Cyclone Giri - Two Years On - Burma Action Ireland

Arakan Human Rights and Development Organisation
So my business of buying fishery products is not workable and profitable as before, since there are very
few fishermen, who have owned trawlers to catch huge catch of fish, shrimps, etc. in the sea that
severely affects my business.
Q: Compared to the past years, what about this year of catching fish in the sea
A: The fish in the sea is fewer that the fishermen are able to catch very less fish. That means some
certain kinds of fish species normally caught in the sea are not found in this year and the sale of fish is
not good and profitable. In Kyaukphru, there are many fishermen who owned small and big trawlers
from different areas of Arakan State or Burma proper and even foreign trawlers, and many business
people who are doing the fishing business in the past years. But you cannot see many of those business
people compared to the past few years, as there are fewer fishermen who have owned big fishing boats
and trawlers that can catch much fish and is also lesser fish in the sea.
Q: What is current situation of fishermen and their livelihoods
A: Actually I usually travel to do the business of the fisheries through sea and land. Almost entire
township of Kyaukphru do this fishing business of different kinds including catching big and smaller
fish, shrimps, lobsters, etc. Since there are fewer fishermen and is lesser fish stocks in the sea, there are
fewer business people of this kind. I can say that 70% of fishermen is decreased in number compared to
the past few years. After the cyclone, there is a huge migration of fisher folks from Kyaukphru Township
to the places especially to Thailand, where they thought that they are able to find better job opportunities.
There are many fishermen who don’t have any capital investment in buying their lost fishing boats and
nets during the cyclone. So lots of fishermen have become hand-to-mouth now. This severely affects the
fishermen livelihoods of social, education and health care.
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Gender: Female Place of Interview: Kapichaung Village, Kyaukphru Township
Age: 45 Date of interview: 27 September 2012
Profession: Businesswoman Type of interview: Paper
Q: Was your village affected by the Cyclone Giri
A: Yes our village was quite affected by the cyclone. The roofs of the houses were uprooted and some
houses were partially destroyed though houses in our village were not severely damaged. But all the
plantation gardens including different kinds of fruit trees and the embankments of the paddy fields were
severely damaged and submerged with salt water that still very much affects the decreasing of rice
production until this year.
Q: Did you repair the broken embankments during the cyclone How many embankments does your
village have
A: Actually the embankments were repaired by the support from some NGOs. There were only three
embankments in our entire village. But a rich person, who did the salt business there, owns two. But the
embankment of the salt field was destroyed by the cyclone. So the fields can’t be grown rice now due to
salty soil. There is only one embankment for village owned now to protect against the salt water from
the sea.
Q: Is it sufficient with the rice produced by your village for the people in the village
A: Actually, the village can’t produce enough rice for the needs of the population in the village. And
even our village was not able to produce adequate rice when there were three embankments for the
paddy fields of the village. So how can the only one embankment be able to produce enough rice for the
population needs of the village! So the rice production from our village has covered only one-third for
the total population over 1,000 villagers: the rice needed for the two-third of entire population in the
village is bought from Kyaukphru Town.
Q: What is the current situation of livelihoods in your village
A: As businesswoman in the village, it’s not good for the sale of households needs including rice. That
means the people in our village have become poorer, severely affecting the economy of village. So there
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