About 50 jeeps in Pancherry, Taungzalat, Zalatphew, ShweChatit, and Suaimat operate between Kale and Haimual and all passengers pay tax to the border trade union in keeping with the value and volume of the goods they carry.

“The average taxes amount reach around Kyat 200 lakhs to Kyat 250 lakhs a month. All the money is used for road construction,” said a person on border gate duty.

All traders coming from Myanmar to Mizoram in India pay tax to the trade union in Chin state set up by Burmese government departments. The traders again pay 10 percent taxes to the Mizoram government.

While the Mizoram government demands 10 percent in taxes, the Myanmar authorities demand relates to the kinds of goods being carried and the volume. Sometimes traders give taxes of over 10 percent or less in Chin state.

“We pay taxes depending on the volume and the kind of goods. They check our lists with the goods. They can seize all the goods if the quantity and the kind of goods do not match the list,” a Chin trader said.

A member of the trade union told Khonumthung News that the money collected from traders is used for construction of border roads, although they did get financial assistance from the Government of India in mid-2006. Besides, India has given about 10 millions rupees to construct the Tamu-Kale-Kalewo road last November.

“We see prisoners repairing the road if road is blocked or damaged. The road condition is very bad during the rainy season. We spend three to four days travelling if the road is damaged,” a trader said.

The Kale-Tidim-Rih road creates problems especially in the monsoons for Chin traders. So the authorities employ prisoners near the Lentlang army camp to repair the road.

Car drivers using the Indo-Myanmar border trade road No. 2 collect Kyat 500 per vehicle to repair the road, but in reality they employ army prisoners to repair the damaged road. – KNG.