TANINTHARYI DIVISION – The local residents in Kan Pauk region, Yebyu township, said that they are only allowed to transport rice with the recommendation letter of the local police station.
The locals mentioned that since mid-January, 2023, they have had to buy the recommendation letters at the local police station for five thousand MMK.
It was known that the junta council troops from Ma Hlwe Taung checkpoint would drag the rice from the vehicle if the driver didn’t have the recommendation letters.
A close acquaintance of the driver mentioned that “if the driver can’t show the recommendation letters at the checkpoint, he is not allowed to pass through the checkpoint. The driver had to show the recommendation letters from which house, and from which shop had asked for permission to transport how many bags of rice. The drivers also have to pay the money that the junta council troops extort.”
Moreover, it was known from the drivers that the junta council troops from Ma Hlwe Taung checkpoint had ever dragged the building materials away, and the junta council troops demanded at least five hundred thousand MMK in ransom.
In the Kan Pauk region, the rice shopkeepers and the consumers import rice from Yangon and Mawlamyine.
That trade route has been used since a long time ago, and the transportation charge is cheaper than the other route, said the locals.
It was known that the vehicles that transport rice from Dawei town are allowed to carry 10 bags of rice that contain 24 pyay (1pyay = 2.24 kilograms) without showing the recommendation letters.
“The navy and the administrative officers commit those things together. We don’t have much to say, as they have the right to do anything at the moment. This kind of restriction they will do later even if they don’t do it now,” a member of the People’s Defense Force mentioned.
Kan Pauk is a place where the junta council has banned motorcycle riding after an administrative officer and a member of Pyu Saw Htee were shot dead on January 4.
Moreover, the junta council was forced to register overnight houseguests if non-residents visited the area.
In the Tanintharyi division, the junta council strictly limits the right to transport rice in Dawei township and Palaw, besides the Kan Pauk region.
