Regime blockade takes toll on daily wage earners in Arakan State

By Admin 22 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
22 November 2023, Sittwe

Daily wage earners in Arakan State are facing hardships as businesses and construction sites have shut down due to escalating fighting since November 13.

The Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) are currently engaged in fierce fighting in northern Arakan State townships, with the junta’s indiscriminate artillery and airstrikes forcing many civilians to flee their homes.

Construction of roads, bridges and buildings has been halted, creating financial problems for daily wage earners.

A bricklayer in Sittwe’s Mingan Ward said: “I am jobless because of the current situation. We are only hired when people need our work. If this situation continues for long, odd-job workers will go hungry. Crimes can increase if people are starving.”

Without a source of income, some daily wage earners have been forced to sell their gold jewellery and other valuables. Daily wage earners such as bricklayers and porters previously earned around 15,000 kyats per day.

The junta’s blockade of roads and waterways is taking an even heavier toll on low-income families.

“Cargo trucks can’t travel because of the road blockade. People who make a living by loading and unloading cargo are having a hard time as a result,” said a porter from Hmohintaw Village in Taungup Township.

Hundreds of cargo trucks loaded with food supplies are stranded in Taungup, Ann, Gwa and Thandwe townships, resulting in food shortages in Arakan State.

Meanwhile, food prices are soaring in the domestic market.

“We have been forced to reduce our food consumption. Our income has been negatively affected by the fighting,” said one Kyauktaw resident.

Currently, an egg sells for 800 kyats, a litre of cooking oil costs around 7,000 kyats, a viss of onion 6,000 kyats and a sack of Paw Hsan Hmwe variety rice around 140,000 kyats in Arakan State.