• Illicit drug use in the vicinity of the ancient pagodas, walls and temples of the Mrauk-U cultural zone and its Let Sel Kan ward is on the rise significantly, according to some locals in the Arakan State township.
• The price of gold in Myanmar has stabilised after it surged in the wake of the February 1 coup, gold shop owners said.
• Arakan State’s two border trader centres reported trade volume with Bangladesh totalling more than US$5.2 million over the 45 days from October 16 to November 29, according to the Arakan State Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
• The Myanmar navy seized a wooden boat carrying 228 Muslims in waters near Sittwe, state-run television reported.
• Ko Nyi Pu Lay, 25, from Ngapali town, who was in Yangon to see a doctor, and his friend Ko Pyone Maung Maung, 33, from Meiktila, were killed in Hlegu Township, Yangon Region.
• As of November 29, about 550,000 people aged 18 and over in Arakan State had received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. 

30 November

• Victims of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) during some two years of fighting between the military and Arakan Army (AA) are facing food, shelter and livelihood insecurities more than a year after the guns fell silent in Arakan State.
• Electric fencing is being erected in Kanbyin village, Rathedaung Township, to support livestock farmers there.
• Schools in Gwa Township that were closed due to Myanmar’s third wave of Covid-19 were reopened, according to the Gwa Township Education Department.
• Eight residents from Ale Chaung village in Ramree Township, including a police constable sued under the Counter-Terrorism Law, appeared before a local court.