Arakan State forced to import potatoes in wake of flooding

Wednesday, 21 July 2010 18:50 Salai Han Thar San

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Flood affected areas of Arakan State in western Burma have been forced to import approximately 9,200 viss (about 14,000 kg) of potatoes from Bangladesh since July 14, according to local traders.

Eight townships in northern Arakan State struck by devastating floods in June had since been cut off from other parts of Burma, forcing them to seek sustenance via alternative routes.

“Two Bangladesh companies are known to be exporting potatoes to Arakan State, especially to Buthidaung and Maungdaw, which are flood affected areas. After the devastating floods, the region had run short of food and basic commodity prices rose sharply in the region,” Khine Myat Kyaw, chief editor of the Bangladesh-based Narinjara News Agency, told Mizzima.

Bangladesh export companies Jafor and Abdur Rahman have each reportedly exported nine and five metric tons, respectively, of potatoes to Arakan State.

Owing to poor communication links within the region and high prices, other part of Burma were unable to fulfill the demand for potatoes in Arakan State.

A potato trader from Sittwe’s Myoma Market, in the capital city of Arakan State, said, “We did not buy potatoes from Rangoon and Shan State because of the high prices. So, Bangladesh consigned potatoes to Arakan State. Their sizes [of potatoes] are big, so buyers like it.”

The current price of potatoes in Sittwe is 800 kyats (about U.S. 80 cents) for small potatoes and 900 kyats for large ones.

Potatoes are cultivated in Shan, Chin, and Kachin States and Magway and Mandalay Divisions in Burma.

“It takes about three days to transport potatoes through the inner river route. And we cannot use the land route because most of the roads and bridges are destroyed. But, Bangladesh can consign the goods within a day,” added Khine Myat Kyaw.

The Bangladesh-Burma border trading center, inaugurated in September of 1995, has eased the import of such commodities as cement, chemical fertilizer and now potatoes from Bangladesh.

Burma, in return, exports plum jam, beans, rice, bamboo, timber and fishery products to Bangladesh.

Burma’s state-run newspaper said landslides and devastating floods in Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Yathaydaung, Minpya, Sittwe, Ponna Kyun, Kyauktaw and Mrauk Oo Townships in Arakan State killed 63 from June 14 to 17, with the UN tallying another 77,000 displaced persons.