Arakanese farmers yet to repay nearly K600 million in govt-funded loans

By DMG 04 Dec 2021

DMG Newsroom
4 December 2021, Sittwe

A total of K597 million ($334,645) in loans have not been repaid in the eight years since the Emerald Green Project was launched for rural populations in 2014-15, according to the state’s Department of Rural Development (DRD).

By 2021, up to 840 villages Arakan State’s 17 townships had received loans under the Emerald Green Project, and more than K1.1 billion in loans have been disbursed to rural people, said U Tin Maung, deputy director of the state’s DRD.

Employees from the DRD were conducting field inspections in villages where people could not repay their loans and were urging them to repay their loans, he said.

“We mobilise people who have not repaid their loans as much as possible. We haven’t taken action against the people who could not repay their debts,” he added.

Villages in Buthidaung, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun, Minbya and Rathedaung townships are among those whose residents could not repay their loans.

Some two years of fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State from 2018-2020 forced many villagers to flee their villages, leaving them unable to repay their loans, according to the state’s DRD.

“There were frequent clashes in the village, so I had to run and leave all my belongings behind. Now we have a penny to repay our debts. Our business has collapsed and it is difficult to repay the loans,” said a local woman from Okphokan village in Mrauk-U Township, who received loans under the Emerald Green Project.

According to the Emerald Green Project, if a person borrows K10,000, he or she has to repay K100 a month in interest every four months.

“Since the interest is being used for rural development, village development projects can only be implemented if the loan is repaid,” said U Tin Maung.

“When the loan is not repaid, the problem is that we cannot operate with cash. Village development is not possible due to lack of funds. Only villages that do not repay loans are affected by [delayed] development projects,” he said.

According to the Department of Rural Development, 50% of the interest from the Emerald Green Project will be used for village development.