Min Tun — The Arakan State government has been weak in implementing proposals approved by the state legislature, some lawmakers say.

The second Arakan State Hluttaw has approved 65 proposals but the government has implemented only 33 of them, according to the legislature’s deputy speaker, U Mya Than.

“For the cases that the government did implement, it is not satisfying. For example, it could not successfully carry out a minor case of regulating onshore and offshore fishing boats because fish and prawn resources along the Arakan coast are facing exhaustion,” U Mya Than said.

He added that the proposals approved by the state Hluttaw are for the development of Arakan State and for the benefit of its people.  

U Hla Thein Aung, a state hluttaw lawmaker from Minbya Township, offered even sharper criticism.

“We can say that there has been no proposal that the state government implemented seriously and effectively,” he said.  

Regarding a proposal urging the state government to undertake preparedness measures allowing for monsoon paddy cultivation to begin on time, the state government said it had already drafted such plans. But the proposal was not carried out in reality, said Myebon Township state lawmaker U Aung Win, who submitted the proposal.

“The government says it is working to implement approved proposals, but we do not see them carried out in practical terms,” said U Aung Win.

U Aung Win put forward his proposal in May 2020, and it was endorsed without objection.

U Aung Than Tin, a state parliamentarian from Ponnagyun Township, said: “The state government is weak to materialise its promise. For the proposal of developing the Ponnagyun Industrial Zone as quickly possible, it promised it would implement it within a year, but nothing has been done so far.