An increasingly hypersensitive military junta set up a high-powered radar station at a naval base on the Arakan coast on December 24 2005, said a source with contacts in the Burmese Navy.

The radar station is situated at Kyunt Thaya Island, a sub-naval base under the Danyawaddy naval base in Kyaukphu, the third largest naval base in Burma.

A number of army officials from Rangoon and Sittwe attended the opening ceremony, but the local people were unable to obtain the name of the general, said a boat owner.

The military authorities are also setting up a number of windmills to produce electricity at three sub-naval bases - Kyunt Thaya, Manaung, and Nantha Kyunt, situated on the Arakan coast.

At Kyunt Thaya sub-naval base, the military authorities have recently constructed a large concrete water tank.

The Burmese military regime has reportedly set up at least four sub-naval bases on the Arakan coast to guard the sea and the offshore gas field drilling operations.