Big flooding in late July and early August left its mark on many
parts of Myanmar. The poorest regions of course suffer most. A British NGO sent
me to check on one such region this week. Specifically, they want to know how
well markets are functioning and what has happened to prices since the floods
in Rakhine State’s Minbya Township.
Minbya was ranked by earlier flood assessments as among the
most severely affected townships in the country. In many spots here, the water
rose over 10 feet. Although Rakhine State is well-known for long and heavy
monsoon seasons, nobody alive today can recall as extensive a flood in this
region.
The NGO may decide to respond with a Cash-for-Rebuilding
scheme, depending on what we learn about whether or not beneficiaries would
have anywhere to spend the cash. So far it appears that the markets are open
for business, that prices are up and sales are down.
This kind of assignment humbles me. The interviews we’re
conducting with shopkeepers are nearly always cheerful, despite their
descriptions of high water levels and stock losses. Yesterday we went by boat
to an elbow in the Lemro River that is home to a market known as Pan Mrauk Gyi.
Its location high on the river’s edge was a mixed blessing during July and
August.
Shopkeepers in Pan Mrauk Gyi told us that flood depth and
stock loss were generally lower for them than for sellers in the towns of Mrauk
U and Minbya... except for the nearly one-third of shops that were swept away
when the land slid at the center of the riverbend.
We interviewed one grandma whose wares were spread on the
ground next to the new cliff edge. A makeshift green tarp above her kept the
sun off. She said her shop formerly sat about 20 meters behind her, on the part
of the riverbank that had crumbled into the deluge.
All of us became a little teary as she described what she
had lost. There is no such thing as flood insurance here.
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