Arakan State’s preeminent beach destination, Ngapali in Thandwe Township, saw a marked uptick in visitors this month after a quiet September blamed on the Covid-19 pandemic and a tourism industry that, much like the rest of Myanmar’s economy, has reeled since the February 1 coup.

A committee has been formed to assess the future reopening of Nandawun Park in Sittwe Township, a spokesperson for the Arakan State regime council told DMG. 

Despite the price of gold falling from record highs this week, the number of buyers remains low, according to industry insiders. 

The junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) has ordered the prosecution of voters who allegedly cast ballots more than once in Myanmar’s general election on November 8, 2020.  

Local residents say embankments must be built along the shores of the Laymyo River near Letma village in Minbya Township, Arakan State, where annual landslides destroy homes, farmland and livelihoods. 

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said Tuesday that only 4,065 political prisoners in Myanmar had been released as of October 25, despite the junta’s pledge earlier this month to release 5,636 people detained during anti-coup protests nationwide since its February putsch. 

Former residents of Tinma village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township had hoped to go back to the village this week to make preparations for their permanent return, but have had to put those plans on hold as township authorities withheld permission for them to do so. 

Educators are expressing concern about the prospect of fitting a full year’s curriculum into about four months of schooling as Myanmar gets ready to send its students back to the classroom after a months-long hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The vaccination of students over 12 years old in Arakan State is about 71% complete and public schools will reopen after all eligible students are vaccinated, according to the Arakan State Administration Council. 

Paddy yields in Arakan State will likely be lower this year because farmers have had to scale back their use of fertiliser as its price has soared alongside significant depreciation of the Myanmar kyat, according to the Arakan Farmers’ Union. 

Myanmar’s military regime has said it will provide Covid-19 vaccines to the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA), but there have been delays in delivering the vaccine.  

Three 15-year-old girls were reportedly arrested by the No. 1 Anti-Trafficking Police Force on October 24 along with two motorcycle taxi drivers for allegedly illegally entering Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, from a refugee camp in Bangladesh. 

The Sittwe border trade centre in Arakan State has exported about 300 tonnes of goods a day to Bangladesh in recent days, reviving its once bustling trans-borner commerce arrangement even as pandemic fears persist. 

A lawsuit has been filed against Ko Ye Naing Oo, a social affairs activist in Arakan State’s Thandwe Township, under Sections 50(a) and 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law. 

Travel from Sittwe to Yangon and from Sittwe to Mandalay has seen an increase in air passengers due to rising bus fares. 

The State Administration Council (SAC) has closed the cases of 61 people who were arrested for alleged affiliation with the Arakan Army (AA), but as of October 21 only 58 of them had been released from prisons. 

Domestic air travellers from Arakan State will be required to show documents indicating that they are free of Covid-19 beginning next week, in accordance with instructions from the Ministry of Health, said the state’s Public Health Department. 

We Love Rakhine, a nonprofit helping with health, social affairs and education in Arakan State, has donated 300 bicycles to students from Arakan State’s 17 townships who go to school on foot at distances of up to three miles. 

At least 110 political prisoners in Myanmar who were detained for opposing the military coup and freed earlier this month following a supposed amnesty were rearrested shortly after their release, according to figures compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).