Sittwe: Burma and India signed an agreement on Wednesday for India's investment of USD 130 million to develop a transport project in western Burma that enhances connectivity between the two countries.The project includes building a waterway, roads, and developing Sittwe Port on the edge of the Bay of Bengal, in order to link Arakan to Mizoram through the Kaladan River, the largest river in Arakan.
The investment of India is significant, and the hope is that it will help develop the region of Arakan. Many Arakanese people, however, do not believe the project will be beneficial for the locals.
A businessman from Sittwe said, "Everybody may believe the project will develop Arakan, and people will get opportunities from the project, but in reality the situation is very different, because it will be impossible for Arakanese people to gain any opportunities from the project."
To add to his point, he described a recent business auction held by authorities in which local Arakanese businessmen lost out to Burman businessmen.
On 27 March, 2008, the high authority in Arakan State invited businessmen to submit tenders for bridges located along the Sittwe-Rangoon motor road. The auction was held in Ann Town, where Western Command Headquarters are located.
The bridges are rented to businessmen on a yearly basis, and the businessmen collect tolls from vehicles and people crossing the bridges.
Many businessmen attended the auction, but the authority later awarded the tender to a Burman businessman who happens to be a friend of Western Command Commander General Maung Shing.
The businessman said, "All bridges up for auction were awarded to U Time Myint, who is a close friend of the western command commander, and or Arakanese businessmen did not receive any bridge contracts in the auction."
Business sources in Sittwe said that U Time Myint bid 5 million kyat on the Gassipani Bridge located near Kyauktaw, 9 million kyat on the Ramon Bridge located near Minbya , and 5 million for the Michaung Bridge located Ann for the 2008 - 2009 fiscal year.
There is a regulation on the auctions conducted by the authority that priority must be given to local businessmen over those from other regions if their bids are comparable. But in practice, local businesses rarely receive opportunities at such auctions.
Five years ago, the oil company Dawn Min, which was owned by an Arakanese businessman, was seized by the military authority after it began competing with Htoo Company owned by Teza.
The company's owner, U Soe Aung, managed to escape to Malaysia before he was arrested, but his youngest brother Khin Maung Than was arrested and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Although some Arakanese are happy about India's investment in development in the region, there is little hope that the project will benefit the local people as much as it will be Burmese army officials and their close associates.
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