On the morning of January 10, military forces removed temporary street shops from the Mawlamyine-Hpa-An bridge road descent, the industrial zone and residential area.  

These temporary street shops are also  known as ‘invasion shops’ and there are more than 100 such shops along the industrial zone and residential streets.

According to an official from the Nyaung Bin Seik Ward, a warning letter had been sent to the occupants of these shops dating back to the previous government.  The Road Department had again sent a warning letter to have them removed by January 10.

“It has been about ten days now. The deadline for demolition is tomorrow. People did not demolish anything. Instead it gave them time to build a solid building. If there is an owner who can demolish it, they demolish it and are responsible to move the debris” he said.

There are more and more of these types of shops in the streets . He added that he wanted the people to open temporary shops rather than building permanent style shops to solve their economic problems.

At present, about 60 shops have been dismantled by local authorities.

A local resident in Nyaung Bin Seik said, “the big shops are still there. They told us to dismantle the temporary shops within a week. The small shop owner was called at once. Once they arrived, it was dismantled. Sadly, everyone is having a hard time.”