Surge in resigning village chiefs impacts local residents in Arakan State

12 Jul 2019

Thet Naing | DMG

12 July, Sittwe

Because of the Tatmadaw’s interrogations in villages during the fighting in northern Arakan State, the resignations of village administrators have increased because of safety issues.

Since there is a lack of village administrators, there have been several set-backs with the rule of law and the regional development process for villages, said a local resident from Saba Seik village in Kyauktaw Township.

“We might face challenges to settle our private problems and regional affairs when we don’t have village administrators,” said U Aung Thar, the local resident from Saba Seik village.

A farmer from Pyaung Seik village in Kyauktaw Township said that farmers from the villages where the village chief resigned could not get bank loans for agriculture work because they cannot show the recommendation letters from their village administrator.

“We are very frustrated because we cannot get bank loans for agricultural work. We repaid our previous loans and we need some money to invest in our agricultural business, to buy fertilizer and to pay wages for farm workers. So, we are facing big trouble now,” said U Aung Kyaw Myat, the farmer from Pyaung Seik village.

Hundreds of village administrators resigned from their duty because they are worried for their security when some village administrators from war torn townships were arrested by the Tatmadaw for questioning and had pressure put on them. They also demanded to release detained village chiefs and to ensure their security if they need to serve their duty again.

The resignation of ward/village administrators could lead to a disruption of the administrative process, said U Maung Maung, Arakan State MP for Kyauktaw Township.

“Local residents face difficulty to apply for jobs or ID cards when there is no village or ward chief to handle these affairs. These are small cases, but the big impact is that farmers cannot get agricultural loans,” he said.

The number of village administrators who submitted resignation letters in Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw and Rathedaung Townships in northern Arakan State has now reached nearly 200.