Narinjara news
28 February, 2002
WHY IS THE
MYANMAR BANGLADESH BORDER TRADE INEFFECTUAL
Reported by Shwe Lin Yun
With a view to stop the illegal cross-border smuggling the then Bangladesh
Nationalist Party in 1995 opened the legal border trade between Myanmar and
Bangladesh, opening up a gate to vast legal trade opportunity.
So far the trade
has been carried out through the Naaf river so that the bulk of the trade between the two
countries has been done as usual, through smuggling. As a result the
border trade has not done well as expected during the last seven years.
On the contrary,
if two land-ports, one at Naikkhongchhari of Bandarban district and another at Kach-chapia
of Ramu under Cox'sbazaar
district of Bangladesh are established, the trade between the two countries
will flourish very much, it is expected by many members of the business
community in the southern parts of Bangladesh.
While discussing
the matter with some of the businessmen, it was learnt that, goods from Myanmar
usually come to Bangladesh in two ways: a large chunk of the
imported goods are brought in cargo boats and trawlers directly from Akyab (Sittwe) of Rakhine State to the transit ghat
at Teknaf on the western bank of the Naaf river in Bangladesh, and the bigger chunk of the goods
make way clandestinely through smugglers, evading taxes.
Trade is also done by bringing goods to Maungdaw on
the eastern bank of the Naaf river
in Rakhine State
and then bringing them in boats across the common river. This way the
price of the goods increase and the time is also wasted. When the goods
are carried by road transports to all over Bangladesh,
the price of the goods goes on increasing over the distance. Besides
installing land ports in the two towns of Maungdaw
and Teknaf is impossible due to the Naaf river serving as the
common river.
On the contrary, the experienced traders and
merchants are of the opinion that, if one land port on each side of the border
pillar 45 is installed, the ancient Arakan road will once again come to life
and the border trade will gain momentum.
Talking to some of the educationists and local leaders of Naikkhongchari
and Ramu, it was learnt that the distance between the
border pillar 45 and Dulahazara, the point where Chittagong Cox'sbazaar road has
met, is merely 38 kilometres. If the road is renovated, two bridges (a
total of 250 m long) are constructed on the Eidgaon
stream and the Baak-khali river
and a few culverts are built, the old Arakan road will come to life once again.
On the other hand, within Rakhine
State, the road from border pillar
45 to Bawlibazar and Shahbazarwhich needs renovating extends only to 30
km. From there the road goes to Buthidaung,
Rathedaung, Maungdaw and Sittwe. The transportation will take less time and
money.
On the Bangladesh
side, the transportation cost for 120 km from Teknaf
to Dulahazara will be eliminated. The land
ports will also ensure proper tax collection and minimize smuggling. #