Recent violence in Minbya prompts rerouting of trade

By Khin Tharaphy Oo 28 Apr 2020

Khin Tharaphy Oo | DMG

28 April, Sittwe

Commodities destined for Sittwe will be sent via a new shipping route as trucks transporting goods have been unable to reach the Arakan State capital since the end of the Thingyan holiday due to hostilities in neighbouring Minbya Township, according to the Rakhine State Chambers of Commerce and Industry. 

The Arakan State government and the RSCCI met on April 27 and made the decision in an effort to prevent a disruption of trade flows and consequently higher commodity prices, said RSCCI chairperson U Tin Aung Oo. 

Under the new plan, commodities will be shipped from Yangon to Kyaukphyu via motorway and transported onward to Sittwe by four watercrafts, he said. 

“Trucks and fuel trucks that departed from Yangon had to stop on the way to Sittwe since the end of the Thingyan holiday,” U Tin Aung Oo told DMG. 

Already shortages of certain foodstuffs have been reported at Sittwe markets and the price of petrol has increased at some fuel depots, traders said. 

Hostilities in recent weeks in Minbya Township have ranged from airstrikes and attacks on civilians including a World Health Organization vehicle to clashes between the military and the Arakan Army that have emptied villages of their inhabitants.