Landslides at Kyaukphyu’s Zin Chaung Beach a growing concern, local residents say

By DMG 02 Feb 2022

DMG Newsroom
2 February 2022, Kyaukphyu

Locals living in the vicinity of Zin Chaung Beach in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township are calling for maintenance works ahead of the upcoming rainy season as the coast faces annual landslides that threaten infrastructure, homes and other structures in the area.

The landslides impact more than two miles of coastline, and if action to address the issue is not taken in time, utility poles supplying electricity to multiple villages could be damaged or washed out to sea completely, locals said.

U Phoe San, a resident of Kyaukphyu town, said: “Landslides are occurring along the coast. If a retaining wall cannot be constructed before the coming monsoon [season], buildings, electricity poles and roads will be damaged.”

Residents of Aung Mingalar ward in Zin Chaung village, near Zin Chaung Beach, said they too face the risk and consequences of landslides annually.

Zin Chaung village resident U Phoe Maung said: “In the rainy season, landslides occur very often in Aung Mingalar ward, one of the wards in our village. Some houses have been destroyed. So, the government needs to build a retaining wall before the rainy season arrives. Otherwise, Aung Mingalar ward will be destroyed this year.”

The existing retaining wall at Zin Chaung Beach is only about three furlongs in length, less than half a mile.

Zin Chaung Beach is located near the Yangon-Sittwe highway, and years of inaction has brought the landslides closer and closer to affecting the road.

Lawmakers raised the matter in the state legislature under the National League for Democracy government, seeking the implementation of measures to mitigate coastal erosion and landslides at Zin Chaung Beach.