Travelers and truck drivers are reportedly facing difficulties as vehiclesare blocked at the Nyaungkharshey X-ray checkpoint on the Yangon-Mawlamyine road near Sittaung Bridge in Waw Township, Bago Region.
According to truck drivers, the blockade at the Nyaungkharshey X-ray checkpoint has caused trucks, ambulances, private cars, passenger busses and hundreds of other vehicles to queue up and be delayed for long periods of time.
“The blockade has been going on for four days now. Trucks have to wait all day. It is mainly trucks that are checked. When the trucks are allowed through, it only takes an hour for them to get through. Now everything is blocked. Each truck takes about five minutes to get through. Too many vehicles have to queue now because they have controlled traffic. Those coming from Waw are let through without delay, but those coming up from the other side are blocked here,” said a truck driver traveling between Yangon and Mawlamyine.
Travelers and truck drivers reported that since 7 November, the military council has tightened security checks at the Nyaungkharshey X-Ray checkpoint, inspecting both trucks and private vehicles, causing traffic delays.
A member of a social relief group in Ye said, “It’s not that they won’t let us through. They just ask us where we are going. They don’t ask us to open our bags for inspection. But we can’t get through because the traffic is blocked. Ambulances can’t get through either, they have to wait. They mainly check trucks”
Due to the long traffic blockade at the Nyaungkharshey checkpoint, fuel supply in Mon State has been disrupted, leading to fuel shortages in the state, according to petrol station owners and consumers.
Furthermore, truck drivers have reported that the extended delays at the Nyaungkharshey X-ray checkpoint have resulted in the spoilage of foodstuffs destined for transport to Yangon, Mandalay, and other locations.
Sent by IMNA.
