Maungdaw, Arakan State : Over 500 prisoners from Buthidaung jail, northern Arakan (Rakhine) State in Burma , have been forced to reconstruct Maungdaw-Buthidaung Road as of July 9, by local Burmese junta authorities.

The Chairman of the Township Peace and Development Council of Buthidaung Township issued an order to the jail authorities to reconstruct the Maungdaw-Buthidaung Road with the help of prison labour on July 8.

At about 6 am, the prisoners were brought to the work site by cars from the jail. They have to work at work site from 6 am to 10 am in the first phase and from 1 pm to 6 pm thereafter. After 6 pm they are brought back to the jail precincts by vehicles. After having food at 10 am at the work site they are allowed to take rest till 1 pm. Food is sent from the jail and the prisoners work in civilian attire while the policemen stand guard.

The Maungdaw-Buthidaung Road was badly damaged along with some bridges due to heavy rain over the last two weeks. It is 16 miles long of which five miles have been totally damaged and vehicles are not able to ply on the road. Passengers are unable to go up and down from Maungdaw Town by car.

The damaged bridges on Maungdaw-Buthidaung Road were built in 2004-2005 with three years guarantee with forced labour of local people. It is being rebuilt again in 2008. Wooden logs were collected from villagers in 2007 for construction of bridges.

Communication problems on the Maungdaw-Buthidaung road have led to a rise in price of essential commodities in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships. People are facing difficulties but the authorities are not bothered.

It is learnt that the damaged bridges would be temporarily made with wooden logs for vehicles to ply and after the end of the rainy season the authorities would use concrete.  

Villagers from both townships are also forced to repair the Maungdaw-Buthidaung Road without any support from the government. The road is a key transportation link between Buthidaung and Maungdaw Townships .