Govt employees don’t receive November salaries in Ponnagyun Twsp

By DMG 30 Nov 2022

DMG Newsroom
30 November 2022, Ponnagyun

Government employees in Ponnagyun Township did not receive their November salaries on Wednesday, November 30, as the regime continues to blockade the Sittwe-Ponnagyun road despite the recent ceasefire agreement.

The Myanmar military regime has blocked off the road since the first week of November. And state-owned banks in Ponnagyun are reportedly short of cash to disburse for salaries to government employees.

One high school teacher said she was told by the school clerk that salaries had not yet arrived. “The clerk told me that the bank doesn’t have enough money. In high schools, it is the clerks that withdraw salaries from the bank for teachers and other staff. I heard from them,” the teacher told DMG.

Government employees in other townships in Arakan State have, however, received their salaries. A government employee from Ponnagyun said she wants her salary delivered in a timely manner because of high food prices.

“Many government employees like us are solely dependent on salaries. We will go hungry if we don’t get salaries,” she said.

DMG was unable to contact the Ponnagyun Township General Administration Department to ask for more details. DMG’s calls to Arakan State security and border affairs minister Colonel Kyaw Thura went unanswered.

The Myanmar military has reopened several waterways since the ceasefire on Saturday, but many roads remain blocked off. The Sittwe-Ponnagyun road, Minbya-Myebon road, and Agnumaw-Maungdaw road remain closed, according to locals.