“In Rakhine State, there has been still no help and relief in Pipinyin village of Mrauk-U township, which was affected by the storm,” said the local people.
“Rescues have not arrived yet at all. Now we need shelters. It’s going to rain, so we just want shelter. If we get things, we can live. We can’t buy it ourselves. The prices are going up. After the storm, the prices raised up,” said a local of Pipinyin village.
It is investigated that currently Pipinyin village is in urgent need of shelters, and the prices are skyrocketing, so the locals could not buy it.
The Arakan Army (AA) is coordinating the sale of excessive price increases in the region, but the prices on the ground have not yet decreased.
“The iron roofing sheets are the main demand, so it’s very expensive here. During the previous military coup, there were only a few thousand per foot of iron roofing sheet. Now, after the storm, the prices are in the tens of thousands. Here, the prices are 40000/50000 kyats. All kinds of things are in increase. We hoped that if the relief came, we would get roofing sheets. But rescuers have not arrived yet,” a resident told MPA.
It is investigated that the residents of Pipinyin depend only on the lake in the village for drinking water, and the lake can only be used for about a month.
After the storm, Pipinyin residents have been drinking water from the lake as pure water, but they do not boil water to drink.
“There is a lake in the village. We both drink and use the water from that lake. As for drinking, we drink it as usual. There is no for diarrhea so far. I don’t know if I haven’t yet. Cooking is also done with this lake water. Because it doesn’t contain salt, we can use and drink it. Clean water can be bought. But the prices are high,” said a local woman of Pipinyin village, Mrauk-U township.
It is also reported that even after a week after the storm hit, Pipinyin village still hasn’t received any help and relief, and there are still no people who provide knowledge about health.
However, nurses visit to this village for the clinic once a week, and apart from people who is sick, the rest of the local residents don’t usually go to health care.
Pipinyin residents are in need to get food and clean drinking water, as well as they are very worried about not having shelter, due to the rainy season is about to arrive.
As a result of the devastating Cyclone Mokha, 98 percent of Pipinyin village was destroyed, and many houses were also damaged. In addition, some houses have been repaired and lived in, but there are also houses that have not been repaired yet.
“There is a great need for emergency relief and support for the homes and people who have not yet been repaired,” said the residents.
It is reported that there is also a Pipinyin military evacuation camp in Pipinyin village which is about 5 miles away from Mrauk-U town, and such evacuation camp is also in need of urgent assistance.
Last May 22, a car that came to donate water to the refugee camp overturned and the car helper, a local resident of Waithali village, had passed away.
Photo: houses of Pipinyin village which were damaged by the storm Mokha)