Sittwe: Burma and India signed an agreement on Wednesday where India is to invest USD 130 million to develop a transport project in western Burma which will enhance connectivity between the two countries.

The project envisages building a waterway, roads, and developing the Sittwe Port on the Bay of Bengal to link Arakan to Mizoram through the Kaladan River, the largest river in Arakan.

India's investment is significant and it is hoped that it will help develop the Arakan region. Many Arakanese people, however, do not believe the project will be beneficial for locals.

"People may believe the project will help develop Arakan, and they will garner opportunities from the project, but in reality the situation is very different, because it will be impossible for Arakanese people to have any opportunities from the project," a businessman in Sittwe said.

To add to his point, he recalled a recent business auction held by authorities in which local Arakanese businessmen lost out to Burman businessmen.

On March 27, 2008, authorities 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 the Western Command Headquarters is located.

The bridges are rented out to businessmen on an annual basis, and the businessmen collect toll from vehicles and people crossing the bridges.

Many businessmen attended the auction, but the authorities awarded the tender to a Burman businessman who happens to be a friend of the Western Command Commander General Maung Shing.

"All bridges up for auction were awarded to U Time Myint, who is a close friend of the western command commander. Arakanese businessmen did not receive any bridge contracts in the auction," the businessman added.

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 in Ann for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.

There is a regulation that priority must be given to local businessmen over those from other regions if their bids are comparable. But in practice local businesses rarely get opportunities at such auctions.

Five years ago, the oil company Dawn Min, which was owned by an Arakanese businessman, was seized by the military authorities after it began competing with Htoo Company owned by Teza.

The company's owner, U Soe Aung, managed to escape to Malaysia 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 developing the region, there is little hope that the project will benefit the local people as much as it will the Burmese Army officials and their close associates.