Rakhine's new chief minister pushes economic development

 

An area for the zone has already been selected and it will be supplied with electricity, a key barrier to the development of manufacturing in the resource rich but chronically under developed state, Chief Minister Maung Maung Oh said. 

The zone will be located at the foot of a mountain near the entrance to the township on the road that links it to the state capital Sittwe. The zone will create jobs for Rakhine residents, the newly appointed chief minister said.

He said electricity would arrive in the township in December. Once the township is connected to the grid construction of the zone will commence, he said. 

Maung Maung Oh said water supply would also be improved in the township, which is located in Sittwe District. He made the comments to town elders and members of civic groups. 

“Development of Ponnagyun Township will occur in the near future,” he told the group. Maj-General Maung Maung Ohn was appointed chief minister of the state on June 30, after being nominated for the position by President Thein Sein. He vowed to make economic development a priority in the state, which has been shaken by communal violence over the past two years.  

The lack of employment in the state, poor infrastructure, and shortage of schools and healthcare facilities have prompted an exodus of young ethnic Rakhine people from the state, as well as rising resentment towards the Union government. Local residents accuse the Nay Pyi Taw of being more interested in the state’s offshore oil and gas than the welfare of its people. 

Aung Kyaw Sein, a resident of the township, welcomed the comments but remained sceptical. “If the factories are built in our state, local people can get jobs, but we don’t know when the industrial zone will be implemented,” he said. “People have fled their home towns to find work in other places. Some now have no desire to return home,” he added.

“The government needs to ensure more factories and work sites locate in Rakhine State,” Aung Kyaw Sein said.

The state’s Engineering Department is now linking power cables to supply electricity to the township, which will be distributed via a substation by December, officials said. 

Only a handful of townships in the state have access to electricity. State officials say they expect garment factories and other manufacturing businesses to set up shop in the industrial zone. 

Seaports under development in the state will facilitate transport through the Bay of Bengal to Europe, and beyond, officials say. 

The state government said it is planning to build five jetties in five cities, including Kyaukphyu.

The first jetty to be built this fiscal year will be in Kyaukphyu. The seaport still lacks the infrastructure to handle cargo and passenger vessels, despite its prime location. 

The government has allocated a total of Ks 1.75 billion for the construction of five jetties. The other four will be located in Yathaetaung, Kyauktaw, Minbya and Myaybon.

In the previous fiscal year, it built five jetties in Mannaung, Pauktaw, Ponnakyun and Rambree, also with a budget of Ks 1.75 billion.

Myint Myat Oo Construction won the contract to build two jetties: one in Rambree at a cost of Ks 260 million and the other in Pauktaw for Ks 290 million.