Monks belonging to at least three monasteries in Moulmein led efforts to douse last week's market fire, while authorities looked on, said local eyewitnesses. The monks' efforts notwithstanding over 1,000 shops were destroyed.
Monks rushed to Moulmein's fire station when they learnt of the fire. The fire brigade was yet to respond beyond sending a fire engine sans water. "We are waiting for orders from superior officers," a monk quoted the firemen as saying.
Monks then drove one of the fire engines to the blazing Zay Gyi market, said a senior monk from a Moulmein monastery. Moulmein residents confirmed seeing a fire truck arrive driven by monks accompanied by three to four fire fighters.
Eyewitness also reported seeing monks shoulder fire hoses and organize people to help to shift goods from the burning market. They even used their monastic robes to beat at the flames. Fire trucks from Mudon, Paung and Kyaikmayaw Townships in Mon State and Hpa-an Township in Karen State eventually arrived, but too late to be of substantial help.
It is still not clear how many of Moulmein's 200 monasteries pitched in to fight the fire. Sein Ma Ma, Shin Phyu, Ye Chaung and other monasteries are said to have participated, getting together a total of over 300 men.
The government controlled New Light of Myanmar newspaper devoted only a few lines to the fire and made no mention of who participated in putting out the blaze. The story did, however, specify the number of shops lost to the blaze at 1,124.
Shopkeepers and their employees find themselves in a difficult situation in the aftermath of the fire, said former shopkeepers and the senior monk. For many, the fire meant a loss of all or nearly all inventory.
Shopkeepers looking at recovery must now struggle to find a venue for selling their wares. Some, mostly small shop owners who roamed the aisles between stalls, have set up shop in front of the gutted Zay Gyi market, causing traffic jams and crowding.
Others have sought to buy space in Myaing Yadana Market, Moulmein's largest market. But real estate prices there doubled nearly overnight, with shops in prime locations selling for 120 million kyat and lesser spaces for no less than 30 million.
In the past, shop spaces in Myaing Yadana were sold or rented by the month, at much lower rates, said one seller who lost his shop in the blaze. "Before the highest price was 60 million kyat, now the price is double that – 120 million kyat," he told IMNA. "The highest rent for one stall used to be 300,000 kyat per month. Now, it is about 1 million kyat."
The high cost of buying space in the Myaing Yadana market has priced most buyers out of the equation, he added. "We cannot hire people or buy new stalls because we cannot sell 1 million kyat worth of goods every month," he said. "Some people paid for new stalls, but most people cannot reopen."
According to rumours circulating in Moulmein, junta authorities are planning to build a three-story market in place of the burnt Ze Gyi. Unfortunately for those who lost their shops, however, owners will have to repurchase shop space, even if they owned stores lost in the fire.
