Skyrocketing ferry fares take toll on Paletwa residents

By DMG 20 May 2022

DMG Newsroom
20 May 2022, Paletwa, Chin State 

Residents of Chin State’s Paletwa Township are facing severe economic and social hardships due to skyrocketing ferryboat fares when travelling from Paletwa to Kyauktaw in neighbouring Arakan State. 

Last year, the price of a ferryboat ride from Paletwa to Kyauktaw was K3,000 per person, but now has risen to K25,000, according to Paletwa residents. 

“Passengers in Paletwa, the grassroots and those who have to go for emergency medical treatment have a lot of problems with boat fares. If two people go to Kyauktaw for health reasons, they have to pay K100,000 [roundtrip] in ferryboat fares,” U Saw Hla, a grocery owner in Paletwa, told DMG. 

The increase in fares is being attributed to higher fuel prices, the need to seek permission from the Myanmar military to allow boats to travel, and an increase in the number of security checkpoints, Paletwa residents said. 

What’s more, passenger boats from Paletwa are only allowed to run to Shwepyi village, Kyauktaw Township, at a cost of K25,000 per person. A passenger travelling by car from Shwepyi village to Kyauktaw town typically pays an additional K5,000, meaning a total one-way cost of about K30,000 from Paletwa to Kyauktaw. 

As a result of high travel costs, commodity prices are skyrocketing in Paletwa, according to residents. 

“When commodity prices doubled, everyone was in trouble. If people [with health problems] could not afford to go to Kyauktaw, they had to be hospitalised in Paletwa. The skyrocketing commodity prices make local people’s lives in Paletwa difficult,” said a merchant from Paletwa. 

The state-owned vessel that plies the water route between Kyauktaw and Paletwa began providing the service in December 2021. At that time, the boat fare was K1,800 per passenger and K11,200 per tonne of goods. 

Many residents and retailers in Paletwa Township buy foodstuffs such as rice, cooking oil and iodised salt from suppliers in Kyauktaw.