Myanmar’s junta-led Hotels and Tourism Ministry has issued a list of top tourist destinations for the coming tourist season and Mrauk-U is not on the list, befuddling local advocates of the ancient Arakanese city.

As military conflict in the region is decreasing for the moment, some townships in northern Arakan State, such as Rathedaung, Buthidaung, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U, are cultivating crops on abandoned farmlands.

Local residents in Arakan State’s Ramree Township are struggling to apply for citizenship registration cards as the head of the township immigration department has been travelling since February.

A notice from the township General Administration Department, issued on August 21, calls on departments to make sure there is no construction or expansion of religious buildings in wards and villages in Paletwa Township without permission.

Nearly a week after a female junior assistant teacher from Kyunpaw Pauktaw Village in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township was murdered, the perpetrator has not yet been identified, according to local residents.

Among the Muslims who fled to Bangladesh from Maungdaw District in Arakan State in 2017, dozens have been arrested after crossing the border back into Myanmar illegally, according to junta-affiliated media.

Tobacco can be easily bought and sold at shops and betel quid vendors near schools in some townships, according to residents. 

Women at displacement camps and in some rural villages have turned to a traditional method of using cloth rags for their periods to save money and also due to an increase in the price of sanitary pads.

The Arakan State Election Commission said political parties in Arakan State approved for registration have members that do not meet the requirements.

The Myanmar Rice Federation has fixed the maximum buying price for rice at 2 million kyats per 100 baskets of paddy for the monsoon paddy harvest.

The junta-controlled Central Bank of Myanmar said in a statement that it had revoked the licences of 123 foreign exchange companies.

Local coasters have been given access to the India-funded Sittwe Port in the Arakan State capital Sittwe since September 20, according to the Rakhine State Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RSCCI).

A plan to buy tonnes of dry tamarind leaves produced in Myanmar and export them to Thailand has been shelved due to protests from environmental conservation groups.

Seven people arrested on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA) during renewed conflict in Arakan State have been sentenced to prison in recent days.

Colonial-era lighthouses in Sittwe, Rathedaung, Maungdaw, Manaung, Thandwe and Kyaukphyu townships in Arakan State are reportedly in urgent need of repair.

A mobile phone shop owner in Manaung, Arakan State, has reportedly been charged with incitement under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code.

In Yaypawgyi village in Kyokyer village-tract in Arakan State’s Taungup Township, an old building that served as living quarters for road workers is being used as a school for children of the village, and locals are calling for construction of a new building.

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) have reported a decline in market share, with concerns about inferior quality prevalent.

Industrial, agricultural and livestock production courses will be offered next year in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu, Taungup and Mrauk-U towns for people who have completed Grade 9, according to the Arakan State Education Office.