Sittwe: The Burmese military junta authorities have allowed rice traders to transport rice from Burma proper to Arakan State fearing public unrest if the rice price continued to rise this monsoon in Arakan.

"The price of rice in Arakan State has gone down at present because a lot of rice has been sent to Arakan State from Burma proper," a rice trader said.

In local rice markets, a 50 kilogram sack of normal rice which cost 25,000 Kyat, has gone down to 15,000 kyat.

In Arakan State the price of rice always increases every year even though the state is the third highest rice producer in Burma, because the authorities and rice merchants' association exports rice to Bangladesh after purchasing it from local Arakanese farmers.

While the rice was being exported, the government did not allow the transportation of rice between townships in Arakan, nor from Burma proper into Arakan State. This created an unnecessary scarcity of rice in the township markets, causing the prices to keep increasing.

A social activist from Sittwe said, "The authorities know how much Arakanese people are suffering from the high price of rice so they have allowed the transportation of rice from Burma proper to Arakan State to avoid unrest among the people."

He also added that Burmese military authorities want to woo Arakanese people not to support any kind of anti-government protests in Sittwe, so they are trying to placate the people by reducing the price of rice in the state.

Many tonnes of rice from Prome Town located in Pegu Division are being brought into Arakan every day by lorries that are crossing the Arakan roma.

The authorities have also blocked the Arakanese Rice Merchant Association from exporting rice from Arakan State to Bangladesh, in order to control the price of rice in Arakan.