Junta accused of using India-funded port in Sittwe to transport supplies for troops

By Admin 13 Dec 2023

DMG Newsroom
13 December 2023, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime is using the India-funded port in Sittwe to deliver construction materials to its battalions in the Arakan State capital, according to locals.

A credible source explained: “General engineering units of the Myanmar military carried construction materials by ship. Those ships are unloaded at Sittwe Port. Other ships are barred from docking at the port.”

Meanwhile, local people in Arakan State are facing fuel and food shortages as the regime has imposed a travel blockade.

“Ships carrying cement can dock at the port, perhaps for repairing buildings damaged by Cyclone Mocha. Ships carrying various kinds of commodities that come from Yangon are not allowed to dock,” said another source close to Sittwe Port.

The regime is effectively banning deliveries of essential goods into Arakan State, said a business owner from Sittwe.

“Ships loaded with our orders for food items and construction materials are stranded in Yangon. Authorities in Arakan State do not allow them to dock. People are suffering from shortages of vital items,” he said.

Rakhine Daily, a Facebook page run by the Arakan State military council, said construction materials for reconstruction of Arakan State are being transported by air, sea and road. The MV Royal Venus vessel carrying construction materials left Yangon for Sittwe on Tuesday.

“There are military tensions in Sittwe. There were attacks [on junta troops] with remote-controlled mines recently in Zawmadek. The regime is using Cyclone Mocha rehabilitation as an excuse to transport goods to its battalions in Sittwe,” said a resident of Sett Yoe Kya Ward in Sittwe.

The port on Myanmar’s Bay of Bengal coast is part of the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project, and was opened in May.