Junta denies access to key bridge in Ponnagyun Twsp

By DMG 21 Jul 2022

DMG Newsroom
21 July 2022, Ponnagyun

Myanmar’s military regime has closed a bridge crucial for nearly 20 villages along Sammati Creek in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township, severely disrupting the daily lives of locals.

Villages along Sammati Creek mainly trade with Ponnagyun town, and many villagers are dependent on that commercial relationship for their livelihoods. But recently, the military’s Ponnagyun-based Battalion No. 550 installed a checkpoint at a bridge near Letwe Sar Tike village on the Ponnagyun-Rathedaung road and denied access via the bridge, creating inconveniences for residents.

“We have not been allowed to pass Letwe Sar Tike Bridge. Junta troops have been deployed there,” a community elder from Thae Phyu Chaung village said. “Villagers along the creek have to trade with Ponnagyun town for their livelihoods. As they don’t allow us to use the bridge, this has created problems for our livelihoods.”

There are more than 20 villages along the creek, home to a population of more than 10,000 ethnic Arakanese, Khami and Mro people.

The regime has blocked off the bridge for the past six days, and residents are not able to sell their vegetables and other goods to Ponnagyun town, said a resident of Kan-U village.

“Previously, we were allowed to use the bridge though they [Myanmar military soldiers] checked our citizenship ID cards and household registration certificates. We have difficulties now as we are not allowed to travel either by road or water,” he said. “What’s more, the economy is poor in our state. If possible, we want them to re-open the roads as soon as possible.”

Because rural residents both sell to and buy from merchants in Ponnagyun town, stocks of basic foodstuffs such as rice and oil are dwindling and prices have increased in the affected villages, said Daw Ma Mya Nu from Kyar Nyo Kan village.

“We can’t now travel to Ponnagyun to buy food or to see a doctor,” she told DMG.

The prominent Arakanese writer Wai Hun Aung said that since the bridge is vital to the livelihoods of many local residents, the Myanmar military must allow them to use the bridge. The military can either restrict the number of road users or ask them to bring proof of residency signed by their respective village administrators, he suggested.

“The main product of [villages along] Sammati Creek is betel nuts. They also produce mango and jengkol at this time, and they mainly sell those things to Ponnagyun. Now villagers can’t even go to the clinic,” he said.

DMG was unable to contact Arakan State Security and Border Affairs Minister Colonel Kyaw Thura for comment.

Military tensions are running high in Ponnagyun Township, with the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army both engaging in troop movements, and AA abductions of military personnel in recent weeks being countered with the arrest of several civilians by the junta.