Locals call for reopening Ponnagyun road, Arakan minister says landmine risks remain

By Kyaw Thu Htay 05 Jan 2021

Kyaw Thu Htay | DMG
5 January 2021, Sittwe

Residents in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township have called on the military to reopen the Ponnagyun-Rathedaung road, nine months into a Tatmadaw blockade of the road that was instituted citing security reasons.

Locals in urgent need of healthcare have died unnecessarily because of the Tatmadaw blockade, said residents.

More than 50,000 people from 64 village-tracts in Ponnagyun Township previously relied on the Poe Shwe Pyin station hospital for their health needs. However, since the Tatmadaw has blocked the road there are no longer medics at the station hospital, forcing locals to travel to urban Ponnagyun via waterways to receive medical care.

It can take as long as five hours by boat, and emergency cases have ended up with deaths on the way to the hospital, said Ko Aung Kyaw of a local social organisation.

“When there was a doctor at the station hospital, there were fewer unnecessary deaths. But now without a medic and the road being blocked, there have been unnecessary deaths as patients could not make it to the hospital in time,” he said.

Lower House lawmaker Daw Khin Saw Wai, who represents Rathedaung Township, said she asked the Arakan State security and border affairs minister in the last week of November to reopen the road.

“The security and border affairs minister replied that the road can’t be opened for the time being due to the risks of landmines. We lawmakers will ask again depending on the military situation in the area,” said the MP.

Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Major Min Thant said the military has blocked the road due to landmine concerns as the Tatamdaw and Arakan Army (AA) clashed there in the past.

“As the two sides had fought there, there could be mines. So, we don’t want to open it to the public for fear that they might be harmed. We have not officially signed a ceasefire. If there are emergency cases, we allow the people to use the road at their request,” he said.

Hostilities between the Tatmadaw and the AA have ceased since Myanmar’s November 8 general election.