The Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) will not attend the second meeting of the junta-reconstituted Union Election Commission (UEC) with registered political parties. 

Fourteen houses were destroyed and 69 people left homeless after a fire broke out in the southern ward of Kan Htaung Gyi village in Myebon Township at about 3 a.m. on Thursday, according to the Kan Htaung Gyi Fire Services Department. 

A young woman sheltering at the Gandhari camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, was raped on the morning of May 20, according to family members of the victim.

A missing man from Ranaungpyin village in northern Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, was found dead five days later, according to the village administrator.

A bridge built over a mangrove forest at Mya Padamyar Park near Ngapali Beach in Arakan State’s Thandwe Township is reportedly attracting many visitors.

A 20-year-old returning from Bangladesh tested positive for COVID-19 in the Arakan State capital Sittwe on May 18, according to the state’s Public Health Department, becoming the sixth case of its kind reported in recent days. 

About 33 new houses have been rebuilt at Kyet Uwa village in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, where some houses were engulfed by recent fire, according to villagers. 

The sustainability of some temples of the ancient Arakanese city of Mrauk-U is uncertain, said Daw Khin Than, chairperson of the Mrauk-U Cultural Heritage Conservation Association. 

Concerns have been raised by locals in Arakan State following reports of military weapons tests in the region. 

Promotion examinations are held annually but were not held in 2019 and 2020, according to educational staff.

The 5^th anniversary of Mro National Day was commemorated in Banbwi Mro village, Ponnagyun Township of Arakan State, on the morning of March 18, said U Zani Phyu, chair of the Mro Literature and Culture Association.

The Department of Archeology and National Museum in Sittwe is conducting a survey in an effort to preserve structures that are more than a century old in Arakan State, from private buildings and monasteries to Christian churches, Hindu temples and mosques.

Arakan National Day will not be commemorated due to the current political situation, regional instability, the coronavirus pandemic and financial difficulties, said U Soe Naing, secretary of the event organising committee in Sittwe Township.

A total of 171 teachers at basic education schools in Arakan State have been temporarily suspended from their duties, according to the head of the Arakan State Education Department, as Myanmar’s education system continues to be an arena for post-coup fallout.

The new Rar Maung Bridge in Minbya Township, Arakan State, will open to traffic by the end of this month, according to an official from the Road and Bridge Group (7), which is responsible for the bridge’s construction. 

The Rammarwadi traditional rowing competition, which was suspended for three years, will be held again in Arakan State’s Ramree Township this year, the central organising committee told DMG.

Arakan State News Summary (May 8-14, 2021)

Ethnic Kaman residents from Thet Kay Pyin Ywama village in Sittwe Township are using fuel made from cow dung due to the scarcity of conventional fuels in their village.

Four families in Arakan State are demanding that authorities pay compensation after the Manaung Township Administration Council told them to leave their houses near Thamebala village by the end of May.