Thursday, December 24, 2009

Burma steps up work to complete border fencing

 
Thursday, 24 December 2009 18:59 Nyein Chan

Dhaka (Mizzima) - Reinforcements of 100 police personnel have been made on the Burma-Bangladesh border on Sunday to step up work on the ongoing fencing work.

The policemen are from the No (2) Riot Police Battalion stationed in Buthidaung Town. They were deployed on the Burma-Bangladesh border village of Kanyin in Maungdaw Township to reinforce the workforce.

According to a Maungdaw Town Peace and Development Council official, with police and soldiers sent from various battalions, the workforce has topped 1000. The authorities are gearing up to complete the fencing before the 2010 monsoon.

About 800 soldiers from the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 371,374,375, 376, 378, 379 of the Tactical Unit (15) along with Maungdaw-based Riot Police Battalion (13) and border security forces are working on the construction of the border fence.

Businessmen, who came across the construction site, said they saw soldiers dressed in half uniforms with badges of the Border Security Force, working on the fencing.

Burmese authorities, since March began fencing the border in an effort to curb illegal trade, smuggling of goods, and illegal migration into the two countries. Burma, which shares an 180-kilometre border with Bangladesh, will fence about 80 kilometres.

So far the border security forces have completed erecting poles on a stretch of 40 kilometres. The polls are 12 feet high and are erected at an interval of 10 feet each.