Wednesday, 09 March 2011 01:11 Te Te
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Women members of the the National League for Democracy (NLD) are attending classes on how to counsel people addicted to gambling.
The move is designed to provide counseling services to roadside vendors who have received microfinance loans from the NLD, after it was learned they are spending large portions of their meagre income on the illegal two and three-digit lottery.
May Win Myint, who is in charge of the micro financing project, said Psychiatrist Dr. Khaing Khaing Mar is conducting the six-day training course for 10 NLD women from 10 townships in Rangoon Division.
‘The women vendors are using their money for kitchen expenses in these lotteries and on soccer gambling’, she said. ‘Even their children are using their pocket money for gambling.’
Gambling on the one-digit, two-digit and three-digit illegal lottery is unlawful in Burma, but it is rampant across the country and a lucrative business for local authorities, sources say.
The NLD started its micro finance loan project last month by lending 20,000 kyat (US$ 23) each to 50 roadside vendors at the Yarbye Market in Tamwe Township. The borrowers have to repay in installments of 700 kyat (US$ 80 cents) per day.
When NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited a memorial service for the late NLD MP Tin Maung Wi held on January 18, she learned about the gambling difficulties faced by local women in Bahan Township.
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Women members of the the National League for Democracy (NLD) are attending classes on how to counsel people addicted to gambling.
The move is designed to provide counseling services to roadside vendors who have received microfinance loans from the NLD, after it was learned they are spending large portions of their meagre income on the illegal two and three-digit lottery.
May Win Myint, who is in charge of the micro financing project, said Psychiatrist Dr. Khaing Khaing Mar is conducting the six-day training course for 10 NLD women from 10 townships in Rangoon Division.
‘The women vendors are using their money for kitchen expenses in these lotteries and on soccer gambling’, she said. ‘Even their children are using their pocket money for gambling.’
Gambling on the one-digit, two-digit and three-digit illegal lottery is unlawful in Burma, but it is rampant across the country and a lucrative business for local authorities, sources say.
The NLD started its micro finance loan project last month by lending 20,000 kyat (US$ 23) each to 50 roadside vendors at the Yarbye Market in Tamwe Township. The borrowers have to repay in installments of 700 kyat (US$ 80 cents) per day.
When NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited a memorial service for the late NLD MP Tin Maung Wi held on January 18, she learned about the gambling difficulties faced by local women in Bahan Township.
Subscribe to email feed
