KARENNI STATE – Officials of the IDP support organisation said that there is an urgent need for tarpaulin in the refugee camps in the western part of Demoso Township.
He said that since the first week of September, owing to the continuous rains, the living conditions have become difficult because there is not enough tarpaulin in the refugee camps.
An official of an IDP support organisation said, “Before, the weather was clear so there weren’t many issues. It has been raining for the past few days and their tarpaulin are no longer good. They can’t sleep well at night and get sick due to the leaking of rain. The place where the rice and curry is cooked is also wet because of the rain, so it is difficult.”
He said that most of the men have to stay topless because the clothes were wet from the rain and not dried.
The tarpaulin used in the IDP camps are only durable for around six months and as the years passed, they began to rot and crack due to the weather.
However, since there are hardly any tarpaulin donors in the refugee camps, they have to continue using the old tarpaulin.
“The first and most important thing is food. Food is essential to live. But sleeping well is also needed. Good sleep means good health. Otherwise, people will get sick and die. As you know, the hospital and the clinic are not easy to access here,” said fhe official from the IDP support organisation who requested that the donors donate tarpaulin, wood, and bamboo for construction of the camp in addition to food.
The market price is 30,000 Myanmar Kyats per sheet of 15’x15′ tarpaulin, 40,000 Myanmar Kyats for a 18’x18′ sheet and 60,000 Myanmar Kyats for 24’x24′ sheet. It is said that 90 lakhs are needed for the existing 150 refugee camps in Demoso Township.
In the western part of Demoso Township, there are more than 200 refugee camps and more than 20,000 people live there.