News & Articles on Burma-Wednesday, 12 January, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Wednesday, 12 January, 2011
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Junta Troops Using Prisoners as Human Minesweepers
China to Operate Oil Wharf in Burma
UN probe must include all armed groups
Artillery shells hit Thailand as fighting rages
Port Project Raises Concerns about Rights, Environment
Karen rebels hold Thai man hostage
University Students Protest Against Rising Bus Fares in Kalay
Parliamentary Books Sell Out on First Day
Minister's Sons to Manage Gas Pipelines
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Junta Troops Using Prisoners as Human Minesweepers
By SAI ZOM HSENG Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The Burmese army has been using hundreds of prison inmates as porters and human minesweepers in the recent conflict with a breakaway faction of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), according to a human rights group based in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.

An estimated 600 prisoners have been sent to the conflict area since fighting broke out between the Burmese army and the DKBA on Nov. 7, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), citing accounts from three recently escaped prisoners.

A civilian porter, center, is forced to carry supplies for Burmese soldiers. (Photo: Free Burma Rangers)
“This shouldn’t happen in any situation,” said Bo Kyi, the joint secretary of the AAPP, speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. “They are, in effect, executing these prisoners by other means.”

He added that the AAPP would continue to investigate the matter and release a statement when it has gathered further evidence. If the claims were true, he said, “It would definitely constitute a crime against humanity.”

The three porters, who all came from Pakokku Prison in Magway Division and were assigned to the Burmese army's Palaw Tapo camp in Myawaddy, Karen State, escaped to Mae Sot on Tuesday and are receiving help from local groups that support refugees on the border.

The oldest of the escaped prisoners, Thaung Htay Oo, 28, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that they were part of a group of 30 inmates from the same prison who had been sent to the area to act as porters.

“We couldn't pay a bribe to the prison officials, so we were sent to the front line,” he said. “We had to carry ammunition, equipment and food for the soldiers. The worst thing is that they used prisoners to clear minefields ahead of their advance.”

He added that he and the two other escaped prisoners—Tin Zaw Min, 21, and Moe Yarzar, 17—fled to Thailand to escape the fate of other porters they had seen.

“There were many prisoners who were injured by the landmines after they were forced to walk ahead of the soldiers. We ran away because we didn’t want the same thing to happen to us,” he said.

Moe Yarzar, the youngest of the three, said that he and the other prisoners from Pakokku Prison were sent to the front line at the end of December, along with other inmates from prisons in Meiktila, Hpa-An and Kawkareik.

“Tin Zaw Min and I were sentenced to five years after we beat up a policeman who slapped my mother. The situation in prison was bad, but on the front line it was much worse. That's why we decided we had to get away, no matter what happens,” he said.

He added that even old men were sent to the conflict area if they couldn't pay a 100,000 kyat (US $120) bribe to prison officials.

Sources on the border say that clashes that took place between DKBA Brigade 5 and Burmese troops on Sunday and Monday were the most intense since fighting started two months ago, suggesting that the Burmese regime is stepping up its efforts to crush the rebel group.


DKBA Brigade 5 is led by Col Saw Lah Pwe, who broke away from the DKBA, a longtime ally of the Burmese regime, late last year.
Other armed groups opposed to the Burmese regime, including the Karen National Liberation Army and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front, have cooperated with Saw Lah Pwe’s Brigade 5 since fighting started on Nov. 7.

Meanwhile, Thailand's government announced on Wednesday that Thai nationals were prohibited from crossing the border into Burma, after a Thai man was reportedly abducted by members of the DKBA and held for a ransom of 300,000 baht ($9,800).
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20513
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China to Operate Oil Wharf in Burma
By THE IRRAWADDY Wednesday, January 12, 2011

China's Qingdao Port has signed an agreement with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to build and operate a wharf on Burma's western coastline from which China will send its crude oil brought from Africa and the Middle East via an inland pipeline to Yunnan Province.

On Jan. 7, CNPC Southeast Asia Pipeline Co., Ltd. and Qingdao Port (Group) Co. Ltd. signed a strategic framework agreement in Beijing on operating the oil wharf in the Arakan coastal town of Kyauk Phyu in Burma, according to the CNPC website.

Kyauk Phyu port in Arakan State (PHOTO: vesseltracker.com)
The state-run China Daily quoted Zhang Hongbo, an industry analyst at China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) as saying: “This agreement is very important for Qingdao Port because this is the first time the port will extend its management expertise overseas.”

CNPC is China's largest oil company. It is the majority shareholder in the joint-venture project which is constructing a dual oil and gas pipeline from Burma's western coast to China's Yunnan Province. Within Burma, the company will build a 793 km-long gas pipeline and a 771 km-long crude pipeline.

The construction of the pipelines officially started on June 3, 2010, after Premier Wen Jiabao, who was then visiting Burma, attended a signing ceremony in Naypyidaw with Burma's Prime Minister Thein Sein, certifying a shareholder agreement between CNPC and Burma's state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).

“The agreements defined CNPC Southeast Asia Co., Ltd. as the controlling party of the joint venture to be in charge of the design, construction, operation, expansion and maintenance of the Myanmar oil and gas pipeline,” said the CNPC website.

But the CNPC gave Qingdao Port, the ninth largest port in the world, the right to construct and manage the wharf in Burma through which China will annually channel 22 million tons of oil and 12 billion cubic meters of gas to Yunnan Province.

China has been expanding its contracts around the world to secure the country's energy security. The cross-border oil and gas pipeline between China and Burma is the fourth after the Kazakhstan-China Crude Pipeline, the Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline, and the Russia-China Crude Pipeline.

Moreover, China has sought the right to operate foreign ports in recent years. The China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), the country's largest shipping company, won the right to operate Piraeus Port in Greece in 2009. China has invested heavily in Kyauk Phyu deep seaport project in Arakan State.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20512
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UN probe must include all armed groups
By KIRSTY OGILVIE
Published: 12 January 2011

Any UN Commission of Inquiry must be truly objective and should investigate all parties to the conflict in Burma. Practically, the threat of an investigation could do much to discourage violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. Politically, a comprehensive investigation might be less likely to antagonise the regime and could engender the support of more of the international community. Only such an impartial investigation could set the stage for real national reconciliation.

It is clear that the UN should instigate a Commission of Inquiry into international crimes committed in Burma. Failure to do so is evidence of its continued impotence and inertia. Egregious human rights abuses such as torture, extrajudicial killings, internal displacement, sexual violence and the use of child soldiers have been documented for decades. The scale and gravity of these breaches of international criminal law powerfully suggest that they amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. An objective investigation into the situation in Burma is therefore imperative.

While the actions of the Burmese government in its various guises are thoroughly deplorable, it must also be recognised that international crimes have been perpetrated by non-state armed groups in Burma. Reports of torture, forced labour and murder committed by these groups are less well-documented and must equally be investigated. Additionally, the recruitment of child soldiers and the use of land mines must urgently be examined. The Burma Lawyers’ Council is trying to educate non-state armed groups about humanitarian and human rights law in the hope that this will help them to adhere to international legal standards. The mere threat of an investigation could have immediate preventative effects and catalyse real change in the attitudes of all armed groups.

Additionally, a partisan inquiry could be politically counterproductive. An investigation only into the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) would be seen, correctly, as a direct attack on the regime. It would be unlikely to engender cooperation from the military and would almost certainly muzzle any steps towards dialogue with the generals. China would be likely to seek to protect the regime in the belief that an international investigation would increase instability in the border regions.

When considering international investigations and judicial processes, we must look beyond the purely legal. Such processes also aim to be anthropologically cathartic. By giving victims of violence the opportunity to confront those held to have wronged them, these processes allow meaningful collective reconciliation and can avoid the perpetuation of enmity. The suggestion that only one party to a conflict is blameworthy denies the victims of other parties a voice. A one-sided investigation could deny the real harm suffered by thousands of civilians at the hands of non-state armed forces. Enmities could remain unresolved, or, as history has demonstrated, deepen. Beware victors’ justice. To be truly beneficial, a Commission of Inquiry must investigate the perpetration of crimes by all parties.

It is understandable that some members of the opposition movement might be uneasy about the investigation of anti-regime armed groups. At this stage, however, concerns about international prosecution are premature. Both the Tutsis and the Hutus were investigated by the Commission of Experts instructed by the UN Security Council to investigate the situation in Rwanda. The Hutu extremists were found to be ultimately responsible for the atrocities committed, and it was only they that were consequently prosecuted in the specially created international tribunal.

There is no established protocol for the creation of a Commission of Inquiry. An inquiry could be instigated by various bodies including the UN Security Council, the Secretary-General, the Human Rights Council or the International Labor Organization. The appeal of the first is that it is the only UN body that could force a referral to the International Criminal Court or set up another international tribunal. It is therefore arguable that only a Security Council mandated Commission of Inquiry would have any real potential bite.

A UN Commission of Inquiry would not be the first in Burma. In response to an ILO Commission of Inquiry, several Tatmadaw Kyi soldiers found guilty of recruiting minors were eventually punished. The Secretary-General’s 2010 report to the UN General Assembly on children and armed conflict states that a tiny number of child soldiers have been released through Burmese Government mechanisms. These commendable, if inadequate, steps demonstrate that objective investigations and recommendations can have some beneficial effect in and of themselves.

Notably, however, Commissions of Inquiry established by the Security Council with regard to the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Darfur were all part of a process that ultimately resulted in international criminal trials. We should not be too hasty to leap to criminal proceedings. Lawyers may talk about the integrity of the pursuit of international justice, but we are navigating inherently political waters. Even the ICC retains the right to refuse a case where an investigation may aggravate a conflict or destabilise a reconciliation effort. Highlighting this, some fear that the indictment of Omar al-Bashir has significantly hindered peace-building efforts in Darfur. Thirty years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the functioning of the internationalised Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia is threatened by political discontent.

The creation of any international judicial mechanism for Burma is a long way off. Since Burma is not a party to the Rome Statute, the ICC cannot initiate proceedings without the order of the Security Council. More immediate concerns therefore include persuading China and Russia not to veto a Security Council mandated Commission of Inquiry. To that end it is critical that calls for an investigation are cogent, developed and impartial. Though political and economic interests may be difficult to overcome, it is likely that China would at least consider supporting measures with the potential to lay the groundwork for genuine security in the border areas.

Kirsty Ogilvie is a Fellow of International Criminal Law at the Burma Lawyers’ Council, and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2010 http://www.dvb.no/analysis/un-probe-must-include-all-armed-groups/13681
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Artillery shells hit Thailand as fighting rages
By DVB
Published: 12 January 2011

A number of stray artillery shells fired during fighting in eastern Burma have landed in Thailand, causing locals to evacuate.

Heavy fighting erupted this week between Burmese troops and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), who have been battling one another in eastern Karen state since November last year.

The Thai News Service reported today that eleven shells had so far landed on Thai soil close to the border town of Mae Sot. The Thai army has subsequently bolstered security along the shared border, while a number of refugees had fled into Thailand.

The DKBA is joined by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF). The combined forces are reportedly facing off against six Burmese army battalions in the area around Hpalu village, which has become the focus of clashes.

The Bangkok Post said today that DKBA troops had taken a Thai civilian, identified only as Mr Kriangsak, hostage in Karen state and were demanding a 300,000 baht ($US9,800) ransom.

The man had reportedly crossed over the border to negotiate a financial matter with the DKBA, but upon failing to reach an agreement, was taken hostage.

Fighting first began on 8 November after DKBA troops, led by renegade commander Na Kham Mwe, took key government positions in Myawaddy, across the border from Mae Sot. Clashes have since continued to occur on a regular basis.

Reports have also emerged that a number of child soldiers have deserted the Burmese army in recent days. One 17-year-old told DVB that the army had stopped providing food rations for troops fighting in Karen state, thus forcing them to escape to the Thai border.

Recruitment of child soldiers by the Burmese army and a number of ethnic armies is widespread, despite being illegal under Burmese law.
http://www.dvb.no/news/artillery-shells-hit-thailand-as-fighting-rages/13674
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Port Project Raises Concerns about Rights, Environment
By YENI Wednesday, January 12, 2011

A new deep-sea port and special economic zone in Tavoy, southern Burma, will bring much-needed infrastructure to the military-ruled country and be a boon to regional trade, but will also present serious risks to the local population and environment, according to experts.

The multi-billion dollar project, which will be financed by the Bangkok-based Italian-Thai Development Public Company, will cover an area of about 260 square kilometers (100 square miles) and affect more than 30,000 people from 19 villages in Yephyu and Longlon townships, near Tavoy, the capital of Tenasserim Division.

Local sources say that even though preparatory work on some parts of the project has already begun, residents of the area still haven't been told how the plan to build what is expected to become Southeast Asia's biggest special economic zone will affect them.

Villagers in the area say they are worried about where they will be relocated to and how they will be compensated for the loss of their land, but don't expect to have any choice in the matter. “If they order us to move, we can't resist,” a villager from Nabule, in the project area, told The Irrawaddy.

Italian-Thai will reportedly spend US $8.6 billion on the new mega-project, which will combine a deep-sea port, industrial estate and trans-border route with sea, road and rail links with Thailand.

The proposed industrial estate will contain a power plant, a steel mill, an oil refinery, a petrochemical complex, a fertilizer plant, a shipbuilding and maintenance yard and a variety of light- and medium-industry factories, as well as a pipeline linking Tavoy to Pu Nam Ron in Thailand’s Kanchanaburi Province.

There will also be residential and commercial developments, including a tourist resort and a recreation complex, according to a PowerPoint presentation prepared by Italian-Thai that is widely circulating on the Internet.

The 10-year project was signed in Naypyidaw on Nov. 2 of last year, five days before Burma held its first election in 20 years. Now groundwork for the first phase of construction—the road to Thailand, a water reservoir, a water and waste-water treatment plant and the 400 MW coal-fired power plant—have been initiated and are due to be completed within five years.

The idea to create this massive new economic zone first started to gain traction in 2008, when the foreign ministers of Thailand and Burma signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the sidelines of a meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers in Singapore. It received a further boost late last year during a visit to Naypyidaw by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who signed an agreement on the project with his Burmese counterpart Thein Sein on Oct. 11.

However, there are still hurdles facing the project, largely due to the involvement of Burma's Western-sanctioned military regime. The Asia Development Bank (ADB) has declined to support the project, despite the fact that it will connect with the three economic corridors of the ADB's Greater Mekong Sub-Region development plan, which aims to create links between the economies of mainland Southeast Asia and China. Thailand's Kasikorn Bank has also rejected Italian-Thai's bid for financing, and the support of major shipping companies and manufacturers is also doubtful. However, according to a report by the International Herald Tribune, Italian-Thai has received backing for the project from a private bank that it would not name.

Meanwhile, Thailand's Minister of Industry, Chaiwut Bannawat, will lead a delegation of Thai business representatives on a fact-finding mission to Burma from Jan. 18-22 to seek information on the Burmese regime's investment policy and its framework for development of the Tavoy project, according to reports by The Nation, a Bangkok-based English-language daily.

While the Thai investors seem confident of the project's eventual success, other observers are less sure about its prospects, at least in terms of bringing any real benefit to the local economy.

Sean Turnell, an expert on the Burmese economy at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, said he was cautiously optimistic about the project. “Longer term, and come a reasonable government in Burma that was genuinely concerned with economic development, Tavoy could become the sort of infrastructure the country needs. But even such longer-term benefits presuppose such a government will emerge,” he said.

In a properly governed economy, the increased efficiencies from such a facility would pay dividends that would accrue to the country hosting it, the Australian economist also noted. “In Burma such dividends will flow not into the country's economy as such, but to the regime and its business associates,” he added.

The International Herald Tribune reported that the project includes a profit-sharing agreement with the Burmese junta, but executives from Italian-Thai said they could not divulge details. Meanwhile, business sources in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy that some of the regime's closest cronies have already been awarded huge contracts related to the Tavoy project. These include Max Myanmar owner Zaw Zaw, who accompanied Burma's top general on a tour of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in China last year, and Stephen Law, who heads Asia World, the country's largest conglomerate, founded by former drug lord Lo Hsing Han in 1992. Both are on US sanctions lists, and both are favored business associates of junta head Snr-Gen Than Shwe and are especially close to former Lt-Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, the Secretary 1 of the ruling junta and chairman of the regime's Trade Council.

With some of Burma's top businessmen already on board, the project has also attracted the attention of other local business people hoping to cash in on what looks like a potential goldmine. Residents of villages near the project area, most of whom make a living by farming or fishing, say that there has been a sudden influx of outsiders, including not only Thai employees of Italian-Thai, but also Burmese from other parts of the country trying to snap up properties ahead of the coming rush.

“There are lots of people coming and going all the time, many of them hunting for houses and land to buy,” said one resident of Maungmagan, a village well known for its attractive beach.

He said people are trying to acquire houses and plots of land in his village because it is not located inside the project area. In that area, he said, nobody is interested in buying property because they know that it could soon be taken away from them.

In Tavoy, a city of around 150,000 inhabitants, residents told The Irrawaddy that land and house prices have doubled or tripled in recent months as businessmen, most of them close to the military regime, look for places to open banks, hotels and other businesses. One local business owner said that an acre of land in downtown Tavoy suitable for building a hotel is now worth as much as 1.5 billion kyat ($1.8 million)—three times what it would have cost before.

The Tavoy project is also expected to increase tourism in the region, especially in southern Tenasserim's Mergui archipelago. One proposal that has been put forward is to extend the reach of the project by 300 miles (483 km) to include the archipelago's pristine islands, which are already famous for their white sand beaches, crystal clear water and abundance of marine life.

While foreign investors consider the potential for future spinoffs from the Tavoy project, Burma's domestic media has focused mainly on its possible impact on the country's economy. Most reports have highlighted how Tavoy will become the region's biggest and most modern seaport, providing a shortcut between Europe and mainland Southeast Asia and possibly transforming Burma's economy the way that Shenzhen marked China's first step along the way to becoming an economic superpower.

What Burma's heavily censored domestic media has not mentioned, however, is the cost of this project for those who will be most directly affected by it. This cost, say observers who have been watching this project take shape, will be measured not only in the loss of land by farmers currently working their fields in the area, but also in the long-term environmental degradation it is expected to cause.

Local officials have told The Irrawaddy that many farmers continue to grow seasonal crops in the project area, but others who worked at rubber plantations are already gone, forced to leave to make way for companies that are increasingly moving in to claim land that has sustained local people for generations.

According to locally based researchers, Kaung Myat Co, Ltd, a Burmese logging company, recently seized 2,000 acres of land in the area, while Hein Yadanan Company confiscated 500 acres belonging to villagers living in Myatta, near the region where the deep-sea port project will be built.

Saw Eh Na, one of the researchers, said that the villagers were not compensated for the loss of their land, and most now have no means of making a living. He added that the land confiscation was likely related to the sea-port project. “The companies will plant rubber that they can sell to companies in the industrial zone that will be built in the Dawei port area,” he said.

Sources also said the trade route that will be built from Tavoy to Thailand also crosses several plantations belonging to Myatta village residents, meaning that many more villagers fear they will soon be forced off their land.

Environmentalists are also worried. They say that the planned project will damage the region's coastline and its relatively untouched wilderness areas. Fueling their concerns is the fact that no environmental impact assessment has been carried out and that the project does not include any environmental conservation plan.

“The construction of a deep-sea port and industrial zone on the Tenasserim coast will severely affect the biodiversity along the coastal region,” said a Burmese marine biologist from the Marine Science Association of Myanmar, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Another scientist who has studied the the region's unique, life-supporting ecosystems echoed these concerns: “Mangrove forest and coral reef are very important places for a wide range for aquatic species. They are necessary environments for the life and reproduction of those species. Without them, aquatic animals can no longer exist. As a result, biodiversity will be ruined.”

Especially sensitive, he said, are the 601 species of coral reefs that have reportedly been found in the Mergui archipelago, which comprises over 800 islands.

Referring to the lack of strong regulations and good governance to protect the environment, an official from the Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation Association (FREDA), a leading Burmese environmental NGO based in Rangoon, also warned of long-term costs.

“Fuel wastes from ships and petrochemical waste from the factories will become an environmental problem that is quite difficult to tackle,” the official said.

None of this is likely to stop the Tavoy project from going ahead, however. As Matthew Smith, a senior consultant at EarthRights International (ERI), an international environmental and human rights group, has noted, “The well-being of the population and the environment simply haven't been prioritized under military rule, especially when business interests come into play.”

This was amply illustrated recently when a court in Kachin state awarded villagers evicted from the Hugawng Valley Tiger Reserve just 80,000 kyat ($96) per acre for land confiscated by the Yuzana Company, which in 2006 was granted 200,000 acres in the reserve to establish sugarcane and tapioca plantations. This was the same amount that was originally offered to them by Yuzana, which is owned by Htay Myint, who is on the US sanctions blacklist and soon to become a sitting member of Burma's Parliament after winning a seat in Tenasserim Division as a candidate for the regime-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party.

Many observers believe, however, that it is precisely this disregard for environmental and human rights protections that makes the Tavoy project so appealing to Thai investors. They note that the shift to Burma comes as Thailand imposes stricter environmental regulations in the wake of findings that residents of Map Ta Phut in Rayong Province had an increased risk of cancer due to air and groundwater pollution from the country's largest industrial port.

However, shifting to Burma carries its own dangers, say activists.

“Investors face serious material and reputational risks, despite the regime's propaganda, and what Asian companies investing in these projects aren't thinking about is the possibility of serious liabilities in courts of law for complicity in abuses in Burma,” said ERI's Matthew Smith.

Ba Thant in Tavoy and Aung Thet Wine in Rangoon contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=20508
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Karen rebels hold Thai man hostage

* Published: 12/01/2011 at 12:00 AM
* Newspaper section: News

TAK : The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) has taken a Thai man hostage in Burma territory and is demanding a 300,000 baht ransom, police say.

The man, identified as only Kriangsak, was being held opposite Tak's Umphang district, they said. Mr Kriangsak is a resident of Taperpoo village in tambon Mokro of Umphang district.

The police said yesterday Mr Kriangsak crossed the border into Burma to negotiate a financial matter with a group from the DKBA. However, he failed to reach an agreement and the DKBA took him hostage and demanded 300,000 baht in cash in exchange for his freedom.

The DKBA claimed Mr Kriangsak owed them this amount.

Tak governor Samat Loifa has assigned Umphang district chief Chawengsak Jaikham to contact the DKBA about Mr Kriangsak's welfare. It has yet to respond.

Yesterday, a special task force of the 4th Infantry Division in Mae Sot district watched an armed confrontation between the DKBA and the Burmese military near Manao island opposite Mae Konken village in tambon Mahawan.

A number of K-81 grenades exploded in Thai territory, a special task force source said.

The source said Thai members of the Thai-Burmese Border Committee (TBC) sent a memo to their Burmese counterparts in Myawaddy asking them to seek assurances from the Burmese military that explosive projectiles were not fired into Thailand.

A group of Burmese soldiers has been surrounded by DKBA militants. The source said a lot of Burmese troops had been killed or injured. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/215604/karen-rebels-hold-thai-man-hostage
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University Students Protest Against Rising Bus Fares in Kalay

Students walking on foot in Kalay (Photo: CG)

12 January 2011: About 500 university students take to the street in Kalay Myo of Sagaing Division today, protesting against a sharp rise in bus fare introduced in the new year by the military authorities.

The students of three universities including Kalay University, Kalay Computer University and Tehnological University (Kalay) walk on foot from Kalay Train Station towards downtown around 7:30am, demonstrating against an increase of bus fares from 100 to 200 Kyats.

"They [the students] have been walking on foot towards their universities since early morning. They are protesting against the bus fares being increased from 100 to 200 Kyats for a single journey to the university," a local resident of Kalay Myo told Chinland Guardian.

"The students have faced difficulties in waiting for and getting on the buses as the service is so limited. So, they are demanding more bus services from the authorities," said a local witness.

In 2007, a sharp increase in fuel price led to popular protests later known as "Saffron Revolution" led by Buddhist monks, which was brutally put off by the military regime.

There are about 4,000 students studying at Kalay University, 1,000 at Government Tehnological University and 400 at Computer University in Kalay Myo. http://chinlandguardian.com/news-2009/1158-university-students-protest-against-rising-bus-fares-in-kalay.html
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Parliamentary Books Sell Out on First Day
By WAI MOE Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The main government bookstore in Rangoon sold out on Tuesday of a set of 17 legal books detailing new parliamentary laws and bylaws on the first day they were for sale.

The set of books was launched a day following the military government's announcement that it will convene the new Parliament on Jan. 31. Several government bookstores, information offices and the Public Relations Department also put the set of legal books for sale on Tuesday.

The state media announced on Monday that the 17 books detailing new laws and bylaws would be published as a matter of public information. The announcement was made alongside junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s declaration that the opening sessions of the new parliaments were to take place at 8:55 am on Jan. 31.

An official with the Sarpay Beikman Book House, belonging to the Ministry of Information, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that one set of 16 law books costs 2,900 kyat (approx. US $3), and that every set was sold out by early that afternoon. He said that one book was yet to hit the bookstands, but that it would do so later that day.

A Rangoon-based journalist who bought the legal books at Sarpay Beikman Book House in downtown Rangoon on Tuesday morning said she witnessed a crowd of people buying the books. “But the bookstore would only sell one set of books per customer,” she said.

Even though Burma's military junta has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1962—particularly over issues such as press freedom—many Burmese citizens have continued to show their desire for knowledge and awareness of contemporary political, economic and social issues by reading and through foreign broadcasts on shortwave radios.

In additional to the pre-parliamentary opening session, the talk of the town on Tuesday was a report stating that every citizen of Burma should do military service.

International media reported on Monday that all men between 18 and 45 and all women between 18 and 35 will be drafted under a new military conscription law.

Commenting on publishing, Nyan Win, a lawyer and spokesman for the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), said that he had learned that new laws and bylaws had been issued by the junta in October though they were not publicly announced. He said that the NLD will soon respond to the new laws and bylaws.

Ahead of the Upper and Lower House openings in Naypyidaw on Jan. 31, officials at the administrative capital are busy preparing a reduction in government ministries, cooperating and assimilating similar ministries into one.

“Currently there are 32 ministries in the Cabinet,” said an official source who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Under the coming government, they will be reduced by up to 50 percent.” http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20503
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Minister's Sons to Manage Gas Pipelines
By YAN PAI Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The IGE Group of Companies, which is owned by Nay Aung and Pyi Aung, the sons of the Burmese regime's Minister of Industry 1 Aung Thaung, has obtained an official permit from the Trade Policy Council (TPC) to transport pipelines to the project areas where natural gas will be transferred from offshore rigs in Burma's western Arakan State to China's Yunnan Province, according to business sources in Burma.

A businessman close to the military regime told The Irrawaddy, on condition of anonymity, that the IGE was granted the pipelines permit even though other companies, which are also close to the military regime, such as Asia World and Max Myanmar, also tried to obtain it.

A ceremony is held to mark the start of construction of the China section on the Sino-Burmese oil and gas pipeline project in China's Yunnan province on September, 2010. [Photo:Xinhua]
“It is a special project, so the decision was taken primarily by “Thiha Thura” Tin Aung Myint Oo, the Secretary 1 of the State Peace and Development Council [SPDC],” he said. Tin Aung Myint Oo is also the chair of the TPC overseeing investment and import-export contracts.

He said the pipelines for the project will be imported from China and then transported to the project areas. Two entry points for the pipelines have been arranged—by road through the Sino-Burmese border in Yunnan Province, and by shipment via the port in Rangoon.

In 2008, IGE reportedly signed a contract worth US $30 million with China's state-run Sinohydro Corporation for the construction of a hydro-power plant on the Salween River.

According to Thailand-based NGO Shwe Gas Movement, IGE will also be responsible for road construction and other related infrastructure projects along the route of the pipeline.

In addition, MRT Construction Co., a subsidiary of IGE, has reportedly been granted a construction permit for a safari project in the country's capital, Naypyidaw.

Aung Thaung is believed to be one of junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe's most trusted subordinates, and his son, Maj. Pyi Aung, is married to Nandar Aye, the daughter of Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, the regime's second-in-command.

According to business sources, Nay Aung is involved in gold mining, oil and gas, importing, and logging businesses under the company names of Aung Yee Phyo, IGE, MRT and the Amara Group, as well as a banking corporation called United Amara.

“Nay Aung can get along well with every ministry,” concluded the businessman. “He has established good relations even with ordinary staff members from the various ministries, so often he knows what a particular ministry needs better than its own ministers.”

Meanwhile, Tin Aung Myint Oo, who reportedly controls personally the movements of construction and other important businesses, has authorized work permits to several of his close business associates.

A businessman close to Asia World, a company owned by his business associate Tun Myint Naing (aka Steven Law), the son of former drug lord Lo Hsing Han, told The Irrawaddy that Tin Aung Myint Oo granted the company permission for the construction of several projects, including hydropower plants, jetties in Rangoon port, airports, and roads and bridges.

He said Tin Aung Myint Oo also gave permission to Max Myanmar, a company owned by his close business associate Zaw Zaw, the chairman of the Myanmar Football Federation, for the construction of several other projects, including the Tavoy deep seaport in southern Burma, football stadia and a children's hospital in Rangoon.

A businessman close to the Htoo Company, which is owned by business tycoon Tay Za, told The Irrawaddy that Tin Aung Myint Oo originally granted the company permission for the construction of Kyauk Phyu deep seaport in western Arakan State, but later ordered that the contract be shared between Htoo Company and his (Tin Aung Myint Oo's) son, former Capt. Tayza Saw Oo, and the Asia World Company.

Political analysts said that Tin Aung Myint Oo has prioritized large-scale projects for prominent businessmen close to him because he may be unsure what his role in the soon-to-be-formed new government will be.

Another of IGE's subsidiaries, the Singapore-registered UNOG, in January 2010 signed a production-sharing contract with Malaysia's Petronas to explore for oil and gas in three blocks in the Gulf of Martaban, south of Rangoon.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20509