The new port in Sittwe, constructed under the India-MyanmarFriendship Kaladan River Multipurpose Transport Project, now costs 40 percentmore for berthing than other ports of Rakhine State.

As the new port runs under a foreign license, theCentral Bank of Myanmar has increased the charge in accordance with the dollarprices, set by the Myanmar authorities, and hence a few domestic ships come toberth on it, said a local trader.

"As the port has a foreign license, its price isvery high compared to other ports. So many ships avoid entering into it,” headded.

Due to the high berthing fees, only three coastalships docked in the port from 20 September till date.

However, the portmanagement is efficient and faster than other ports as it uses large machineriesin handling the cargo ships.

According to localbusinessmen, Shwe Mingang port and a major jetty portsunder the Myanmar port authorities are comparatively less.

"We want to use the new Sittwe port, but it’scostly for us. With the increase of cost, the prices of commodities in theregion will go high and we don't prefer it. So the berth fees should bereasonable,” said a businessman.

He claimedthat the Kalatan River Multi-development Project, which includes Sittwe Port,is geared at regional development while, in fact, it is not.

The new Sittwe port was opened on 9 May by theMyanmar-India government officials. The military council allowed theinternational and domestic cargo ships to dock at the port from 20 September.

The port was built by New Delhi with a cost of US$ 120million and the construction work started in 2009.

A memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) was signed in 2018 by both the neighbouring countries overthe Kaladan project for which New Delhi invested US$ 500 million.

The project is designed to transport goods from Sittweto Paletwa in Chin State by Kaladan river and from Paletwa to the Mizoramborder by road.

Currently, a 117-kilometer two-lane highway fromLawngtlai (Mizoram)  to the Myanmar borderis under construction. After completion of the road, the multi-purpose Kaladanproject will be fully operational.

The traders of both the countries believe that theflow of goods in the entire zone will be increased after completion of theKaladan project and it will benefit them tremendously.