Sagaing Township People’s Administration Body issued a statement dated 10 March, warning the organizations to stop the illegal money collection and asking for donations on major roads in Sagaing Township of Sagaing Region.
In its statement, the checkpoints on Sagaing-Shwebo road, Sagaing-Monywa road and district-to-district roads in Sagaing Township in Sagaing District of Sagaing Region, are to be closed not later than 16 March.
Regarding the situation about Shwebo and Sagaing road section, a driver said: “There are a lot of checkpoints. There is about one checkpoint per village. There are five to six military checkpoints.”
During the revolution, organizations from two sides have opened a lot of checkpoints on strategic roads to collect money. The people are facing difficulties and have to bear the brunt of rising commodity prices, local residents said.
“Merchants have raised commodity prices to cover the cost as they have to pay money at checkpoints. The people suffer the consequences of higher commodity prices.
Some local residents said it is difficult to take action.
In December 2022 and June 2023, Wetlet Township People’s Administration Body issued a similar statement. In practice, it is not in a position to effectively deal with the problem , according to local residents and ground information.
Sent by Say Kaung Kham (Shanni Voice)