Action taken against 38 people in Arakan State for violating virus-related regulations

By DMG 11 Sep 2021

DMG Newsroom
11 September 2021, Sittwe 

Thirty-eight people — 35 from Sittwe and three from Gwa Township in Arakan State — have been arrested for failing to comply with coronavirus-related regulations amid the pandemic’s ongoing third wave, according to data compiled by DMG. 

Nineteen men and 13 women were detained for gathering at the Royal restaurant near Kandawgyi Block 4 in Sittwe’s Mingan ward on September 4, and are being prosecuted under Section 25/29 of the Natural Disaster Management Law, according to the Arakan State military council. 

Eight imbibers and liquor sellers were arrested on View Point Beach, along Sittwe’s Strand Road, and were released on a bail of K50,000 on August 15. The three liquor sellers have been charged under Section 37 of the Liquor Act at Sittwe No. 1 Police Station, according to the defendants.  

“Arrests and prosecutions are not to blame. You will be arrested if you do not follow the law,” said U Maung Thar Sein, a resident of Sittwe. “People will be arrested and prosecuted if they do something that is not allowed because it is banned. People will be arrested if they do not obey the authority of the one who has the power to govern the country.” 

Three people arrested on August 27 for violating a local order imposed in Gwa Township were sentenced to one month in prison under Section 188 of the Penal Code. The three are a resident of Ra Hine Kuto village in Gwa Township and two men from Ayeyarwady Region, who were staying in Gwa Township’s Daung Chaung village. 

U Khaing Kaung San, secretary of the Arakan Humanitarian Coordinating Team (AHCT), said that although the government should take action to control the Covid-19 pandemic, it needed to educate the public on what actions to take and to avoid. 

“The number of people infected with Covid-19 is quite high in Gwa Township. We need to follow the order issued by the government. We need to educate the people on what to do if they do not comply. The other thing is to get rid of undisciplined cases, big or small. Instead of imprisoning those who do not follow the rules for the first time, local authorities need to go to the first step in getting them to sign a confession and fining them,” he said. 

A stay-at-home order was imposed in Gwa Township on August 25 to control the spread of Covid-19. 

Random Covid-19 tests have been conducted in Sittwe, Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships to gauge the prevalence of coronavirus among people in Arakan State, according to the Arakan State Department of Public Health.

As of September 7, a total of 4,400 cases and 414 deaths were reported in Arakan State during the pandemic’s ongoing third wave, according to figures released by the state’s Department of Public Health.