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Monks lead efforts to fight Moulmein market fire while authorities looked on, say eyewitnesses

Mon 08 Dec 2008, Blai Mon and Mi Kyae Goe
http://www.monnews-imna.com/newsupdate.php?ID=1255

Monks from at least three monasteries in Moulmein lead efforts to contain last week’s market fire, while authorities looked on, say local eyewitnesses. In spite of their efforts, over 1,000 stores were destroyed.

According to a monk from Moulmein, monks rushed to Moulmein’s fire station when they heard of the fire, and that the fire brigade had yet to respond beyond sending one water-less truck. “We are waiting on orders from superior officers,” the monk quoted the firemen as saying.

Monks then drove one of the fire trucks to the burning Zay Gyi market, said a senior monk from a Moulmein monastery. Moulmein residents at the fire site confirmed seeing a fire truck arrive driven by monks, and accompanied by three to four government firemen.

Eyewitness then report seeing monks shoulder fire houses, organize people helping to remove goods from the burning market and even use their monastic robes to beat at the flames. Fire trucks from Mudon, Paung and Kyaikmayaw Townships in Mon State and Hpa-an Township in Karen State eventually arrived, but too late to be of substantial help.



It is unclear how many of Moulmein’s 200 monasteries contributed to the fire fighting effort. Sein Ma Ma, Shin Phyu, Ye Chaung and other monasteries are confirmed to have participated, harnessing a combined total of over 300 men.

The government controlled New Light of Myanmar newspaper, in contrast, devoted only a few lines to the fire and made no mention of who participated its suppression. The story did, however, specify a final number of shops lost to the blaze: 1,124.

Shopkeepers and their employees find themselves in a difficult situation in the aftermath of the fire, say former shopkeepers and the senior monk. For many, the fire meant a loss of all or nearly all inventory.

Presenting even more difficulty, shopkeepers looking to recover must now struggle to find a venue for their sales. Some, mostly small-scale sellers who roamed the aisles between stalls, have set up shop in front of the burned out Zay Gyi, causing traffic jams and crowding.

Others have sought to purchase space in Myaing Yadana Market, Moulmein’s largest market. But real estate prices there doubled nearly overnight, with shops in prime locations selling for 120 million kyat and lesser spaces for no lower than 30 million.

In the past, shop spaces in Myaing Yadana sold, or rented by the month, for much lower, said one seller who lost his shop in the blaze. “Before the highest price was 60 million kyat, now the price is double that – 120 million kyat,” he told IMNA. “The highest rent for one stall used to be 300,000 kyat per month. Now, it is about 1 million kyat.”

The high cost of purchasing space in the Myaing Yadana market has priced most sellers out of the equation, he added. “We cannot hire people or buy new stalls because we cannot sell 1 million kyat worth of goods every month,” he said. “Some people paid for new stalls, but most people cannot reopen.”

According to rumors circulating in Moulmein, authorities are planning to build a three-story market in place of the burned-out Ze Gyi. Unfortunately for those who lost their shops, however, people will have to repurchase store space, even if they owned stores lost in the fire.

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