Some 43 employees of the Sittwe government hotel stated a protest on Friday in front of the Arakan State administration office against the authority for the transfer of their employment to a private company, said a hotel employee.
The employee, who declined to disclose their name said, "We staged the protest in front of the government administration office in Sittwe against the government's plan, because the government handed us over to a private company after the Sittwe Hotel was privatized."
The Sittwe Hotel was recently privatized by the government and was transferred to a company led by U Nay Myo Tun, who is also owner of the Royal Beach Hotel located at Nga Pali Beach in southern Arakan.
"We are government employees, and some employees had been government servants for 10 or 20 years. The authority transferred 46 employees at the Sittwe Hotel to the private company along with the hotel. It is unjust and unfair and because of this we staged the protest in front of the government administration office in Sittwe," the employee said.
The employees did not received their salaries for a month after the hotel was privatized, and this was also part of the reason they staged the protest.
"Usually we receive our salaries on the ending day of every month, but this month the authority did not issue our salaries on time, without any notice. So all employees are unsatisfied and suffering from the authorities' manner. It is also another reason to march to the government office for the protest," said another senior employee.
During the protest, President U Thein Sein was also arriving in Sittwe to inspect the flooded areas in Arakan.
"The authority did not allow us to enter the office because they were very busy with some programs for the high authority visiting Sittwe. But one of our groups had the chance to meet with government authorities and discuss our problems with them," the employee said.
Even though the employees staged the protest in front of the government administration, there has been no action taken yet by authorities on the situation.
"We would like to know about our position and whether we are government employees or not after the hotel was privatized by the authority. So we have a duty to call for our rights that were lost after our place of employment was privatized," the source added.
The government authority issued salaries the day after the protest, but did not disclose any decisions about the employees' futures.
The Sittwe Hotel was operated under the Hotel and Tourism Ministry of Burma before privatization, but the hotel is now being run by businessman U Nay Myo Tun, the owner of Royal Beach Hotel.
