After a junta police inspector was found to be extorting traders and forcing them to make substantial payments to his personal account, the import of goods into Ann Township in Rakhine State has been banned for a month.
The junta’s Ann Township Administrator banned traders from importing goods into Ann Township for the month of July. According to a member of staff from the Ann Township General Administration Office the decision came after Mizzima published a story about the extortion.
According to the 30 June Mizzima report, Inspector Zarni Tun of Ann Police Station extorted people whilst he was working at the Pepadon checkpoint on the Minbu to Ann road, a crucial trade route for transporting goods such as rice, cooking oil, sweet powder, cashew nuts, tobacco leaves, and tobacco from Minbu township in Magway Region to Ann township in Rakhine State.
Traders told Mizzima that when Inspector Zarni Tun was on duty at the Pepadon checkpoint he forced drivers and traders to make substantial payments to his personal KBZ account using KBZ’s online payment system, KPay.
The traders said that Inspector Zarni Tun was taking the personal payments without informing his superiors. But, senior officials allegedly ignored what he was doing because he was being protected by the district administrator and the Ann Township Police Superintendent.
The controversy intensified on 1 July, when the Ann Township Administrator, U Soe Min Htet, held a meeting with traders at 1:00 pm, compelling them to sign statements refuting the reports about Inspector Zarni Tun’s extortion.
A source from Ann Township General Administration Office confirmed that Inspector Zarni Tun was taking payments. They said: “They [Inspector Zarni Tun and the Ann Township Administrator, U Soe Min Htet] have asked for money via KPay. You can check whether this is true by looking at their phone and KPay account records. The other day after this was reported by Mizzima they [Inspector Zarni Tun and U Soe Min Htet] said that they did not get paid via KPay, as reported by the news agency [Mizzima]. They then asked the traders to sign a document saying that the news agency report was false, which they were going to give to more senior officials. Then the administrator said the importation of food and consumer goods would be stopped for a month.”
Despite these attempts to cover up the extortion, on 2 July 2024 Inspector Zarni Tun was removed from his position and Sub-inspector Soe Paing took his job.
During July’s ban on importing goods into Ann Township the General Administration Office will oversee the import of essential commodities such as rice, oil, salt, pepper, and onions from Minbu to Ann Township. These items will be distributed and sold to households by the Township Administrator and Ward Administrators. People wanting to buy goods will have to queue up at the Administration Offices.
Residents of Ann Township worry that this system may lead to inflated prices and limited availability as U Soe Min Htet and other administrators divert supplies for their own enrichment.
A source close to the police force in Ann reported that U Soe Min Htet is profiting from the redistribution of foodstuffs, further exacerbating the situation for local residents. Skimming in this way means that U Soe Min Htet will quickly recoup any income he loses as a result of Inspector Zarni Tun being removed from his position.
A resident explained: “They distribute only half of the items listed and sell the rest to traders close to them. The administrator has amassed more power. For instance, if there are 150 bags of rice, they’ll report to higher authorities that there are 100 bags, secretly diverting the extra 50 bags to favoured traders. When people go and buy them at local offices, they find food products are underweight. As a result, they’re forced to pay triple the price at external stores. I’ve personally witnessed this.”
Due to the difficulty of getting goods to Ann Township, commodity prices in shops are very high. For instance, in Minbu Township onions cost 2,500 kyats a viss (approximately 1.63kg) whilst in Ann Township onions cost 6,000 kyats a viss.
