The government is promising to build roads, schools and solar panels in a northern Rakhine State village recently racked by violence and murders.
A government delegation led by Union Minister of Border Affairs Lieutenant General Ye Aung toured Kaing Gyi Village, a small Buddhist hamlet in Maungdaw township, on August 14.
Earlier in the month, six Mro villagers – a small Buddhist ethnic minority – were found dead with machete and gunshot wounds. Another two villagers are reportedly missing. The State Counsellor’s Office pinned the attacks on a “terrorist” group, seemingly a reference to the Muslim insurgent group operating in northern Rakhine. In addition to the attack on Buddhist villagers, dozens of Muslim village heads and government informants have also gone missing, some later found dead and beheaded.
In response to appeals from the Rakhine nationalist party to enhance security in the region in the wake of the recent attacks, the Tatmadaw deployed 500 soldiers to northern Rakhine State around the Mayu Mountain Range last week. A curfew has also been imposed and people are not allowed to gather in groups of five or more.
The government delegates presented the relatives of the deceased and missing Kaing Gyi villagers with K600,000 each.
“The Minister of Border Affairs Lt Gen Ye Aung said he will upgrade the temporary primary school to a [permanent] primary school and add a middle school level in our Kaing Gyi Village, which has 48 houses and 296 people,” said U Sein Hla Maung.
The minister has also promised to build low-cost homes with solar panels and more roads, he added.
Rakhine State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu has instructed the village to provide food supplies to the families of the deceased Mro villagers for two months.
