The Narinjara News

(17 October 2008)

www.narinjara.com

NEWS IN ENGLISH

High Officials Visit Western Border 

Army Loots Fuel and Fish from Arakanese Boats

NEWS IN BURMESE

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Narinjara News

Maungdaw, 17 October 2008

High Officials Visit Western Border 

A 50-member team of high officials, including ministers and army officials, visited Maungdaw Township on the western Burmese border on Thursday to initiate projects after recent trade agreements were made during General Maung Aye's recent trip to Bangladesh.

The visit came about just one week after General Maung Aye's official visit to Bangladesh.

An official from customs said," They started their tour to Maungdaw on Thursday to inspect some projects that will begin very soon. The official team is now visiting several important places along the border."

The team is led by General Thein Zaw, minister of post, telegraph, and communications for Burma's ruling junta.  Many other ministers are on the visiting team, such as the ministers of livestock breeding and fisheries, construction and commerce, as well as the western command commander.

According to a local source, the team visited Kyin Chaung Village north of Maungdaw, soon after their arrival. Kyin Chaung will be the point of connection for the first phase of the friendship road from Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.

The ministers on the team reportedly inspected the path where the friendship road may be constructed between Bangladesh and Burma.  They also reportedly inspected a large number of farmland that was confiscated from local farmers for the project.

After the visit to Kyin Chaung, the team visited Aung Sit Byint Village nearby, where a vocational training school for repatriated refugee women was opened by the UNHCR.

An official from the township construction department said, "There is a plan to build a harbor in Maungdaw Township to promote border trade, and it will be constructed in Kan Yin Chaung Village."

The team is expected to visit Kan Yin Chaung Village today to inspect the location for the harbor.

The officials will also visit the newly constructed town of Taungbro on the border today, to inspect the site where the friendship road bridge will be constructed over the upper Naff River.

A source from Maungdaw entrance gate said the ministers have a plan to visit along the Naff River in speed boats, and the authorities in Maungdaw have arranged four speed boats for the ministers' tour.

An official from the border trade association said that the Burmese military government is keen to promote border trade with Bangladesh because there are no international markets for exporting maritime products from Arakan after US sanctions on Burma.

Bangladesh and Burma have signed many agreements in the last seven years but have been unable to implement such agreements because of lack of cooperation by the military government.  However, Burma is now eager to promote its trade with Bangladesh through the border because the country, especially western Arakan, has been hit hard by an economic crisis and lacks markets for its export products. #

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Narinjara News

Sittwe, 17 October 2008

Army Loots Fuel and Fish from Arakanese Boats

Many fishing boat owners in the coastal area of northern Arakan State have been suffering at the hands of an army patrol team that is looting fish and fuel from the boats while they are working at sea, said U Aung Ko, a fishing boat owner from Sittwe.

He said, "Two days ago, the army patrol team from Ah Ngu Maw outpost looted ten gallons of diesel and many lucrative fish from my boat while it was at fishing at sea north of Sittwe."

The Ah Ngu Maw outpost is located on the Mayu Peninsula in southern Rathidaung Township and one army team from the outpost has been patrolling the area in a speed boat to prevent smuggling from Burma to Bangladesh.

"The army team looted fuel and fish very cleverly from the fishing boats, and it is like a cold-blooded robbery abuse by the army team on the fishing boats," he said.

He also added that the patrol team typically approach the boats and claim that they had rushed from a far distance to catch the boat because they thought it was a smuggling. They then claim that they used many gallons of fuel to travel out to the boat and ask for fuel and fish as compensation.

"It is a new system for the army team to loot fuel and fish from us, and many fishing boat owners have faced this style of the army asking for fuel and fish," he said.

According to a local fishery source, the fishing boats have to provide the fuel and fish to the army team whenever they ask because they are afraid of retribution if they deny the request.

"If we refuse the army's request for fuel, they can arrest us and accuse of being smugglers. So we give whatever the army team asks," he said.

Such a situation is not uncommon for fishing boats at sea, as many armed forces, including the navy, army, and police, have looted fuel and fishes from the boats all along the coast of Arakan. #

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Narinjara News (NN) was founded by a group of Arakanese in exile in Bangladesh from Burma in 2001 seeking to voice for the people depriving of human and democratic rights and to pave the way for them who are struggling for those rights. The Narinjara News is an independent organization, not affiliated with any political party or organization. Any opinion or advice relating to our News Agency is warmly welcomed and please email to: narinjara@...

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