As fighting continues in Nawnghkio Township in Shan State, displaced residents who are still unable to return to their homes are worried about sowing their crops in time, according to locals.
A displaced person from Nawnghkio said: “The fighting continues and the military junta troops are firing artillery every day. Now the planting season is just around the corner. We are worried that the prices of seeds, fertilizers and other materials will go up if the fighting leads to road closures. Above all, if we can’t plant in time, the yield will also be low and our income will suffer.”
In Nawnghkio Township on the border between Shan State and Mandalay Region, clashes between the military junta’s troops and the Mandalay- People’s Defense Force have been going on since the second week of April, following Thingyan. As a result, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who have been unable to return home are finding it difficult to cultivate their fields in time for the rainy season, according to locals.
Currently, a bag of corn seeds costs from 80,000 to upwards of 100,000 kyat, while a bag of low-grade fertilizer starts at 100,000 kyat, locals said.
In addition, Nawnghkio residents fear that the prices of corn seeds and fertilizer could rise even further if the fighting continues and the roads are blocked, and fuel prices for agricultural machinery could also increase.
“It’s already the rainy season. We need machines to till the fields, so we are worried about rising fuel prices. The displaced people are seeking refuge in schools and monasteries. We are also worried about our agriculture. The fighting is still going on, so it is not yet possible to return home. There is also a shortage of food and medicine in some areas,” said a displaced man from Nawnghkio Township.
At present, the IDPs in Nawnghkio are only receiving meager donations. The monasteries in the villages of Inn Waing, Chay Myit Pin, Bant Bwe, Kone Gyi, Kone Thar and Loi Tawng have hosted more than 1,000 people from Man Na, Si Son, Par Hat and Kyu Inn villages. More than 2,000 IDPs in Nawnghkio and Pyin Oo Lwin townships are unable to return to their homes, according to people helping the IDPs.
Similarly, junta troops stationed in Shwe Nyaung Pin and Ban Bwe villages in Nawnghkio Township have been firing artillery shells at Thone Se, Hsam Ma Hse and Kyu Inn villages every day. Also on the night of 10 May, two people, including a woman, were killed and four others seriously wounded by the junta’s shelling in Thone Se village, according to Nawnghkio residents.
Sent by Shan News.
