Narinjara News
Increasing exhortation by the authority in Arakan State
Akyab, Dec 13: After the purge of
General Khin Nyunt, the SPDC Prime Minister Soe Win,
SPDC Secretary (1) Thein Sein,
and Lieutenant General Shwe Mann promised that the junta’s first priority is to
get rid of corruption and abusive use of power by military personnel.
Contrary to the promise, there have been
an increase in incidents of exhortation by the local authority and
military personnel of the public through out
Checkpoints formerly controlled by the Military Intelligence
are now guarded by military personnel and police, and they are not just asking
for money from the smugglers, but also from the ordinary people.
“We were told that the soldiers are not to be bribed.
However, if we are to bribe them, we have to pay no less than what we used to
pay to the MI. So we have to pay 50,000 kyats for our boat,” says an Arakanese trader who used the sea smuggling route.
The local authority made up out of Army, Navy, and Police
demand 30,000 or 100,000 kyats for a smuggle boat.
In the southern Townships of Arakan,
namely Kyauk Phyu, Rambree, Taung Goat, the Township
Peace and Development Councils (TPDC) officials were making the people give
money for the furniture and equipment of the TPDC offices.
The Democratic Voice of Burma based in
DVB reports that the local people complain that this
exhortation was for U Myo Tint’s personal use.
Similar cases are reported from Ranmyo,
Meegaunghtoo, Moung
villages and
If the villagers failed to pay the first time, they will
have to pay double for the second demand from the officials.
Under Khin Nyunt, the Military Intelligence used similar
means of exhortation of money under the pretence of asking donations for many
of the official projects funding schools, roads, and clinics.
During the purge of the Military Intelligence, from the head
of Min Bya MI division Kyat 2 billion; from Maung
Phone, the head of Paut Taw, 50 million kyats and 100
kyats of gold; from Aung Zaeya, the head of Maung Daw
MI division, 30 million kyats and 47 kyats of gold; from Sergent
Soe Won, the head of Pone Nar
Kyan township, 75 acres of rice field, 50 millions
kyat and a rice mill. From those MI stationed in
“We can estimate the magnitude of the authoritarianism of
the Burmese junta over the Arakanese by looking at
the amount of money confiscated from the MI,” says a citizen of Akyab.
After the purge, instead of reduction of exhortation, the
people of Arakan are facing more hardship of
demanding money with no legitimate reason from the local authority. #
For further information, please contact Narinjara:
Phone: 880 189 42 55 36, 880 111 39 38 6 (Mobile)
E-mail: [email protected]
Full Narinjara archive in the
Online Burma/Myanmar Library at
http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/admin/index.php?cat=1250&lo=d&sl=