Kyauk Pru: The Burmese army has been exploiting Arakanese fishermen by buying fish from them at prices below the market value, said a fisherman from the area.

"There are two army fish buying centers in our villages - one from the navy based in Kyauk Pru and another from Artillery Battalion 373 based in Sittwe. The army authority opened the buying centers to do business in maritime products for the respective battalion's funds," he said.

However, the buying centers purchase maritime products from fishermen at below-market prices and have never paid a reasonable price to fisherman, according to the source.

"In our area, a kilogram of shrimp is 5,000 kyat, but the army buying centers only give 4,000 kyat. Similarly, the retail price of one kilogram of fish is 3,000 kyat, but the centers give only 2,000 kyat. We do not want to sell our fish to them at the low price, but we have to sell our fish to them for fear of action by army officials," he said.

The army officials at the buying centers are known to harass and disturb fishermen in a number of ways if they refuse to sell their product to the army.

"If we refuse to sell fish to them, they disturb our work by inspecting fishing licenses as well as boat licenses. If we can not show the licenses to them, the officials do not allow us to fish in the sea. So all fishermen have to sell fish to the army centers," he said.

Because of this system, many fishermen in Kyauk Pru Township in Arakan are suffering from the army exploitation.

The most affected fishermen are from two major fishing villages, Nga Pa Tom and Kyaunt Thaya in Kyauk Pru.

According to a local source Phone Shwe and Sergeant Thin Win, officials from the navy and artillery battalion, respectively, are in charge of the buying centers, and give loans to poor fishermen who sell their fish to them at reduced prices.

Army officials have also prohibited businessmen from Rangoon, Mandalay, and elsewhere in Kyauk Pru from coming into the area to purchase dried fish in order to keep the prices from going up.

Many Burmese army battalions in Arakan State use such a method to exploit the Arakanese people. Because of this, many battalions in Arakan State have been able to save a lot of money in their battalion funds.

The local source said, "The Burmese army in Arakan State is involved in many business sectors in order to collect funds for the army battalion. The business sectors they are involved in include public transportation, wood mills, fishing and fish trading, agriculture, and auctioning business contracts to local businessmen."

A source close to the army said that with their involvement in the businesses, the Nasaka headquarters based in Maungdaw has amassed 230 million kyat, Sakhaka No. 15 based in Buthidaung has 130 million kyat, and Light Infantry Battalion 550 has saved 55 million kyat for their respective fund.