Township officer dismissed from post

Maungdaw, Arakan State (KPN): An administrative officer was dismissed from his post in the Maungdaw Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) office on the allegation that he was informing the foreign media, according to a TPDC source.

U Aung Than Naing, general secretary (temporary) was alleged to have leaked information about collection of money from all village tracts for the Wasou robe offering ceremony to the monks in the name of Maungdaw TPDC, he added.

The dismissal order was issued on July 15 by the District Peace and Development Council (DPDC) chairman U Aung Thein Nyaunt, he added.

The TPDC and DPDC jointly ordered the Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) chairman to collect Kyat 50,000 per village tract before July 1 for the Wasoe robe offering ceremony, said a village leader, who had collected money from the villagers in keeping with the order of the TPDC and DPDC.

The TPDC and DPDC collected a huge amount of money from the people of Maungdaw Township, which was processed by the general secretary (temporary) U Aung Than Naing and the news was published in the media in exile, sources said.

Some sources believe that he had no connection with the media in exile (Burmese media in exile) but, he was alleged to be an informer by the chairman of TPDC and DPDC.

On July 16 and 17, the authorities searched the house of his co-worker Daw Than Sein from block number one and his friend circle living in block number four of Maungdaw, said a local from Maungdaw.

The Chairman of TPDC and DPDC collected the money with his cooperation to show to the higher authorities that TPDC and DPDC had held a big Wasou robe offering ceremony with public money, not government funds, said an official source.

“TPDC and DPDC also collected money from all Muslim villages and traders from Maungdaw Township for the Buddhist religious ceremony, the official sources added.