PDFs make money from rafts in Ayeyarwady River
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Phyo/Thuta Kyaw (NP News) - July 1
A source from Shwegu Township told The NP News that PDFs are doing business with the wooden rafts on the Ayeyarwady River.
He said that the PDF group makes money by charging exorbitant fees for installing wooden rafts along the Ayeyarwady river, and that the money it makes is much larger than other sources of income.
Currently, there is logging in unstable areas, and this illegal logging is being financed and authorized by the PDF and illegal armed groups.
“People are only using along the roads to Shwebo, Myitkyina, and Sagaing places where oil and other supplies are transported to the militias. These areas are income sources for them. They're collecting from the loggers all along the Ayeyarwady riverbank,” according to the above-mentioned source.
He also said that the PDF group is earning around 100 million kyats from these rafts, and with this money, the PDF group has become financially wealthy.
"They have to pay for the timber that comes down the river. Getting oil from the drivers is a small matter compared to that. Sometimes, the raft operators have to pay 20 or even 30 million kyats," he said.
He also said that when the rafts come down along the river route, the PDFs follow them with boats and demand money.
“They carry it from Shwegu and Bahmo. From there, they build rafts and go down the river until they reach Tagaung and the PDF areas. They ask for money from the motorcades,” he said.