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.

The ARN report outlines three primary areas of concern for the civilians inhabiting areas around the Kaladan: the environmental impact of such large-scale development on one of the world’s few remaining untouched rivers; the human rights implications of a significantly increased military presence along the river; and the devastating effects on individual livelihoods of both environmental degradation and the abuses stemming from militarisation of the area.

The environmental concerns centre on the fact that the Kaladan has remained unpolluted and unaffected by development over thousands of years, so its ecosystems may be too fragile to cope with the impacts of dredging, including changes in river flow and turbidity, as well as increased traffic and pollution on the river.  The Kaladan and its watershed are also home to numerous rare or endangered species.  The Framework Agreement makes no mention of environmental impact surveys or standards for the development; rather the only reference to the environment occurs in the article binding the Burmese regime to provide for free any “permissions from the local authorities on account of environment.”

Environmental damage also bears serious consequences for the livelihoods of the individuals and communities living along the Kaladan.  The report predicts that millions of people could see rapid depletion of their food supplies as the coast near Site-tway and 225 kilometres of the Kaladan River are dredged of almost 2.5 million cubic metres of material. The river, lined with the homes of approximately one million people, is for many a key source of water, fish and crabs, and is surrounded by paddy fields. Food security is of particular concern now due to a famine affecting Arakan and Chin States, which has steadily worsened since 2007, and has caused many to leave their homes.

According to ARN’s director, Aung Marm Oo, “Arakanese people rely heavily on rivers for fishing and farming; rivers are crucial arteries for regional trade in fish and agriculture, as well as the transportation of local people, since the state lacks good roads. If developments on the Kaladan go forward, local businesses will be severely harmed and hundreds of acres of cultivated land along the rivers will have to be abandoned.”

The human rights concerns highlighted in the report include land confiscation, forced labour, as well as sexual crimes and a general increase in violence against civilians.  These have been well-documented elements of both development projects and the deployment of units of the Burma army to civilian areas, and particularly so in Burma’s ethnic regions.  The ARN report notes several instances of such abuses along the Kaladan River in the past few months associated with the massive surge in the military presence in Arakan State.  The ARN intends to document ongoing abuses as the project gets underway.

The report also points out the ways in which the increased military presence impedes the ability of civilians to secure their livelihoods, and strains their usually limited personal and communal resources.  Nearly 30 new military checkpoints have been established along the Kaladan since 2006, and merchants plying the waterway have complained of extortion from soldiers. This has meant serious restrictions on local business, especially in Kyauk Taw and Paletwa townships, as well as around the upper part of the river.

According to Lunn Htein, an Arakanese youth living near the Indian-Burma border, “The soldiers at the checkpoints demand money from merchants selling things like dried fish and domestic products. Three years ago they made good profits along this waterway but now this is impossible and they have lost a lot, especially in 2009.”

The regime’s “self-reliance policy”, which forces each military battalion to support itself independently, has also led to high rates of extortion. “Most of the soldiers there are staying in the villages, not in their camps,” Lunn Htein explained. “Therefore, local villagers must support them with water and chickens. They give six chicken cages per village once a month.”

The impact on local economies and individual livelihoods of restrictions on access to the river, and freedom of movement on it, must not be underestimated.  For thousands of years the people of Arakan and Chin states have depended on rivers as their primary means of travel; today, the absence of good roads means that traders of rice, fish, meat, firewood, and other staple products continue to rely entirely on their waterways to keep their businesses afloat and to feed their families.

In light of these concerns, Aung Marm Oo today urged state governments and multi-national corporations to refrain from doing business in Burma, and to discontinue all planned developments until a democratically-elected government was in place that could be accountable to the individuals affected by projects such as the Kaladan facility.  He suggested that India bears a special responsibility to the disenfranchised people of Burma: “As the largest democratic country in the world, India has a responsibility to defend democratic principles and not support the Burmese military regime. The government must freeze investment in this and all other river development projects in Burma and refrain from further investment until the affected people of Burma can decide on the use of their natural resources through a democratically-elected government without fearing persecution.”

The full report can be viewed here.

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