Naung Min Thu, Narinjara News, 4 February 2025 

In Sittwe, Arakan State, locals primarily rely on firewood and charcoal for cooking because of insufficient electricity. Nonetheless, the costs of these fuels are increasing, and they are becoming more limited, creating challenges for the city's residents. 

A Sittwe resident stated, "The majority of individuals in Sittwe typically prepare meals using electricity, while firewood and charcoal are transported from nearby rural areas. Currently, without electricity, firewood and charcoal cannot be brought in from rural regions, resulting in increased prices and making them more difficult to locate.”

Since the conflict started in November 2023, the military junta has tightly blocked the land and waterways leading to Sittwe, hindering the movement of goods, such as firewood and charcoal, from surrounding rural areas.

Residents assert that certain dishonest individuals are collaborating with junta soldiers and police in the city to demolish houses and sell the timber as firewood. 

Residents state that in Sittwe, the cost for three pieces of firewood, measuring over one foot in length and three inches in width, is 2,000 kyats. Three pieces of firewood collected from the doors, windows, and frames of vacant houses are priced at 1,500 kyats. A 10-viss bag of charcoal is sold for 50,000 kyats, whereas a 7-viss bag of charcoal is priced at 35,000 kyats. 

Because of the lack of firewood and charcoal, residents in Sittwe's urban wards are taking wood, windows, and doors from vacant homes for fuel, and household items and electrical wires are being stolen, a woman from Baw Lone Kwin Ward in Sittwe remarked. 

“The proprietors of the residence adjacent to ours have been in Yangon for quite some time. Because the house is vacant, individuals have been taking all the furniture, windows, and doors. They have also been removing the electrical wires. When individuals witness them committing theft, they threaten, 'Is it your home? Otherwise, remain silent, or you’ll be killed," she stated. 

Cities throughout Arakan State, such as Sittwe, have experienced power outages since November 2023, when fighting reignited. 

Worried about an attack from the Arakan Army (AA), the military junta has secured the city's access points and, starting in July 2024, has erected barbed wire fencing along the waterfront, including on Strand Road in Sittwe.