CNI News
13 January 2024
The basic foodstuff which arrived in Sittwe, Rakhine State will be sold to the people at reasonable prices, said the Office of the Government of Rakhine State.
The MV MoonLight Ship which carried about 4,000 tons of a variety of goods including gasoline, palm oil, chilli, onion, basic foodstuff and medicines arrived in Sittwe 9th January with the arrangement of the Rakhine State government.
There are the territory controlled by the Tatmadaw and the territory controlled by the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine State. It was less likely that The basic foodstuff that has arrived in Sittwe would be sold to the people outside Sittwe City, Ko Zaw Tun, a resident of Mrauk U, told CNI News.
" It will be less likely that these basic foodstuffs will reach other towns except for Sittwe. In fact, if they want the people to be convenient, all the roads and waterways must be re-opened. They seem to want to show that the people only in the places that they have already controlled are convenient. The military council doesn't seem to want to give the foodstuff to other places." he said.
While the motorcycles are waiting in line to get the foodstuff and fuel that recently arrived in Rakhine State
Although CNI News asked U Hla Thein, spokesperson of the state government, how the basic foodstuff arrived on 9th January, he gave no answer.
However, Chief Minister of Rakhine State U Htain Lin said at a meeting held on 8th January that the goods would be directly delivered into the hands of consumers. Moreover, fuel would be systematically sold in order that it could be used for long to an extent, he added.
The Directorate of Road Transport was selling fuel with the quota system in Sittwe, Daw Khin Myo, a resident of Sittwe, told CNI News.
While seeing the Government of Rakhine State
" I heard that 92/95 gasoline will be sold two litre per week to licensed motorcycles and five litres per week to the three-wheel motorcycles. At present, I heard that so many people are waiting in line at the Directorate of Road Transport. If the products are distributed to the consumers without letting a lot of products arrive in the hands of traders, we may reach the normal situation, I think." she said.
The officials from the Rakhine State Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Rakhine State Oil Mill Entrepreneurs Association, the Rakhine State Fuel Entrepreneurs Association and the Sittwe Myoma Market Committee have discussed how to sell currently arrived products to consumers at lower prices and to import any more of products.
The battles have been breaking out between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) starting from 13th November 2023 and all the roads and waterways in Rakhine State have been closed by the SAC for about two months.
