Rice is being rationed in Myanmar’s trade hub on the Thai border, Myawaddy, after torrential rains damaged roads connecting it to Yangon, where most wholesalers buy their rice, residents of the town say.
Sections of the two roads used by trucks to deliver supplies from Yangon have been made impassable by constant rain since the beginning of the month. Wholesalers say sections of a new road, Htoe Kaw Koe, are damaged while the old road, which passes through the Dawna Mountains, is blocked by landslides.
“Trucks can’t drive on sections of the Htoe Kaw Koe Road section. Some trucks stuck on the road had to be pulled out by elephants and tractors. Trucks also can’t use the old road because of landslides,” a rice shop owner explained.
“Rice wholesalers in Myawaddy are running out of stock, so we need to sell by quota,” the shop owner added.
Rice prices have jumped in Myawaddy and some residents are now purchasing rice from Thailand, merchants said.
The price of Shwebo Pawhsan rice has increased from 180,000 kyats (US$ 40) per sack to more than 200,000 kyats per sack, while the price of lower-quality rice has jumped from 130,000 to 150,000 kyats per sack.
Traders in Yangon are the main suppliers of rice in Myawaddy. With supply routes blocked, nearly 30 rice wholesalers and many rice retailers shut on Tuesday.
Smaller vehicles carrying rice and other commodities managed to arrive in Myawaddy from Yangon on Wednesday and some shops subsequently reopened and resumed selling rice. They put quotas on the amount individual customers could by, however.
One rice shop owner explained that the small trucks arriving from Yangon carry a variety of commodities, not just rice. “So, the supply is low. We have to introduce quotas because families that can afford to are buying in bulk,” the merchant explained.
After the fighting in Kawkareik town in April rendered both the new and old Asian Highway roads inaccessible, cargo trucks were forced to use the two other routes connecting Yangon to the Thai border. Both are dirt roads that turn to mud after heavy rains.
The old Asian Highway re-opened to the public in late May, but it is narrow and torrential rains this month have caused landslides on it, truckers say.
One resident of Myawaddy said on Wednesday: “I went to a few rice shops on Tuesday, but I could buy nothing. I offered to pay 200,000 kyats for a sack of rice, but they said they had no rice to sell. So, we had to eat instant noodles instead.”
Migrant workers and low-income families, who comprise a sizable segment of the border town’s population, are going hungry, local volunteers say.
A volunteer at one charity said: “They have no money for the higher cost. A pack of instant noodles [now] costs 700 kyats and an egg costs 600. We urge families that can afford it to buy [food] from Thailand.”
