ARN Says Kaladan Project Threatens Livelihoods, Environment and Human Rights

Nov 10, 2009 – A preliminary report released today by the Arakan Rivers Network (ARN) argues that a planned transport facility on the Kaladan River in western Burma’s Arakan State will wreak environmental devastation on the river, and negatively impact the lives of many of the approximately one million civilians living along it.

The Indian government sought approval from the Burmese military regime for nearly a decade for the “Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Facility” (Kaladan Project), as a means of providing a seaport – and thus access to international trade – to the landlocked and restive northeast of India.  The facility aims to move goods in three stages: by sea between the port of Kolkata in eastern India and Site-tway (Sittwe) in Arakan State; by river transport along 225 kilometres of the Kaladan between Site-tway and Kaletwa, in Burma’s northwestern Chin State; and by road via a 62 kilometre highway that will be constructed between Kaletwa and the Burmese border with India’s Mizoram province.  Goods would also be shipped in the opposite direction, and from Site-tway to other locations in southeast Asia.

The governments of India and Burma signed a Framework Agreement for the Project in April 2008, and December 2009 is the target for work to get underway.  Under the terms of the Agreement, the Indian government (through the Ministry of External Affairs) will finance the US $120 million Project and the state-run Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) will oversee the redevelopment of Site-tway port, dredging operations around Site-tway and along 225km of the Kaladan, and construction of an Inland Waterway Terminal (IWT) in Kaletwa.  The Burmese regime will provide for free all of the land required for the project, as well as security for all personnel, materials, equipment, work sites, and the facility itself.  The regime will also be responsible for the construction of the highway to the Indo-Burma border.Read More