Rice traders are expressing their concerns over theincreasing challenges posed by the tightening restrictions on rice shipments inRakhine State by the Military Council.

 

In the past, transporting rice in Rakhine State didn'tnecessitate an official certificate. However, the current scenario demands suchdocumentation; without it, traders could potentially encounter threats andextortion from authorities.

 

On August 11th, at the Kyauk Ta Lone checkpoint whileentering Kyaukphyu, a group of soldiers and police halted three rice-ladentrucks en route from Toungup to Kyaukphyu for inspection. Following theinspection, six bags of rice were taken from the trucks before they wereallowed to proceed, according to a rice trader.

 

"They threatened us by asking how long we wanted tostay locked up. We were really frightened. Around ten of us, who were ricetraders and truck drivers, were called over. They made us pay two bags of ricefor each truck; otherwise, we'd be held for three or four nights. That's why weended up giving them six bags of rice”, a trader witnessing the extortion toldNarinjara.

 

"Back then, we didn't have to show a certificate whenmoving rice from Toungup to Kyaukphyu. We could even take rice out of RakhineState. But now, they're warning us that we'll get arrested if we don't have thecertificate”, another rice trader who did not want to be named said.

 

In Rakhine State, the combination of conflict and storms hasled to the destruction of farmlands, resulting in a significant increase inrice prices. This unfortunate situation is further compounded by the burden ofextortionate inspections, which are only adding to the challenges faced by thelocal population, a rice trader also criticized.

 

"We, local rice traders, can't afford to trade largequantities of rice. About 10 of us pooled together, each with 10 bags of rice.Even though we didn't have much rice, they demanded certificates. Adding 35000kyats for trading between Toungup and Kyaukphyu just doesn't work for smalltraders like us. This will only make rice prices go up. In times of people'shardship, such actions shouldn't happen”, he said.

 

The rice traders mentioned that they typically had to pay30000 kyats to the township administrative officer and an additional 5000 kyatsto the ward administrative officer in order to obtain a certificate letter.

 

"Some rice traders usually come to the office to getthe certificate. Others, if they don't have a certificate while carrying rice,get stopped on the road and face problems. But we never demanded rice from thetraders”, U Myo Min Tun, the administrative officer of Kyaukphyu Township,provided a response when asked by Narinjara.

 

This year, Cyclone Mocha resulted in saline water enteringagricultural lands in many townships across Rakhine State, leading to thedestruction of vast acres of rice fields.

 

Because rice seeds were destroyed, a lot of farmers couldn'tplant their crops, causing rice prices in Rakhine State to be higher comparedto previous years.

 

In spite of the challenges brought by Cyclone Mocha, over70,000 acres of farmland were diligently cultivated in Kyauktaw, Minbya, andMrauk-U Townships. Unfortunately, these efforts were marred by heavy rains inearly August, leading to further damage, as reported by the United League ofArakan (ULA) on August 14th.