Steel sent by cargo ship to construct a bridge is unusable said a Chin State government spokesperson. Experts from Japan inspected the cargo twice and on the second time found it wouldn’t hold the weight for the bridge that is planned on the Kalandan River in Chin State. “At first, Japanese experts thought the steel would be usable but after testing it in a laboratory we realize it was too damaged,” Soe Htet said. The Arakan Army (AA), an armed group fighting with the Myanmar Army, torched nearly 300 tonnes of steel on the cargo ship during its voyage from…
Author: Editor
Locals have been forced to carry food rations for Burma Army troops in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) reported on May 17. The Tatmadaw’s Infantry Battalion 77, based in Kha-maung-wa village in Paletwa, called up 31 people on May 15 to work as porters from Meezar village, including internally displaced people (IDPs) who have sought refuge in Meezar. “I had to work as a porter three times in April. All Meezar villagers were rotating to carry food rations for the Burma Army between May 9 and 15,” one IDP told Khonumthung News. “I didn’t want…
After blocking rice sales to Paletwa township, the Myanmar Army is allowing limited amounts to be transported from Rakhine State into southern Chin State under strict conditions. Merchants can carry up to 20 bags but only after they apply for permission from local authorities. “Ward administration authorities are issuing papers for transporting rice,” said a merchant. “We can’t carry many bags. We buy the rice in Kyauktaw township in Rakhine State and then sell it in Paletwa township, in Chin State.” Paletwa township depends on rice purchases from Rakhine State that are transported by boat. But the Tatmadaw blocked it…
The Import and Export Code (IEC) association of Mizoram, India, has blocked the import of Burmese products from Rihkhawdar, Chin State since May 15. The IEC has refused to allow products through the No. 2 Border Trading Camp, as well as through Zemabawk at the entrance to the Mizoram capital of Aizawl. On April 24, IEC representatives said in a press conference in Aizawl that many of the traders of Burmese goods did not have a trade license recognized by the Indian government, known as a “chalan.” Because of this, they didn’t pay tax, causing the government to lose revenue.…
The Burmese government is calling for new bids to build Chin State’s first cement factory, after the company that won the original tender was found to have unpaid debts to the Ministry of Mines. “The company got a contract for gold blocks from the mining ministry, but the company owed many gold tons to them. That’s why the company was rejected by the mining ministry even though the company won the tender for the cement factory in Chin State,” the state’s municipal minister U Soe Htet told Khonumthung News. U Soe Htet said that the factory is a joint venture…
Representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) met with members of the Chin State government in Hakha on Thursday to discuss the provision of humanitarian assistance for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Paletwa Township. Enrique Ochoa Fernandez-Lomana, ICRC’s deputy resident representative in Burma, and Saw Ler Pho, who is in charge of the ICRC’s Mandalay office attended the meeting in the state capital, to follow up on a recent IDP crisis following clashes between the Burma Army and the Arakan Army (AA). “ICRC has been providing humanitarian assistance to IDPs in Rakhine State. There are IDPs in…
Kalay is going to launch a system of checks on vehicles and drivers in an attempt to increase road safety starting on May 13. “Some people in Kalay are disciplined because they wear helmets and have rearview mirrors on their motorbikes,” traffic police officer Thant Zin told Khonumthung News, adding, “That is why we are going to launch security checks in Kalay, for better discipline.” Kalay district and township management committees will lead the campaign. Officials from different departments, as well as ward and village administration authorities, are expected to cooperate with the management committee for the safety campaign. The…
Indian ambassador to Burma Saurabh Kumar discussed creating opportunities for less restricted travel between Mizoram and Chin State in a recent meeting with the Chin State government, a spokesperson said. The meeting was held at the state hall in the Chin State capital of Hakha on Friday morning. According to the state’s municipal minister and spokesperson U Soe Htet, meeting participants explored the possibility of people from both Burma and India getting cross-border arrival visas lasting 14 days and which would be valid in both Mizoram in India and inb Chin State. “We mainly discussed how both nations could issue…
People in southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township say they do not have enough food since Burma Army troops from Infantry Battalion (IB) 289 have blocked the transport of rice from Rakhine State. According to locals, the approximately 15 shops in Paletwa town which deal in rice have closed because they have no product to sell. According to the Paletwa Township Social Volunteer Team, locals are now facing a shortage of their staple food. “IB-289 has blocked rice transport. Rice sellers have said that they are not allowed to bring rice [from Rakhine state],” the team’s U Kyaw Khin told Khonumthung…
Those incarcerated in the Mawlike-Kalay prison in Sagaing Region held a protest on Thursday because no one from their penitentiary was released in the mass Presidential pardons that ended this week. On Tuesday, more than 6,000 prisoners were released nationwide in Burma in the final round of pardons by the Burmese government which began with Thingyan, the Buddhist New Year festival. “It’s unfair because some prisoners are not released even though they are charged under the same acts [as others who got released],” Ko Kyaw Thet Win, chair of the Upper Chindwin Youth Network told Khonumthung News. Prisoners in Mawlike-Kalay…