ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

by Solomon | New Delhi (Mizzima) - A local township clerk, caught selling relief materials donated for victims of Cyclone Nargis in Irrawaddy division has been removed from office but sources said no action has been taken against him so far.

Kyaw Soe, a clerk of the Pyapon Township Peace and Development Council in Irrawaddy division, was reportedly caught selling about 1000 rice bags of aid donated by the Saudi Arabian government in Rangoon earlier in November.

"He has been suspended from his job but we don't know what punishment is in store for him if at all," an official at the Pyapon Township PDC office told Mizzima. He added that so far the accused has not been prosecuted nor tried in any court.

"All investigations were done by the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) so they will report to higher authorities in the divisional office for further action," he added.

Kyaw Soe, who was caught selling the rice bags for 10,000 kyat each, was arrested by the BSI in Pyapon town the official said. He added that since the BSI had arrested him, if any charges are pressed against him it will be by the BSI.

A BSI official in Pyapon town, when contacted by Mizzima, said the clerk has not been arrested. But he declined to comment further saying he was not authorized to speak to the press.

"We are not authorized to talk about this. He [Kyaw Soe] is at home, he is not here," said the BSI official.

Meanwhile a local rice merchant in Pyapon, said he had known that the clerk, prior to his arrest, had been selling aid materials for personal gain.

"This is not the first time he has done this. He has done this sort of thing earlier many times but evaded arrest," the merchant said.

The merchant added that Kyaw Soe had earlier sold about 900 bags of rice at 18,000 kyat per bag. And he has been bailed out by his family members from the custody of the BSI.

The merchant said, earlier the head of Pyapon Township PDC, Myo Myint Zaw, was also suspended from office for illegally selling 6000 to 7000 bags of chemical fertilizers but the case was not proceeded with and the accused till today has not been punished.

"We know there is a lot of corruption relating to aid supplies but we dare not reveal it, because the authorities are involved," said the rice merchant.

In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, the Saudi Arabian government had donated at least 370 tons of relief supplies including tents, foodstuffs, blankets, medicines, ambulances, rescue equipments, electric generators, according to information released by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia (RESA) in Washington D.C.

Cyclone Nargis struck Burma on May 2-3, leaving over 2.4 million devastated and more than 130,000 killed or missing.