August 10, 2023
In Karen State, According to drivers, there are at least 10 more gates collecting money on the old Myawaddy-Kawkareik circuit Mountain road.
On the morning of August 7, the Myawaddy-Kawkareik Asia Highway collapsed and the road was damaged owing to this, and the passenger cars had to travel from the old mountain circuit road.
The Firestop DKBA and PC groups, BGF under Military Council Army, the Military regime, and also the KNU forces from the village are collecting money from the vehicles traveling on the old mountain road. There are no less than 10 gates and the road costs more than 40,000kyats, said a driver.
“On the mountain road, it costs around 40,000 kyats. There are a lot of gates along the road and passenger cars have to pay 5,000 kyats or 3,000 kyats per gate. If you drive from the old road, there are 11 gates and there are various groups including BGF, and will be PDF. You don’t need any paper. You can get it if you pay pocket money to them,” he said.
A truck driver said that before the destruction of the Myawaddy -Kawkareik Asia Highway, when large trucks were traveling from Kawkareik Pagoda to the Myawaddy Trade Zone, they had to pay a gate fee of 180,000 kyats, and when the gate fee was passed through brokers, they only paid 120,000 kyats.
He said, “Most of the vehicles are passing through an agent. It costs 100,000 from the Paya Lay curve to the old or new crossroads and 120,000kyats from the Paya Lay on the Kawkareik side to the Myawaddy zone. If I don’t hire an agent, it will cost 180,000 from Paya Lay on the Kawkareik side to Myawaddy Zone”.
In addition, he said, there are 4 gates from the Myawaddy Trade Zone to the entrance of Myawaddy Town, and each gate costs 5,000 to 15,000 kyats.
Moreover the damage to the roads of Myawaddy-Kawkareik, truckers have to pay a lot of toll fees, and because of the fighting, drivers say that they have to stop the traffic.
According to KNLA military sources, in Myawaddy, Kawkareik, Kyondoe, and Kyar Inn Seik Gyi Township in Karen State, moreover, the occurrence of the floods and the military council army and KNLA joint forces are fighting almost every day.
News: Naw Phu Phu
Photo. Cj
Phar Si Than (People’s Radio Myanmar)
