Arakan State military government arranges to resume Sittwe border trade 

By DMG 06 Sep 2021

DMG Newsroom
6 September 2021, Sittwe 

The Arakan State military council has arranged to reopen the border trade centre in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State. 

“People relevant to the border trade have asked about the Shwe Min Gan border trade centre. I’d like to answer that the state government is arranging to reopen the border trade centre soon,” U Hla Thein, spokesperson for the Arakan State military council, on his social network page. 

He did not say exactly when the border trade centre would be reopened. 

Official activity at the Sittwe border trade centre has been suspended since July 15 at the instruction of the state military council as part of efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19. 

The temporary shuttering of the border trade centre resulted in livelihood difficulties for hundreds of workers dependent on the border trade. 

“We are relying on this border trade centre for our livelihoods. As it is not operating, we’ve become jobless and it’s affect our livelihoods,” said Ko Soe Myint Aung, a worker who loads goods on and off vessels at the border trade centre in Sittwe. 

About 900 workers involved in the Maungdaw border trade centre are also facing livelihood difficulties during the time the border trade centre there has been closed as part of Covid-19 mitigation efforts. 

Covid-19 infections were detected among people returning home after trading in Bangladesh on May 12, presaging a third wave of the virus that was to come over the coming weeks and months in Arakan State and countrywide. 

The state military council had initially planned to suspend operations at the border trade centres for two weeks, but it has not as yet resumed trading because infection and death rates have remained elevated. 

The number of Covid-19 cases during the ongoing third wave had reached 4,384 and the death toll rose to 408 as of September 5, according to the Arakan State Department of Public Health.