YANGON: The Myeik-Dawei section of the Yangon-Myeik Union Highway has been severely damaged by flooding and landslides, making travel along the route extremely difficult, according to reports.
The section of the Union Highway linking Myeik and Dawei in Dawei District was previously damaged to the extent that it became impassable. Small vehicles began making trial journeys on Oct 8, while larger vehicles resumed operations in recent days. However, road conditions remain extremely poor.
“Conditions are still very bad in several places, including the outskirts of Palaw in Myeik District and Lower Thayet Chaung, Kanyin Chaung and Bote Taung in Dawei District. The Dawei-Yangon road is in good condition, but the road between Myeik and Dawei is in very poor condition. Security and stability in the area have also yet to be restored,” a traveller said.
Although Myeik and Dawei are more than 170 miles apart, the journey takes around 10 hours because of the poor road conditions.
“Landslides have covered the road with mud, and conditions at Kanyin Chaung are particularly bad. Even if travellers bypass Bote Taung using village roads, the detour would take about two additional hours. Those roads are also damaged, so travelling remains difficult.
“Patients who need medical treatment in Yangon may have to spend up to two days travelling from Myeik. We also had to take considerable risks to travel to Dawei to provide disaster relief. We left early in the morning but did not arrive in Dawei until 8pm,” a volunteer said.
Although transport operators continue running services to maintain the flow of goods, they are facing difficulties due to high operating costs, according to reports. - Eleven Media Group/ANN
