Narinjara news
Kyat 200 million for
Burmese Junta-favoured Pagoda
Sittwe, 17 September 02: The Burmese junta
officials in the western state of Burma have ordered their officials to forcefully collect tolls for the renovation of a
controversial pagoda built by themselves at Sittwe,
the capital of Rakhine State in the western part of
the country, a renowned monk in the city told Narinjara.
On the rainy night of the 20th last month the upper terrace of the pagoda,
known as Lawkananda, developed three circular cracks,
a most unusual thing to happen to a pagoda.
At the various market places the Burmese junta have ever since erected a large
number of booths to collect money to renovate the Lawkananda
pagoda nicknamed by people as ‘Dukkha-nanda’ or ‘Suffering-nanda’
pagoda for the wide-scale use of forced labour to build this highly trumpeted
pagoda completed in 1998. Rakhine people
usually avoid the pagoda as they purely believe that the pagoda though a
Buddhist edifice was erected as a stroke of black magic to ‘prevent’ the
independence of
A well-known shrimp merchant from Sittwe told our
correspondent that, traders with reputation, owners of bus services,
wholesalers and business houses all over
But local business community have reasons to fear
that, the exact collection of tolls may not be known and it may exceed the kyat
200 million targets by many times.
At Ann, near Nasaka Tollgate #25, a Lawkananda “Donation Collection Committee” led by Ann
Township Peace and Development Council general secretary has been posted to
collect kyat 1,000 for each vehicle passing through the gate. Among the
‘Committee’ are Zaw Naing Oo Township Religious
Officer, Nyi Nyi Aung
Fisheries Officer, Tun Oo Customs Officer, and Tun Shin kyi a TPDC member, all of whom are Burmese officials
from Ann. Similar toll collection centres have
also been set up in hundreds of places in seventeen townships all over the
state.
Many devout Buddhist residents of Sittwe believe that
the development of circular cracks is an omen that cannot be neglected the SPDC junta is doomed to perish, the three
circular cracks indicate the inevitable fall of the trio of Burmese junta
leaders!
But for now, it is clear that the people of