Sittwe market hours reduced in bid to slow spread of Covid-19

By DMG 16 Jul 2021

DMG Newsroom
16 July 2021, Sittwe 

In response to spiking Covid-19 cases in Arakan State, the central market in the state capital Sittwe will temporarily be limiting hours to half days, according to the market’s management body. 

The township development committee and the management body have agreed that the market will only open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily for two weeks from July 19, pending for the approval of the Arakan State Development Committee. 

“The market is a crowded place and we intend to reduce gatherings by cutting its hours of operation,” said Ko Soe Naing, who is on the market management committee. 

U Than Tun, a member of the Arakan State-level State Administration Council, confirmed that Sittwe’s central market would be open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. as of Monday. 

Local civil society organisations have called on authorities to properly manage the entrance and exit of the market as it is expected to see larger crowds of buyers due to the new limited hours. 

“Measures should be taken to prevent overcrowded situations in the market, such as limiting the number of people present inside the market at one time. There must be a separate entrance and exit to do this,” said U Khaing Kaung San, director of the Wan Lark Development Foundation. 

As of July 16, Arakan State had recorded 1,151 cases of Covid-19 and 29 deaths attributed to the disease since the third wave of the pandemic began in late May.