Maungdaw, Arakan State: Shopkeepers from Maungdaw are facing a complicated situation following harassment by market toll collectors’, said a Maungdaw shopkeeper.

The shops from Maungdaw pay municipal tax as per government policy after permission from the Township municipal office, the shopkeeper said.

In Northern Arakan, the authorities issue licenses for representatives to the public after taking a huge amount of money for the representative, said an official from Maungdaw.

There are many kinds of representatives in Maungdaw. Local residents are facing a lot of problems from these representatives for collecting of toll in every sector, the official said.

Recently, the market toll collector, San Swe alias Paungmay, collected toll from shops every day at the rate of 100 Kyats for displaying goods in front of shops, said a shopkeeper.

“We had already paid tax to the municipality for shops, so, why is the market toll collector collecting the toll everyday at the rate of 100 Kyats. He has the right to collect toll in the Maungdaw municipal market, not the whole Maungdaw,” the shopkeeper said.

“We complained to the concerned authority (municipal officer, U Tin Hay). He said he will solve it, but till now no action has been taken. We have to pay 100 Kyats to the market toll collector everyday,” the shopkeeper said.

“The toll collector is using goons to collect the toll from shops. It is only from Arakanese Rohingya’s shops not from Arakanese Rakhine’s shops in Maungdaw. In Maungdaw, there are two laws, one for the Arakanese Rohingya community and another for the Arakanese Rakhine,” said a former university student from Maungdaw.

On July 27, Burmese border security force (Nasaka) collected one viss (1 viss=1.633 kg) of meat for one cow permitted by the concerned authority as per law as taxes on an Islamic holyday. It occurred in all Nasaka camps and outposts in Maungdaw, according to a butcher from Maungdaw.