Oct 19, 2007 (DVB), Local residents in Magwe division have speculated that local authorities have cancelled their annual rice donation due to worries that monks would refuse to attend.

The rice donation has been held as part of merit-making on the day after the full moon at the end of Buddhist lent in October for the past five years, and has always been well-attended.

However, this year Magwe division authorities have cancelled the event, which is usually organised by the divisional Peace and Development Council.

Local residents have assumed that the event has been cancelled because the authorities are worried that no monks will come to accept the donations.

The local authorities would still like the event to take place, but have been pressuring the Free Funeral Service Society, a respected charity, to organise it instead.

Reporting by Aye Nai