KALADAN NEWS
Date: Thursday, July 01, 2004
An Odd Deal of Burma with a Bangladeshi Survey Team:
Team returned just after 4 hours from four days
Cox’s Bazar, July 2: Burmese authorities deal strange with a Bangladeshi survey team that went to Burma for four days, but returned home only after four hours without any response from concerned authorities, according to our correspondent.
On 21st June 2004, a 3-member survey team led by Abed Uddin, Additional Head of Engineer from Technical Department of Dhaka including Mohammad Idris, Chittagong Zonal Additional head of Engineer and Mohammad Kabir, an in-chare-of Bridge Mapping Department went to Burma for only 4 days, to survey a bridge construction over Purma River at Maungdaw Township in Arakan State, he further added.
Previously, the Burma and Bangladesh governments have made an agreement for direct road link between Rangoon and Dhaka. So, the bridge construction over the Purma River of Maungdaw Township is concerned to the Asian high way. Bangladesh has to bear all the cost of the construction of the bridge over the Purma River.
Burma- Bangladesh friendship road will be started in coming winter (2004 winter season) for direct road link between Rangoon and Dhaka. Regarding this, a 25 km Taungbro-Bawli Bazar road in Burma and a proposed 91 km cross-border high way would be built from Ramu of Chittagong Divission to Buthidaung in Arakan State at an estimated cost of about Taka 400 crore, said the Bangladesh Communication Minister Nazmul Huda on 22nd December 2003.
On 21st June 2004, at about 7:00 am, the said survey team left Teknaf for Cox’s Bazar and reached there at about 9:00 am. At about 10:00 am, they have to cross the Naf River, but they didn’t receive any news from their counterparts of Burma. So, they waited at Teknaf still 12:00 noon hoping to receive any information from Burma. But they didn’t receive any news till noon from Burma, according to a reporter of the Daily Cox’s Bazar.
At last, they didn’t waste time at Teknaf and decided; in any case, they would reach to Burma. So, they took a speedboat from BDR (Bangladesh Border Security Force- Bangladesh Rifles) of Teknaf and crossed the Naf River and reached on the other side of the river. Afterwards, they have reached a police station of Maungdaw Town, Arakan State with the corporation of Nasaka (Burma Border Security Force), report further added.
They have waited at the police station for their counterparts’ arrival, till 4:30 pm. But, they (from Burma side) didn’t appear and even they (survey team) didn’t receive any response from the concerned authorities of Burma. These made very frustration to the Bangladesh survey team and so they crossed the Naf River again and reached Bangladesh side at about 6:30 pm, and then proceeded to their journey and reached Cox’s Bazar at about 8:30 pm. On the next day, 22nd June 2004, at about 10:00 am, the team left Cox’s Bazar for Chittagong and Dhaka, said Mr Kabir, an additional engineer of Cox’s Bazar District.
According to their schedule, the counterparts of Burma would receive the Bangladesh survey team. They also have to discuss with the local authorities of Arakan State, concerning the construction of Purma River Bridge. But, all the plans and programs have been destroyed as the higher authorities of engineering team from Akyab and Rangoon failed to come in time at Maungdaw Town, said Mr.Kabir.
According to Mr. Kabir, the survey team will go again to Burma in future to survey about the bridge construction over the Purma River of Maungdaw Township after discussion between two countries.
Bangladeshi people believe that there was some misapprehensions happened between two countries, said local people from Teknaf. ##
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