Several villages along upper reaches of Laymyo River in need of assistance

By Admin 27 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
27 June 2023, Mrauk-U

Local people along the upper reaches of the Laymyo River in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township and Chin State’s Paletwa Township are reportedly in need of assistance to repair their damaged homes.

In addition to having poor mobile phone and internet access, local residents rely heavily on water routes due to transportation barriers, and relief items supplied by the junta and foreign nongovernmental organisations are not reaching the area.

“Several homes’ roofs in my village were destroyed by the cyclonic storm. We have repaired the damaged homes on a self-reliant basis. We cannot sleep well at night when it rains,” said U Ah Tu, an administrator of Kyargaung Village in Paletwa Township.

Out of about 100 homes in Kyargaung Village, more than 70 were completely destroyed by Cyclone Mocha, and the affected residents are in urgent need of shelter.

“We urgently need shelters. We have no money to buy shelters in Panmyaung or Mrauk-U. It takes about six hours to go to Mrauk-U by boat,” U Ah Tu said.

There are over 30 villages in the area including Phayargyi, Jatchaung, Cheitchaung, Panpaung, Saidin, Kyeechaung and Hsinke. Ethnic groups such as Arakanese, Mro, Khami and Chin live in the area, and nearly all of the villages suffered heavy losses during the storm.

Relief supplies have since been provided to some but not all villages.

“We have many difficulties buying commodities in the rainy season. Charities do not come to this area due to travel difficulties,” said Ko Lin Hein Tun, a local man from London Village in Paletwa Township.

“We urgently need shelters. We would like to ask the junta and relief groups to help us,” said Daw Nu Nu Sein, a local woman from Phayargyi Village.

Most homes in the villages along the upper reaches of the Laymyo River are built of timber and bamboo. An official from the Arakan CSO Network (ACN) said that many homes were damaged during the storm.

“We provided people from about 20 villages along the upper reaches of the Laymyo River with rice. Their homes were destroyed by the cyclonic storm. They are struggling to make ends meet amid scarcity of job opportunities and skyrocketing commodity prices,” the official added.

The ANC donated 200 sacks of rice to over 400 households across 12 villages in Mrauk-U and Paletwa townships on June 24.

As aid deliveries have not been sufficient to date, residents are asking other social organisations and international aid groups, as well as the junta, to do more to help storm victims.

The Arakan Army has said more than 1.5 million people were affected by Cyclone Mocha, which made landfall over Arakan State with destructive force on May 14.