On Kyaunt Tha Ya Island, there are four villages - Pyin Wun, Own Chaung,Pyint Chaung and Kyaunt Tha Ya - where about 500 families are living. Most of the villagers on the island have careers in fishing.

A government teacher from Pyin Wun village told Narinjara over telephone yesterday that about 200 families on the island have been facing starvation as the villagers have not had the chance to go to sea to fish due to heavy rains and storms.

“Most families on the island have not stored rations, including rice for this year’s rainy season because their businesses were damaged cyclone Giri, which struck the Arakan coast last year. Because of this, the villagers are supplementing their daily food by buying rice from the shops. Now they have not earned as much as expected as they could not go fishing. As a result many are facing starvation,” the teacher said.

In Arakan state, People usually eat twice a day, in the mornings and evenings, but recently the villagers have not been able to manage this.

The most worst hit village in the island is the fishing village of Pyin Wun where many families cannot cook food, even on a daily basis.

A village administrator in Kyaun Tha Ya also said. “Some families in this village are facing starvation because they have not earned enough. Most of fishermen cannot go to sea to fish recently due to the heavy rains and storms. So they cannot eat."

However, there has not been any relief package or food donations in the villages from the government or NGO's.

In the island, there are some private shops which are selling lower quality rice for the price of 1000 kyat for three kilograms, but many of the shops could not provide enough rice to meet the villager's demands.

The island of Kyaut Tha Ya in Mray Bon Township is in the worst affected area of Arakan struck by Cyclone Giri. During the attack of cyclone, about 50 people were killed and many houses were destroyed on the 22nd October last year.