Kaladan transport project in spotlight Skip to main content

Kaladan transport project in spotlight

By Cherry Thein
Volume 31, No. 604
December 5 - 11, 2011

A farmer stands on the bank of the Kaladan River in Rakhine State's Sittwe township.
Pic: Stuart Deed

NON-GOVERNMENT organisations have conducted a “listening project” in Rakhine and Chin states to solicit local opinions on a US$120 million India-backed transport project being implemented in the area.

Rakhine Coastal Environmental Conser-vation (RCA) and Gender and Development Initiative (Myanmar) interviewed 140 residents in Sittwe, Ponnagyun and Kyauktaw townships in Rakhine State and Paletwa township in Chin State in October and released the results to NGOs, media and civil society groups last month.

The survey found that few residents knew about the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project and most of those that did believed it would bring few benefits for residents.

The project aims to link the port of Kolkata with the landlocked state of Mizoram via the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe. The project will see motor roads and waterways upgraded from Sittwe to southwestern Chin state, enabling Indian cargo vessels to travel along the Kaladan River and berth at Paletwa, which will be linked with Mizoram by a highway. The US$120-million project is being implemented by Indian firm Essar and Max Myanmar.

Gender and Development Initiative executive director Salai Isaac Khen said that while activists and some residents were concerned about the project, most people in the region knew little about it.

He said the two groups wanted to improve residents’ knowledge about the project and advocate the government to keep the negative impact to a minimum.

“We are not trying to derail the project, as it will no doubt bring better transportation and trade links between the two countries. The most important thing is to reduce any kind of negative impacts, not only on livelihoods but also the environment, which is increasingly a concern in Myanmar,” he said.

“The new government says ‘For the people, by the people’, so we definitely want to know that this project is ‘for the people’. The authorities should let the people know [how they will benefit] and show that they are indeed working for and representing all citizens … this is [necessary] to reduce worries and doubts in the region.”

RCA and Gender and Development Initiative plan to form a working group with other civil society organisations to raise awareness about the issues surrounding the project.

“We plan to work with regional governments and other authorities to lobby the [Union] Government to think about the impact that will inevitably result from the project and find a way to reduce it. We are compiling the recommendations based on what the residents told us,” he said.

Paletwa resident U Sein Aung told The Myanmar Times last week that people in his township had received very little information about the project, and some didn’t know about it at all.

“We see Indians coming to work at the construction site. We don’t know anything more than that they are working on something. Some people expect the project would bring job opportunities for local people but it seems unlikely because so far they have used their own workers,” said U Sein Aung, a priest who was interviewed for the “listening project”.

“We just know the project is being directed by the [Union] Government but we think we should learn about the project because it is being implemented in our region. The regional government needs to find out more about it,” he said. “We feel thankful for the better transportation the project will bring … it is something Chin people have been waiting for for a long time.”

But residents told the organisations that while improved transportation would mean farmers can export rice and seasonal fruits, like oranges and djenkol beans, directly to India, they were unsure who would really benefit from this.

U Tin Nu, resident in Sittwe township said the Kaladan River – known locally as the Kistpanaddi – was integral to the identity and culture of both Rakhine and Chin people, and many people also rely on it for their livelihoods.

“We love Kistpanaddi no less than the Chin cherish it – all living things in this area rely on the river,” he said. “It would be thoughtful of the authorities if they let us know more about the project to reduce our worries.”
........
Myanmar Times

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