A local official in Burma's Irrawaddy Division, accused of secretly selling rice donated by Saudi Arabia and intended for survivors of Cyclone Nargis, is now in custody.
Kyaw Soe, a clerk at the Pyapone Township Peace and Development Council (PDC), has been accused by the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) of selling rice meant to be delivered to victims of the storm.
"He sold around 1,000 bags of rice in Rangoon, each for 10,000 to 15,000 kyat (approximately US$ 8 – 12)," said a Pyapone Towship PDC staff member who wished not to be identified.
The rumor first spread in Rangoon as restaurants served the Saudi Arabian donated rice, which was easily recognizable as not being rice native to Burma.
"Kyaw Soe was the one who led the distribution of those rice bags, he held all keys to the warehouse," said the staff person.
He added, "He did not give the rice to farmers as he should have, only showing the bags and then selling them in Rangoon."
BSI is currently investigating all local authorities in villages around Pyapone Township, attempting to ascertain whether any aid was actually delivered to victims of the natural disaster, according to the PDC staff member.
The accused, Kyaw Soe, is undergoing treatment at a local hospital for diabetes, officials having detained him at his house and subsequently sealing the premises.
This is not the first instance of relief aid reportedly being stolen by officials and sold at markets in Rangoon and other towns throughout Burma. And more than two dozen officials are now reported to have been questioned to date over accusations tied to the misuse of aid supplies intended for victims of Nargis.
In the initial weeks after the storm struck, the regime had vociferously denied any illegal handling of relief supplies, despite persistent rumors that some aid was not reaching the intended destinations, instead winding up for sale in markets for personal gain.
The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Rangoon did not reply to inquiries regarding the incident.
The Middle Eastern country has donated tents, foodstuffs, blankets, medicine, ambulances, rescue equipment and electric generators since May's cataclysmic storm, airlifting 370 tons of relief supplies to Burma, according to the Saudi Embassy in Washington D.C.
A local source in Pyapon, who also heard about the events surrounding the case, said the wife of the accused and other people thought to be related to the case were also arrested.
"Some of my friends who are working in aid agencies told me that people from the government arrested them regarding a rice scam, but I don't know any specifics," said the local source.
According to him, there are still a lot of aid agencies, such as Save the Children and the World Food Program (WFP), operating relief operations in Pyapon with the assistance of local staff.
He said cyclone victims still need food, and that paddy fields around the township have not sufficiently recovererd, meaning this year's rice crop will likely not be as good as in years past.
Cyclone Nargis struck Burma on May 2-3, 2008, leaving some 130,000 people dead or missing and over 2.4 million survivors in need of aid.
