Steel sent by cargo ship to construct a bridge is unusable said a Chin State government spokesperson.

Experts from Japan inspected the cargo twice and on the second time found it wouldn’t hold the weight for the bridge that is planned on the Kalandan River in Chin State.

“At first, Japanese experts thought the steel would be usable but after testing it in a laboratory we realize it was too damaged,” Soe Htet said.

The Arakan Army (AA), an armed group fighting with the Myanmar Army, torched nearly 300 tonnes of steel on the cargo ship during its voyage from Yangon to Paletwa township.

The steel that was made by the Union government’s ministry of construction and JF3 company, as well as the other damaged goods on the vessel, are valued at US $327,360 (est. MMK 491 million).

During a press conference, U Kyaw Lin, deputy minister of the ministry of construction, said the products are covered by IKBZ insurance company.

If the compensation is received in a timely fashion, the construction of the Kalandan Bridge will meet its deadline and be finished on Chin National Day in 2020.