In a bid at cover up and to show visiting ministers that they were arranging for relief, the Maungdaw district authorities borrowed rice and goods from shops in Maungdaw markets on Saturday for flood victims, said a rice shop owner.

On Saturday three ministers visited Maungdaw - Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Maung Maung Swe, Minister of Transportation U Thein Swe, and Deputy Minister of Home U Phone Swe. District authorities showed the borrowed goods as relief for victims of the recent flooding in Arakan.

"They brought 30 rice bags to the district office after borrowing them from us to show the ministers that they had arranged relief for the flood victims. The district authorities claimed they had collected the rice for distribution to the flood affected," the rice shop owner said.

The district authorities also borrowed other items such as blankets, mosquito nets, clothes, and cooking pots from shops in Maungdaw markets.

"The authorities borrowed many items from our shops to show the goods to the visiting ministers as relief. After the ministers left the town to tour other places, they returned the goods," another shopkeeper said.

The district authorities had also stuck notes on the goods indicating it had been donated by the state as well as Payaka, the Rakhine State Authority.

The ministers and officials had their photographs taken in front of the borrowed goods to be publicized in the government-run newspaper and on television.

The local junta authorities have been known to falsely present goods as aid whenever higher authorities visited the area.

"It is typical of what happens when higher authorities come to our area. The local authorities used to borrow medicines from my clinic to put in the hospital, when the higher authorities came to our town to inspect the hospital. After the authorities left, they sent back the medicine to my clinic," a local clinic owner said.

According to a source, the flood victims have received some relief, including rice, from the government, but the amount was small. In Maungdaw, rice is scarce and the price of rice and other commodities skyrocketed after floods in the area. The only road used for transport along the border is still damaged after the rain and landslides, and goods are not making it to Maungdaw from central Arakan State.