Aseanews Headline: RANGON- Week in Review: Rakhine in focus

Christine Schraner Burgener, the United Nations special envoy for Myanmar, on Wednesday visited Muslim refugees who were displaced by the 2012 conflict. A Rakhine State government official said Burgener met with refugees at A Nout Ye and Kal Ni Pyin camps in Pauktaw township.

The camps were among those recommended to be closed as part of a long-term solution to the conflict recommended by the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine.

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On Tuesday, the government barred Burgener from visiting refugee camps in areas where there have been clashes between security forces and the Arakan Army (AA), particularly Buthidaung township, where some 5000 villagers have fled their homes because of the fighting.

According to the state government, Burgener visited another camp on the outskirts of Sittwe and met with representatives of local civil society groups before she returned to Yangon.

U Mya Than, deputy speaker of the Rakhine parliament, said that during her visit the special envoy focussed on the refugees and the clashes between the Tatmadaw (military) and AA, and did not bring up the repatriation of over 700,000 refugees from northern Rakhine who are living in crowded temporary camps in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Rakhine is raising efforts to lure investors amid renewed fighting in the north. Rakhine Chief Minister U Nyi Pu said that for the state to develop, it will target investment in tourism, fisheries and agriculture at an investment fair to be held in February in Ngapali, southern Rakhine.

He said there are opportunities to invest in hotels in Ngapali Beach and other beaches along the Rakhine coast.

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In fisheries, funds are needed to build, upgrade and expand fish farms and processing factories, while agriculture requires investments in technology and converting farmland into areas that can double as farm and aquaculture zones.

Other sectors with growth potential include foodstuffs and garment manufacturing, power generation and distribution, education, health care and infrastructure, U Nyi Pu said.

Meanwhile, power transmission lines measuring 104 kilometres and a substation that will serve Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships in Rakhine were officially launched on Wednesday.

The infrastructure will now provide electricity around the clock to some 7800 households in the four townships, said Myanmar Minister for Electricity and Energy U Win Khaing.

Before the project’s completion, only a small fraction of households enjoyed generator-supplied electricity for 5-12 hours a day.

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