Burmese Prime Minister Lt. General Thein Sein on Tuesday visited Buthidaung, a key town in northern Arakan, but his tour is unrelated to the election campaign, said a government official from Maungdaw on condition of anonymity.

"Everybody thought the visit of the PM to Buthidaung was related to the election campaign because his tour came about soon after the election law was announced. Actually, he came to the area to inspect the Sai Din hydropower project," the official said.

The Burmese regime has been building the Sai Din hydropower plant in Buthidaung Township since January this year, but the project has been postponed due to lack of funding.

"In April, the government is going to allocate the state budget to all ministries. Before the budget allocation, he visited Sai Din hydropower project to investigate regarding budget allocation for the project," the official added.

The Sai Din project is located a few miles south of Buthidaung, 80 miles north of Sittwe, and the power plant is expected to produce 70 megawatts of electricity.

PM Lt. General Thein Sein flew to the Sai Din plant from Paletwa in southern Chin State with two helicopters yesterday afternoon. He came to Paletwa from Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, yesterday morning. Lt. General Thein Sein also landed in Kyauktaw Town before visiting Paletwa.

"The Sai Din hydropower project is important among the many projects in Burma because the government wanted to distribute electricity to Arakanese towns throughout the state," the official said.

However, many believe the power project is not intended to benefit Arakan, but rather is for selling power to Bangladesh and other Burmese divisions and states where many factories are situated. Power Ministry One Minister General Zaw Min told journalists in Burma last month that all of Arakan State is currently only using 30 megawatts of electricity, so the additional power generated will be supplied to other divisions and states.

According to an official source, the Prime Minister met many army and government officials in the Buthidaung cantonment during the afternoon. In the meeting he urged the officials to work for the success of the junta's seven-point road map. He stated that the election is important for the state because it is the last point on the road map.

After the meeting, he flew to Sittwe from Buthidaung at 3 pm. He canceled his scheduled visit to Maungdaw on the western Burma border.

Today he is expected to visit some major towns in Arakan State, including Mrauk U, Kyauk Pru, Ann, Taungup and Thandwe.