The price of petrol has risen to 60,000 kyats per gallon in Falam Township, Chin State, after the road between Kalay and Falam was blocked.
Most people in Hpalan Township in Chin State rely on motorcycles to transport their agricultural produce and are now facing difficulties in their farming activities due to the increased price of petrol, residents said.
A resident of Varlon village near Kalay-Falam road said, “We always use motorcycles when we go to the farms, especially for transporting cauliflowers. But now we have to carry ourselves, about three miles to our houses. We have to walk. There is not enough gasoline to buy in the village”
The Kalay-Taingen-Falam highway, which connects Kalay in the Sagaing Region with Chin State, has been blocked by the Chin defense forces for about a week for security reasons. Essential supplies and fuel have not arrived for almost a week, residents say.
According to one farmer, farmers and traders from the Chin Hills are therefore facing further difficulties.
“We transport all our farm produce like cauliflower and potatoes from the farms to Kalay by car to sell them there. Now that the road is blocked, we can’t sell the crops. The crops have to be harvested in their own time, otherwise they will rot – like the cauliflower. We have now left the crop on the farms and only harvest them for pig feed,” said a coffee farmer.
Normally, people in northern Chin State transport their agricultural produce and products to Kalay for sale. Due to the current road blockade, they are unable to sell their farm produce and are facing financial difficulties, locals said.
Sent by KMG.
