Regime pushes ahead with Kyaukphyu SEZ despite fighting

By Admin 14 Dec 2023

DMG Newsroom
14 December 2023, Kyaukphyu

Despite ongoing fighting in Arakan State, Myanmar’s military regime is pushing ahead with the China-backed Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project.

The central committee on special economic zones in Myanmar held a meeting on Tuesday, which was attended by officials of the management committees of the Thilawa, Kyaukphyu and Dawei SEZs.

Central committee chairman U Aung Naing Oo said the committee would soon select citizen-owned companies that would be allowed to invest in the Kyaukphyu deep-sea port. It is not clear how many citizen-owned companies have proposed to invest in the deep-sea port, which is part of the Kyaukphyu SEZ.

He also called for preparing vocational training programmes so that young people including locals can get jobs when the deep-sea port project begins.

Meanwhile, the regime has blockaded roads and waterways in Arakan State, leading to food shortages and rising prices.

“The regime has blockaded Kyaukphyu and cut off food supplies for local people. But it says local people will see socio-economic development after the project is completed. It is saying one thing and doing another. If they really want to create development for local people, they should first lift the blockade so that local people can overcome the food shortage,” said an activist from Kyaukphyu.

The regime is pushing ahead with the Kyaukphyu SEZ project for its own interests, said local people.

“Though they say the region will be developed after the project is completed, there is still no law in place about what benefits local people will get from the project. No one can guarantee it. Everything is in the hands of the regime. So, they are brazenly proceeding with the project while people are in trouble,” said a Kyaukphyu resident.

The Kyaukphyu SEZ includes an industrial zone, residential zone and a deep sea port, and China and Myanmar have agreed to implement the deep-sea port first.

The deep sea port project covers 607 acres— 370 acres of land in Made Island in Kyaukphyu Township, and 237 acres in Ramree Township. According to a 2017 report of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), some 20,000 people in the project area needed to be relocated.