News & Articles on Burma
Wednesday, 30 March, 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------
Q+A - Will Myanmar's new government bring any change?
Burma military rule ends, but retains grip
Secretive Myanmar replaces military junta with "civilian" government
Parliament takes control in Burma
Myanmar president known for 'total loyalty' to junta
Burma strongman back under new title
Burma military regime ‘dissolved’, Thein Sein regime takes the office
Burma's new government sworn in
President sworn in, junta dissolved
Junta army takes a beating, war goes on
General Min Aung Hlaing named as new c-in-c of defense services
Burma junta 'dissolved': state TV
Myanmar military announces end of junta after over two decades
---------------------------------------------------
Q+A - Will Myanmar's new government bring any change?
By Martin Petty
BANGKOK | Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:17pm IST
(Reuters) - Myanmar inaugurated its first civilian government in nearly half a century on Wednesday, but with members of the old military regime still in prominent positions, the prospect of any big change remains slim.
The army junta made way for a new president to lead a government of 30 ministers, most of whom are retired or serving generals who were part of the old power clique that has ruled the former British colony with an iron fist.
Below are some questions and answers about what lies ahead for Myanmar, a resource-rich country nestled strategically between India, China and Thailand but held back by decades of trade sanctions and economic mismanagement.
WILL MUCH CHANGE IN MYANMAR?
With most of the same faces still holding the reins of power, reforms are unlikely in the near term, and especially while the junta's authoritarian, 78-year-old paramount leader, Senior General Than Shwe, is still alive.
The release from seven years of house arrest of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in November raised hopes of positive change ahead, but the regime has given no indication it will mend its ways or shift its stance on anything.
Dozens of laws have been passed in virtual secrecy and a huge, largely opaque, privatisation process went ahead in advance of the formation of parliament, laying the foundations for a new system that looks very much like the old one -- dominated by the generals and their business cronies.
Since the Nov. 7 election, the junta has continued to sideline and jail its opponents.
It has made no effort to reach out to the international community, hold a dialogue with Suu Kyi, seek reconciliation with armed ethnic groups, free an estimated 2,100 political prisoners or bring pro-democracy forces into the political fold.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THAN SHWE?
Myanmar's paramount leader has relinquished his political and military positions and is likely to retire, but he will continue to wield sizable influence and few will dare to challenge him. Than Shwe is believed to have monopolised all power since he took over in 1992 and it is unlikely his successors will dream of operating independently.
Than Shwe has placed loyalists in all the key positions in the executive, judiciary, legislature and armed forces. The power Than Shwe once held will now be shared between the president, the cabinet, parliament and the military, an effective slicing-up of responsibilities probably designed to prevent the emergence of another strongman, analysts say.
Than Shwe purged his predecessors and is known to be deeply unpopular, not just among the public but within the army itself. Analysts say he may have devised the new system to allow himself a gradual exit from the political scene.
IS THERE A CHANCE SANCTIONS WILL BE LIFTED?
Although it is widely accepted that Western sanctions have failed to hurt the regime, seving only to push the country closer to China and its Asian allies, there is no sign the embargoes will be lifted any time soon and the international community is largely sceptical about the new administration.
Western countries have indicated they will need to see concrete changes before lifting the embargoes. Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently recommended they remain in place although it has urged dialogue on the issue.
This stance has angered the generals, but experts say the NLD is probably using sanctions as a bargaining chip, as it tries to push ahead with its pro-democracy agenda at a time when it has no official role, having been banned by the authorities for refusing to take part in the general election.
The dissolution of the junta will be seen as a positive step by the international community, which may try to test the waters by seeking engagement with the new leadership. It remains to be seen if the former generals now in charge of the country will respond.
WILL ANYTHING POSITIVE COME OUT OF THIS?
Most experts say the new government will be much like the old one, especially while Than Shwe is alive, although some see this as a window of opportunity for change, albeit small.
One bright spot is the formation of 14 regional assemblies that are seen as a chance for Myanmar's many ethnic groups to have a say in local politics in a way that would not threaten the military's grip on central power.
Although the military retains a powerful role, its move away from direct control could provide room for outsiders and raise the chances of much-needed reforms.
Several of the new ministers are civilians with non-military backgrounds. An academic heads the education ministry and the rector of a medical institute is in charge of the health portfolio, suggesting there is scope for the involvement of technocrats in government.
Many experts say the onus for a shift in approach is as much on the international community as on the new government. They warn that if the West maintains its hardline stance towards Myanmar, it could squander a chance to bring about change for its impoverished people. That's why the lifting of sanctions, or at least a review, them, is seen as vital.
(Editing by Alan Raybould) http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/03/30/idINIndia-55987420110330?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=401
-----------------------------------------------
BANGKOK POST
Burma military rule ends, but retains grip
Published: 30/03/2011 at 02:31 PM
Online news:
Burma's military handed power to a nominally civilian government after almost 50 years in power Wednesday, as the ruling junta was disbanded and a new president appointed.
Myanmar honour guards on parade in the capital Naypyidaw in February 2011. Myanmar's junta has been "officially dissolved", according to state media, after the country swore in a new president on Wednesday.
Burma state television reported the junta's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) "has been officially dissolved", quoting an order signed by Senior General Than Shwe.
Than Shwe, who has ruled with an iron fist since 1992, was referred to only as "chairman of the SPDC" in the report and has apparently been replaced as army chief.
But despite the changes the military retains a firm grip on power in Burma, and many analysts believe Than Shwe will attempt to retain some sort of control behind the scenes.
The SPDC, previously known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council, or SLORC, seized power in 1988, but Burma has been under military authority since 1962.
The historic announcement of the nominal end of its rule came after an official said a new army chief attended the inauguration of Thein Sein -- a close ally of Than Shwe -- as president, apparently indicating the junta head had been replaced.
General Min Aung Hlaing was present at the swearing-in as Commander in Chief of the country's army, a post held by Than Shwe until now, according to the official.
"It's not clear yet whether he has officially taken up this position," the official said.
Prime Minister Thein Sein, who shed his army uniform to contest controversial elections last year, was formally sworn in as president, the official added.
He was named in February for the top job in the new parliament, where the military hierarchy retains a stranglehold on power.
"Altogether 58 new cabinet members including the president, two vice-presidents, officials and ministers were sworn in this morning at the Union Parliament" in Naypyidaw, the official added.
The apparent new army chief, 54-year-old Min Aung Hlaing, is part of a younger generation of Burma generals.
He was headmaster at the Defence Services Academy and a commander of the so-called golden triangle region, near the country's borders with Laos and Thailand.
Burma also replaced signs referring to its junta on Wednesday, officials said.
Ceremonies were held across the country as the names of government offices were changed to reflect the new political system, which came into effect after an election last November that critics say was a sham to entrench military power.
Across Burma, "Peace and Development Council" offices, echoing the name of outgoing State Peace and Development Council, were renamed "General Administrative Departments", officials said.
The signs are now a slightly lighter shade of green, similar to the colour used by Thein Sein's junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which claimed an overwhelming majority in the poll.
The formation of a national assembly in Naypyidaw, convened for the first time at the end of January, takes the country towards the final stage of the junta's so-called "roadmap" to a "disciplined democracy".
A quarter of the parliamentary seats were kept aside for the military even before the country's first poll in 20 years, which was marred by the absence of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and claims of cheating and intimidation.
USDP lawmakers bagged 388 of the national legislature's 493 elected seats.
Suu Kyi has no voice in the new parliament. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party was disbanded for opting to boycott the vote because the rules seemed designed to bar her from participating.
The election, and Suu Kyi's release from house arrest a few days later, have reignited a debate about economic sanctions enforced by the United States and European Union because of Burma's human rights abuses. http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/229488/burma-military-rule-ends-but-army-retains-grip
--------------------------------------------------
Secretive Myanmar replaces military junta with "civilian" government
Secretive country's new government is dominated by appointees from the military regime.
News DeskMarch 30, 2011 07:27
A file picture taken on March 27, 2010 shows Thein Sein, left, sitting along with some of the country's senior leaders ahead of the Armed Forces Day parade in the capital Naypyidaw. (Christophe Archamboult/AFP/Getty Images)
The military junta that has controlled Myanmar for decades was disbanded on Wednesday after widely-criticized elections installed a civilian government featuring many of the same faces.
State media reported that Thein Sein, an ex-general and the junta's former prime minister, was sworn in as president in a ceremony held behind closed doors in the secretive country's remote capital, Naypyitaw.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, held its first elections in 20 years last November after committing to democratic reforms in the face of international pressure.
The vote, which was boycotted by Nobel-winning democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi, was marred by claims of cheating and voter intimidation.
Two new vice-presidents — Tin Aung Mying Oo and Sai Mauk Hkam — also took their oaths in Wednesday's ceremony, AFP said.
Min Aung Hlaing, was named as the new commander of Myanmar's armed forces, replacing Than Shwe, the strongman who has held sway over Myanmar for much of the military's half-decade rule over the country.
There was no mention of the 78-year-old at Wednesday's ceremony, but there were claims he would be remain a powerful figure behind the scenes.
Under the country's constitution, the new parliament must feature 100 military nominees. The Associated Press said the 30-member Cabinet is also dominated by former military officers, with only four fully civilian appointees.
Suu Kyi, who won elections in 1990 but was prevented from taking power and eventually placed under long-term house arrest, said she hoped her opposition National League for Democracy would have a better dialogue with the new leadership.
"We always want good relations with the government. I hope that the relationship improves," she said, according to AP. "We will work for good relations."
-- Barry Neild http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/110330/myanmar-burma-junta-election
------------------------------------------------
Parliament takes control in Burma
Published: March 30 2011 10:28 | Last updated: March 30 2011 10:28
Burma’s generals have handed over power to the new government elected in last November’s controversial ballot.
Thein Sein, a retired general who is also the outgoing prime minister, was formally sworn in as president at the new parliament on Wednesday morning.
Optimists hope that the handover to a nominally civilian administration could mark a new beginning for a country that has been under military rule for the past 49 years, but pessimists point out that the new administration is mostly made up of former generals and that Senior General Than Shwe, who has ruled the country since 1992 and is still controlling the transition, has installed allies in all the key posts of the new government.
“This is the moment that the hopeful people are looking to,” said Khin Omar, of the Network for Democracy and Development, an exile pressure group, but she has low expectations. “They are going to change some people but it is not going to make a change on the ground.”
Gen Than Shwe seems to have chosen Thein Sein for his personal loyalty and lack of any ambition to challenge his mentor. The new president, 65, became prime minister in 2007 and has a reputation for relative personal probity but he has a heart condition and at least one of his vice-presidents is known as a military hardliner.
The Union Solidarity and Development Party headed by Mr Thein Sein, won last November’s elections – which were widely believed to have been rigged – claiming 76 per cent of the seats in the two national houses of parliament.
The National League for Democracy, the party led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, opted not to participate on the grounds that the constitution rammed through by the generals in a discredited referendum in 2008 precluded a democratic outcome. The National Democratic Force, an NLD splinter group that did run and now forms the largest national opposition party in parliament, was allowed to win just 12 seats in the two federal houses.
The handover of power is a key part of the generals’ seven-step programme for “discipline-flourishing democracy”. The constitution reserves 25 per cent of the seats in the two national and 14 regional assemblies for serving military officers and gives the army chief wide latitude to suspend democratic institutions and reimpose military rule if he sees fit.
Even the optimists believe there is little hope of immediate change, but they say that friction between the different centres of power – the executive, the army, the new parliament and the USDP – could create some democratic space in the longer term.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2bea1644-5a8f-11e0-8900-00144feab49a.html#axzz1I4oku5g8
--------------------------------------------------
STRAITS TIMES: Mar 30, 2011
Myanmar president known for 'total loyalty' to junta
Thein Sein was sworn in as Myanmar's new president. -- PHOTO: AFP
BANGKOK - WITH a military career spanning almost 50 years and a reputation for absolute loyalty to Myanmar's junta strongman, Thein Sein was seen as an obvious choice to become the nation's new president.
Slender, balding and bespectacled, Mr Thein Sein, who was sworn in on Wednesday as part of a purported transition to a civilian rule, cuts a less domineering figure than the military's stouter senior general, Than Shwe.
The former general, who shed his uniform to contest the country's controversial November elections, is however someone strongman Than Shwe 'can trust, someone who will listen to him", Myanmar expert Aung Naing Oo said recently.
'It is not an accident that he came to power because he is considered 'Mr Clean',' said the expert, adding the 65-year-old was not linked to business groups or factions forming among lawmakers in Myanmar's new parliament.
Mr Thein Sein was described as working 'from the same script' as the junta number one in a 2009 US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks recently.
He is also 'regarded as a 'mystery man'' who has 'risen quietly under the patronage of Than Shwe, to whom he has shown 'total loyalty',' according to Benedict Rogers in his biography of Myanmar's supreme leader. -- AFP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_651096.html
-------------------------------------------------
Burma strongman back under new title
ABC NEWS: 30 March, 2011:Last Updated: 5 hours 30 minutes ago
Burma's state television says the country's military regime has officially been dissolved.
But the country's long-time military strongman, Than Shwe, will continue to rule the country under a different official title.
Prime Minister Thein Sein has been sworn in as president.
He left the army for civilian life to take part in last year's controversial election.
A new commander in chief of the army has replaced Than Shwe.
Last year's election, the first in in 20 years, was marred by the absence of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party, and claims of cheating and voter intimidation. http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201103/3178093.htm?desktop
-----------------------------------------------------
Burma military regime ‘dissolved’, Thein Sein regime takes the office
By Zin Linn Mar 30, 2011 4:18PM UTC
Government officials in Burma announced this morning that former retired general and Prime Minister Thein Sein, the head of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, has been publicly sworn in as the country’s new president, according to the Myanmar Radio an Television (MRTV).
State media also released a broadcast just after midday today saying that the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), which has ruled Burma in a variety of masks since 1988, has been dissolved at state and regional levels to pave way for new election winning party, the USDP, as the full transformation has been organized.
Quoting the television news of the state media, an order signed by Than Shwe has been come out and said “since the next cabinet was sworn in, the SPDC has been officially dissolved”.
The declaration came after an official said a new commander-in-chief of Burma army attended the inauguration of Thein Sein as president; it seems that the junta top job had been substituted. General Min Aung Hlaing was present at the swearing-in as Commander in Chief of the armed forces, the post seized by Than Shwe for more than two decades, according to an official.
Wunna Maung Lwin, Burma or Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, has been appointed as Foreign Minister according to the official MRTV.
Myanmar (Burma) has been under the military rule since 1962 and again in 1988 when the army crushed a pro-democracy movement, killing over 3,000 citizens.
The junta, led by Than Shwe since 1992, held a general election on 7 November 2010 that voted in a new government, led by the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party. But, the polls were accused as vote-rigging at numerous ballot-stations throughout the nation.
At least six parties have lodged complaints with the election commission, charging the USDP of fraud, an accusation that is doubtful to gain balance in a country where 2,200 political activists are behind bars without fair trials.
On 10 November 2010, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) denounces the current ASEAN Chair Vietnam’s statement that welcomes the election in Burma as “a significant step forward in the implementation of the 7-point Roadmap for Democracy”.
FORUM-ASIA said that the credibility of Burma’s election has long been lost even before it was held.
Then, FORUM-ASIA calls on the Chair of ASEAN to stand for the ASEAN Charter that specifies the adherence “to the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance, respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms”. It also underlines that the statement of the Chair of ASEAN does not reflect the aspiration of the peoples in ASEAN.
Finally, FORUM-ASIA strongly urges the ASEAN to reject the sham election until a free and fair election is held in Burma.
The Human Rights violations are expected to continue since the outgoing Burmese military regime has guaranteed itself blanket immunity from prosecution and placed itself above the law through the 2008 constitution.
Since 1962, the military has violently seized power and has committed countless crimes: looting country’s natural resources by using brutal dictatorship, launching warfare against dissenting ethnic nationalities, keeping down civil and political liberties, downgrading the nation’s educational facilities, neglecting public health-care and causing widespread hunger.
People consider that the incoming President Thein Sein’s regime as another disguise of the departing junta. So, policies may not change and abuses of political power may be augmented.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/51492/burma-military-regime-dissolved-thein-sein-regime-takes-the-office/
----------------------------------------------
Burma's new government sworn in
The Associated Press
Posted: Mar 30, 2011 3:34 AM ET
Last Updated: Mar 30, 2011 4:18 AM ET
Burma's junta has officially been dissolved after a swearing-in ceremony to appoint the country's so-called civilian government.
The transition to an elected government in Burma, also known as Myanmar, is widely viewed as a cosmetic makeover to continue the military's grip on power.
The country's first elections in 20 years were held in November but widely criticized as a sham.
State media reported the new government headed by President Thein Sein was sworn in Wednesday in the remote capital of Naypyitaw.
Media declared that the junta's longtime ruling party, the State Peace and Development Council was "officially dissolved."
The SPDC led by Senior Gen. Than Shwe had ruled Burma since 1988. http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/30/burma-government.html
----------------------------------------------
President sworn in, junta dissolved
By DVB
Published: 30 March 2011
Government officials in Burma said this morning that former prime minister Thein Sein, the leader of the election-winning Union Solidarity and Development Party, has been officially sworn in as the country’s new president.
State media also issued a broadcast just after midday today saying that the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), which has ruled Burma in various guises since 1988, has been dissolved at state and regional levels to make way for the new ruling party, the USDP, as the full transformation is readied.
It comes four months after Burma’s first elections in 20 years. Even prior to the vote, Thein Sein had been hotly tipped to take the top post, with the veteran military general known for his absolute loyalty to the junta chief, Senior General Than Shwe.
Thein Sein, who will turn 66 on 20 April, shed his army uniform to contest the country’s controversial November elections last year, and led the USDP to a landslide victory. The USDP now takes up 80 percent of seats in parliament and receives the tacit backing of the 300-plus pre-appointed military officials.
His swearing in, coupled with the dissolution of the SPDC, completes an official transfer of power from the ruling junta to what it claims is a civilian government. Critics say however that the overwhelming presence of former military officials in the new party casts doubt over those assertions.
A leaked US cable from 2009 describes Thein Sein as working “from the same script” as Than Shwe, while the latter’s biographer, Benedict Rogers, says the former prime minister is “regarded as a ‘mystery man’” who has “risen quietly under the patronage of junta chief”.
The ‘mystery man’ however appears on EU sanctions lists, along with other key members of the junta and its cronies, and has a military career spanning some 50 years.
The announcement also marks the end of the first session of parliament, which began on 31 January but isn’t due to sit again until later in the year. http://www.dvb.no/news/president-sworn-in-spdc-dissolved/15033
-----------------------------------
Junta army takes a beating, war goes on
Wednesday, 30 March 2011 14:12 S.H.A.N.
Flushed with victory over the Kokang ceasefire group, led by Peng Jiasheng, after a 3 day fighting 19 months ago, the Burma Army had descended on another former ceasefire group the Shan State Army (SSA) North (until a year ago the First Brigade of the SSA North) on 13 March with 19 battalions equipped with heavy weapons.
For the first few days, the offensive appeared to be going well as planned. SSA troops, unable to challenge the Tatmadaw’s greater firepower, were forced to move out from heavily-populated villages. The attacking forces then reportedly issued a two point ultimatum: regrouping of SSA units at its main base in Kehsi township, Wanhai, by 22 March: and surrender by 1 April.
The tide then began to change. The SSA, to lesson the deadly effects of the Burma Army’s firing power, retreated to the deep jungles. The Army, unable to put to use its motor-vehicles, started to bring in more than 150 mules and horses to carry its heavy weapons and officers.
[Maj Gen Pang Fa (Photo: SSA)]
Maj Gen Pang Fa (Photo: SSA)
Then the columns were attacked by SSA patrols, whose proximity and swift assaults had rendered their heavy weapons almost useless.
According to the latest report on 28 March, the SSA managed to get away after killing and wounding more than 50 junta soldiers.
Had the SSA expected a softening in Naypyitaw’s stance, it was definitely wrong.
On 23 March, the Lashio-based Northeastern Region Command’s Staff Officer Grade 1 (G-1) Col Tun Tun Nyi was handed a letter from the SSA’s principal ally the United Wa State Army (UWSA) demanding “political means to resolve political issues.” To which G1 was reported to have replied, “The Wa have only two options: To fight or to surrender.”
Two days later, a proposal was submitted by a Mon MP at the Parliament for peaceful resolution of issues with ethnic armed groups. It was put to the vote and was defeated by 520 votes against 106 votes in favor, according to Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
“The rejection means there will be no chance to discuss the issue of peace with ethnic armed groups,” commented an MP who had voted in favor of the motion.
The vote without doubt, also applied to the Karen front that has been fighting without let-up since 8 November.
The meaning is clear: if some of us are entertaining ideas that with “democracy” in Burma since November, peace, illusive since the British days, will return to Burma, we would do better to forget them. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3557:junta-army-takes-a-beating-war-goes-on-&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
------------------------------------------
General Min Aung Hlaing named as new commander-in-chief of Myanmar defense services
14:16, March 30, 2011
Email | Print | Subscribe | Comments | Forum
General Min Aung Hlaing was named as new Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar Defense Services Wednesday along with the new government set-up, official sources said.
Source: Xinhua http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7335433.html
-------------------------------------------
Burma junta 'dissolved': state TV
March 30, 2011 - 4:19PM
AFP
Burma's junta has been "officially dissolved", according to state media, after the country swore in a new president on Wednesday.
Referring to the junta's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), television news, quoting an order signed by Than Shwe, said "since the next cabinet was sworn in, the SPDC has been officially dissolved".
The announcement came after an official said a new head of Burma's army attended the inauguration of Thein Sein as president, apparently indicating that the junta strongman had been replaced.
Advertisement: Story continues below
General Min Aung Hlaing was present at the swearing-in as Commander in Chief of the country's army, a post held by Than Shwe until now, according to an official.
© 2011 AFP http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/burma-junta-dissolved-state-tv-20110330-1cfxl.html
--------------------------------------
Myanmar military announces end of junta after over two decades
Yangon, March 30 : Myanmar's military supremo announced that the junta that ruled the country for the past two decades would be disbanded Wednesday in favour of a newly elected government.
"The State Peace and Development Council will be disbanded after the swearing-in ceremony for the new government and parliaments," Senior General Than Shwe said in an announcement on state-controlled television.
Myanmar has been under the junta's rule since 1988 when the army crushed a pro-democracy movement, killing up to 3,000 people.
The junta, led by Than Shwe since 1992, held a general election Nov 7 that voted in a new government, led by the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party.
Party leader Thein Sein was reportedly sworn in as Myanmar's new president Wednesday morning, sources said.
He replaced Than Shwe as head of state.
Similar ceremonies were held to swear in other cabinet members and all elected parliamentarians, sources said. http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-179028.html
Thursday, March 31, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Wednesday, 30 March, 2011
A lesson from Japan: Be prepared for earthquakes
ShareretweetEmailPrint Play Video Earthquakes Video:Tokyo hit by toilet-paper, milk, bread shortages AFP Play Video Earthquakes Video:A Mother's Nightmare in Japan FOX News Play Video Earthquakes Video:Japan Self-Defense Forces look for tsunami dead AFP By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer Randolph E. Schmid, Ap Science Writer – 7 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Americans may have been lulled into a false sense of security because it's been so long since the country felt a truly devastating earthquake, but major temblors can and will occur here, the National Research Council warned Wednesday.
The March 11 quake and tsunami that struck Japan illustrate the sort of devastation that can occur even in a well-prepared nation, the council said in a new study.
The council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, urged a 20-year program for increasing U.S. ability to withstand and recover from a major quake.
"The United States will certainly be subject to damaging earthquakes in the future, and some of those earthquakes will occur in highly populated and vulnerable areas," the report warned.
Moderate earthquakes are not unusual in parts of the United States, but the last "great" earthquake to strike the United States shook Alaska in 1964. Many people also are aware of the devastating quake and fire that affected San Francisco in 1906.
"Just as Hurricane Katrina tragically demonstrated" for hurricanes, the report noted, "coping with moderate earthquakes is not a reliable indicator of preparedness for a major earthquake in a populated area."
Other major quakes have occurred in the United States include California in 1857; the Memphis, Tenn.-St Louis area in 1811-12; South Carolina in 1886; and Massachusetts in 1755.
Recommendations in the new report include:
• Install the remaining 75 percent of the Advanced National Seismic System to provide magnitude and location alerts within a few minutes after an earthquake.
• Complete coverage of national and urban seismic hazard maps to identify at-risk areas.
• Develop and implement earthquake forecasting to provide communities with information on how seismic hazards change with time.
• Work to combine Earth science, engineering and social science information so communities can visualize earthquake and tsunami impacts and find ways to reduce potential effects.
• Plan emergency response and recovery activities to improve preparedness.
• Establish a network to measure, monitor and model the disaster vulnerability and resilience of communities.
• Develop new techniques for evaluating and retrofitting existing buildings to better withstand earthquakes.
The report was commissioned by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the lead agency in the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Latest find sounds scary but risk is limited
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
ANALYSIS
Latest find sounds scary but risk is limited
By JUN HONGO
Staff writer
Revelations that low amounts of plutonium, a component of nuclear bombs, were detected in soil near the Fukushima No. 1 plant sent shock waves across the nation Tuesday.
But experts say despite plutonium's dangers and the mounting fears, there is little risk of the deadly radioactive particles spreading to a wider area.
The plutonium leak "will have no impact on the surrounding residential areas," Hironobu Unesaki, a professor at the Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute, told The Japan Times. The nuclear engineering expert added the continued dispersal of radioactive iodine and cesium is much more worrisome than the plutonium leaks.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. announced the plutonium find late Monday during a hastily arranged news conference. Officials said they found plutonium-238, -239 and -240 during a study conducted a week ago in and around the power plant.
A few hundred grams of soil were taken from five locations between 500 meters and 1 km from reactors No. 1 and No. 2, they said. Although traces of plutonium were found, Tepco stressed the contamination levels pose no health hazard.
Detected so far are levels of radioactive decay ranging between 0.18 and 0.54 becquerel per kilogram of soil — about the same amount observed in Japan after the nuclear tests carried out in the Pacific in the 1950s and 1960s.
"This does not pose any (threat) to human health," an official of the Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency in Tokyo said Monday. But he also acknowledged that because plutonium is produced within the central parts of reactors, the five levels of the containment mechanism — designed to be airtight — have been breached since the tsunami knocked out the power plant's electricity supply.
Tepco officials claim the plutonium leak is small, but people were still alarmed.
This is because plutonium-239 has a half-life of 24,000 years, unlike the eight days for iodine-131 and 30 years for cesium-137, the two major radioactive substances that have contaminated vegetables and tap water as far away as Tokyo.
In addition to the long-lasting risks plutonium poses, the radioactivity it emits is in alpha particles, compared with the beta particles from iodine-131. Alpha particles are known to pose a greater risk to health.
For example, in data compiled by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 21 mg of potassium cyanide is considered a lethal dose to an average male weighing 70 kg. When it comes to plutonium, 13 mg is enough to kill.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission explains on its website that if one drinks or eats plutonium oxide, most of it will pass through without the body absorbing it. But if inhaled, usually between 20 and 60 percent is retained in the lungs. Plutonium entering from an open wound may also move directly into body parts and organs, the commission said.
Even Tepco is aware of the dangers and talked of the hazards related to plutonium in its 2010 nuclear power pamphlet, noting the substance "can cause cancer once retained in liver and bones."
But one crucial characteristic limiting the spread of plutonium is that it weighs 20 times more than water and 2.5 times more than iron.
Based on such data, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano assured reporters at a news conference Tuesday that plutonium will not become airborne and therefore spread to a wider region.
While Kyoto University's Unesaki said the area found to have traces of plutonium will require appropriate management, he agreed that the heavyweight particles will not spread over a wide area.
"Even in the case of Chernobyl, in which traces of iodine and cesium were found thousands of kilometers away and all over Europe, plutonium was found only within a radius of 30 km from the nuclear power plant," Unesaki explained.
The spread of plutonium at Chernobyl was due in part to the reactors' use of solid graphite as neutron moderators, which started a ferocious fire and a strong updraft. The reactors in Fukushima use light-water as moderators.
For such reasons, even if the reactors in Fukushima were to experience a hydrogen explosion that completely obliterates all safety measures — which is impossible from an engineering point of view, according to Unesaki — the spread of iodine and cesium will do much more damage than plutonium.
So far all parties, including Tepco, the government and the nuclear safety agency, have been unable to find the plutonium leak. Possibilities include reactors No. 1, 2 and 3, which were in operation when the earthquake hit, and any of the fuel rod pools adjacent to all six reactors.
The leak may also have come from reactor No. 3, which uses MOX fuel, which is known to contain weapons-grade plutonium. Thirty-two of the 548 fuel elements in reactor No. 3 use the mixed plutonium and uranium oxide fuel, according to Tepco.
Some people expressed strong concern over using such highly toxic fuel at the aging Fukushima plant. But Tepco opted to go forward, concluding it was a more efficient way of using limited resources. Tepco began producing energy from MOX fuel last October.
But Kyoto University's Unesaki advised that instead of fearing an unlikely catastrophe, Tepco and others should keep their focus on the task at hand.
"It's hard to believe that conditions of the nuclear reactors will abruptly deteriorate at this point. Instead of fearing an explosive outbreak of radioactive particles, there should be more focus on not allowing the ongoing leaks to continue for an extended period of time," he said.
Japan's crisis leadership
By KAREL VAN WOLFEREN
AMSTERDAM — Amid the horrifying news from Japan, the establishment of new standards of political leadership there is easy to miss — in part because the Japanese media follow old habits of automatically criticizing how officials are dealing with the calamity, and many foreign reporters who lack perspective simply copy that critical tone. But compared to the aftermath of the catastrophic Kobe earthquake of 1995, when the authorities appeared to wash their hands of the victims' miseries, the difference could hardly be greater.
This time, Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Democratic Party of Japan government is making an all-out effort, with unprecedented intensive involvement of his Cabinet and newly formed specialized task forces. The prime minister himself is regularly televised with relevant officials wearing the work fatigues common among Japanese engineers.
In 1995, Kobe citizens extricated from the rubble were looked after if they belonged to corporations or religious groups. Those who did not were expected to fend mostly for themselves. This reflected a 'feudal' like corporatist approach, in which the direct relationship between the citizen and the state played no role. This widely condemned governmental neglect of the Kobe earthquake victims was among the major sources of public indignation that helped popularize the reform movement from which Kan emerged.
Unfortunately, today's Japanese media are overlooking that historical context. For example, the newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun recently lamented the shortcomings of the Kan government's response, emphasizing the poor lines of command running from the Cabinet to officials carrying out rescue and supply operations. But it failed to point out that the feebleness of such coordination, linked to an absence of Cabinet-centered policymaking, was precisely the main weakness of Japan's political system that the founders of the DPJ set out to overcome.
When the DPJ came to power in September 2009 it ended half-a-century of de facto one-party rule by the Liberal Democratic Party. But even more significantly, its intentions addressed a cardinal question for Japan: Who should rule, bureaucratic mandarins or elected officials?
The LDP, formed in 1955, had not done much actual ruling after helping to coordinate postwar reconstruction, which extended without debate into an unofficial but very real national policy of, in principle, unlimited expansion of industrial capacity. Other possible priorities hardly ever entered political discussions.
The need for a political steering wheel in the hands of elected politicians was highlighted in 1993, when two major political figures bolted from the LDP with their followers. By doing so, they catalyzed the reformist political movement that resulted in the DPJ, the first credible opposition party that — unlike the Socialists who engaged in mere ritualistic opposition — was prepared to win elections and actually govern rather than merely maintain the facade of government that had become the norm under the LDP.
Lowering the prestige of the government right now is the fact that Kan has not shown any talent for turning himself into a TV personality who can project a grand image of leadership. But his government is dealing without question as best it can in the face of four simultaneous crises, its efforts encumbered by huge logistic problems that no post-World War II Japanese government has ever faced before.
The efforts of Kan's government are obviously hampered by a rigid and much fragmented bureaucratic infrastructure. The DPJ has had scant time to make up for what the LDP has long neglected. Its 17 months in power before the current catastrophe have been a saga of struggle with career officials in many parts of the bureaucracy, including the judiciary, fighting for the survival of the world they have always known. Other countries could learn much from the DPJ's attempt to alter a status quo of political arrangements that has had half a century to form and consolidate.
But it was the United States that first undermined the DPJ administration, by testing the new government's loyalty with an unfeasible plan — originally the brainchild of the George W. Bush-era U.S. defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld — to build a new base for the U.S. Marines stationed on Okinawa. The first DPJ prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, miscalculated in believing that a face-to-face meeting with the new American president to discuss long-term matters affecting East Asia could settle the issue. He was steadily rebuffed by the American government. As Hatoyama could not keep his promise to safeguard the interests of the Okinawan people, he followed up with a customary resignation.
Japan's main newspapers have mostly backed the status quo as well. Indeed, they now appear to have forgotten their role in hampering the DPJ's effort to create an effective political coordinating body for the country. A half-century of reporting on internal LDP rivalries unrelated to actual policy has turned Japan's reporters into the world's greatest connoisseurs of political factionalism. It has also left them almost incapable of recognizing actual policy initiatives when they see them.
The rest of the world, however, has marveled at the admirable, dignified manner in which ordinary Japanese are dealing with terrible adversity. I am repeatedly asked why there is no looting or signs of explosive anger. The term "stoicism" appears over and over in media coverage of Japan's calamity.
But, in my half-century of close acquaintance with Japanese life, I have never thought of the Japanese as stoic. Rather, the Japanese behave as they do because they are decent people. Being considerate, they do not burden each other by building themselves up as heroes in their own personal tragedies. They certainly deserve the better government that the DPJ is trying to give them.
Karel van Wolferen, author of "The Enigma of Japanese Power," is emeritus professor of comparative political and economic institutions at the University of Amsterdam. © 2011 Project Syndicate
News & Articles on Burma-Tuesday, 29 March, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Tuesday, 29 March, 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------
Ex-General and current PM Thein Sein will be sworn in as new President of Burma
Burma: Disastrous
Australian editor granted bail in Burma
Myanmar to swear in president in days
Thein Sein and Cabinet Scheduled to be Sworn in on Wednesday
Misery Continues for Earthquate Victims
Oil Companies Complicit in Burma Right Abuses: ERI
Praise for Burma's Quake Response
-----------------------------------------------
Ex-General and current PM Thein Sein will be sworn in as new President of Burma
By Zin Linn Mar 29, 2011 11:20PM UTC
Burma will swear in its new president within two days – 30 or 31 March – paving the way for the imminent transfer of power from the ruling junta to a nominally civilian government, Burmese officials said on Tuesday,
‘The president will be sworn in tomorrow. If they cannot hold it tomorrow, it will be the day after tomorrow,’ the official told AFP. ‘After he is sworn in, the ruling State Peace and Development Council will hand over power to the new government.’
According to the Irrawaddy News, Members of Parliament, who are now attending Parliament meetings in Naypyidaw, said that officials invited them to be present at the swearing-in ceremony at the Parliament building tomorrow morning.
Parliament officials told us to come to the building by 10 a.m. tomorrow. They just told us it was for the swearing-in ceremony, but didn’t tell us exactly when it would take place. But some officials said it would be around 11 a.m, said a Lower House MP from the Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP), which won last November’s controversial election.
Burma’s current Prime Minister, Thein Sein (66), was chosen on 4 February as the country’s president. The Parliament in Naypyidaw announced Thein Sein as president after choosing him from a secret ballot of three vice-presidential nominees.
The elected president has the right to shape a cabinet, which is packed with members of the military-backed USDP. The president will also take a seat on the new National Defense and Security Council to control the armed forces.
Furthermore, the president, with the approval of the Union Parliament or combination of the upper and lower houses, has to designate the Ministries of the Union Government as necessary and can increase or decrease the number.
According to most political analysts, whoever turn out to be president, the fate of the people and the country may be maintained the status quo because military elite have seized all the business-opportunities and economic privileges prior to the legislative assemblies.
Moreover, infrequent armed clashes has been going on in recent months between the junta’s troops and armed ethnic groups such as the Karen National Union (KNU), the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) Brigade 5, the Shan State Army–North (SSA-North) and Shan State Army-South (SSA-South).
In state-run media, the junta also condemned the Second Panglong Initiative or National Reconciliation forum raised by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and some prominent ethnic leaders as an unnecessary approach.
The nation risks a return of armed conflict due to denial of a true federal system in the 2008 Constitution drawn by the incumbent military junta.
Prime Minister Thein Sein, who threw away his army uniform to contest controversial elections last year, was in February named for the top job in the new parliament, which critics fear is masking ongoing army rule.
Alongside the swearing-in ceremony for the president and the new cabinet, there will be declaration identifying who will be fixed to which ministry. Thein Sein has already nominated 30 would-be ministers for 34 ministries earlier without stating who was appointed to which ministry.
The perspective is clearly apparent that the departing junta’s power network is still energetic to keep on running the country for not less than next 5 to 10 years. The military will be at the helm as usual. Even though the governmental composition has to change, the military-first policies will be the same as always. And civil war with the ethnic armed groups will not be stopped beyond a doubt.
Therefore, the greater part of Burmese citizens does not observe anything good in these results although General Thein Sein changed himself into a civilian President U Thein Sein.
To the majority of people, the current parliamentary sessions will make no change to the living standard of the country. So, people will unavoidably have to hunt for valid political reform.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/51420/ex-general-and-current-pm-thein-sein-will-be-sworn-in-as-new-president-of-burma/
--------------------------------------------
Burma: Disastrous
How the Burmese government might exploit last week’s earthquake.
by David Scott Mathieson
Published in:
The New Republic
March 29, 2011
Burma's political isolation doesn't make it immune from nature. Thursday's major earthquake, of 6.8 magnitude, struck the northeast of the country, in Shan State. Preliminary reports put the death toll at more than 150, and there are reports of widespread destruction of buildings, bridges, and roads, including 250 houses and Buddhist monasteries destroyed. Given the rugged terrain and poor communication resources, it may be some time before the real human and material toll is known. But don't expect Burmese authorities to rush out with updated damage assessments and calls for assistance, or to hasten to the scene to help those affected: natural disasters are national security secrets in Burma. Complicating this particular disaster is the fact that the area where the earthquake struck is a zone of ongoing, violent conflict between the Burmese government and insurgent forces-a conflict that authorities are eager to eliminate. There's reason to believe that, among its many shameful responses to disaster, the government's reaction to the quake might prove its worst yet.
The Burmese military regime has a terrible record of managing recovery after natural disasters. Nearly three years ago, Cyclone Nargis destroyed large parts of the Irrawaddy Delta and parts of the former capital, Rangoon, leaving 140,000 people dead and destroying the homes and livelihoods of two million more. It took days for the real extent of the damage to get out, but, once it did, the international community reacted with generous offers of support. Yet the then-ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) wasn't interested, saying outside assistance wasn't necessary-when, in reality, it feared aid could compromise state security. Meanwhile, Burma's tiny civil society tried to work around official obstructions. A coalition of professional aid workers, political dissidents, cultural figures, businesspeople, and volunteers staged a major relief effort. Threatened by this group of independent actors, however, the military arrested and imprisoned scores of community aid workers who criticized the government's response to Nargis, including Burma's most famous comedian, Zargana, who received a 35-year sentence. Eventually, under the weight of concerted international pressure, the junta slowly opened its doors to international aid-but, once this aid finally rolled in, the SPDC took credit for most of it.
In October 2010, Cyclone Giri struck western Burma, devastating the town of Kyaukphyu, killing around 200 people, and rendering thousands homeless. The government acted marginally better than it did after Nargis, permitting international and Burmese aid workers access to the area, but it still retained strict controls on movement and numbers of personnel allowed into the affected area. And aid donors barely responded to Giri-it wasn't covered as extensively in the foreign media, and, by then, many donors had also become wary of the official neglect that had hindered Burma's response to previous disasters.
Nargis and Giri-and now, most likely, the earthquake-have laid bare Burma's desperate humanitarian needs and the contempt the junta shows for its own people. Decades of military mismanagement has pushed Burma into the bottom reaches of development statistics: the worst maternal health system in Asia after Afghanistan, one-third of its citizens in poverty, and a decaying education system that is producing a new generation of illiterate, no-skills labor. After sham elections in November 2010, the new government allocated 24 percent of the state budget to military spending, but only 1.3 percent to health and 4.1 percent to education. And, based on previous experience with disasters, the world shouldn't expect that anything will change after the earthquake: The government response will be virtually no assistance or compassion for the affected area. What's more, if the junta allows foreign agencies to spend money on relief work, it will likely take credit for and advantage of it.
The earthquake, however, does have a markedly different political dynamic than previous disasters. Eastern Shan State, around the epicenter of the quake, is a sensitive area. Apart from the main road to the regional capital of Kengtung, it is closed to foreigners, because it is home to continued armed conflict between the junta and anti-government rebels, as well as massive narcotics production and smuggling, protected in large part by the Burmese army. The country's incoming president, former Lieutenant General Thein Sein, was the regional army commander of this area from 1997 to 2001, and he oversaw an intensifying conflict between the Burmese army and ethnic Shan insurgents. His time in the region also saw a massive explosion in the manufacture of cheap methamphetamines by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), Asia's largest narco-army, which, unlike the Shan insurgents, has maintained a shaky ceasefire with the central government for 22 years in exchange for being allowed to expand its drug empire. Today, the ruling military provides limited social services to Shan State, spending more time fighting insurgents and accruing kickbacks from the drug trade, logging, and smuggling than fostering genuine development.
What will this mean going forward after the quake? United Nations agencies are already starting impact assessments in the affected area, but it is unlikely that any relief operation will be able to access areas deemed security zones by the Burmese army, which includes most of the area north of the border town of Tachilek, which was badly damaged. Aid workers are already being hampered from delivering assistance due to damaged roads and travel restrictions imposed by the army. The junta could also send in even more troops under the auspices of humanitarian relief, in an effort to clamp down more tightly than ever on the Shan rebels. A complex conflict, in other words, could take on yet another layer of tension-kicking the possibility of peace even further down an already long road.
As other disasters in Burma have shown, the junta's response to its people's desperation is predicated on self interest and regime survival. In Shan State, their quality of mercy will likely be even worse than usual.
David Scott Mathieson is a senior researcher in the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/29/burma-disastrous
----------------------------------------------
Australian editor granted bail in Burma
Posted 28 minutes ago
A Burmese court has granted bail to an Australian newspaper boss, who said he would continue to fight a prosecution that some have suggested stems from a power struggle.
Ross Dunkley, co-founder of the Myanmar Times, the country's only newspaper with foreign investment, is on trial in Kamaryut Township court on charges of assaulting a 29-year-old woman and breaching immigration rules.
He was arrested in the military-dominated country on February 12 and held in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison until he was bailed on Tuesday for 10 million kyat.
"I'll be staying in the country and will continue to fight the case. I just can't believe there is a case," Mr Dunkley said after his release.
"There is no witness, there is no evidence. I have no intention to let this go on."
Paul Downie, a friend of Mr Dunkley, said the Australian's lawyers argued that no court had passed any order that he had committed a crime in relation to alleged immigration breaches.
"They argued that filing these proceedings amounted to unilaterally passing judgment upon Ross before any court had done so and therefore was against the law and Ross should be discharged," he said in a statement.
The woman Mr Dunkley is accused of assaulting, Khine Sar Win, has previously asked for her complaint to be withdrawn, saying she was pregnant and unable to travel to court, but her request was rejected.
Shortly after Mr Dunkley's arrest, a business partner in Cambodia, David Armstrong, suggested the newspaper editor was the victim of a dispute at his company.
His arrest "coincides with tense and protracted discussions" between foreign and domestic investors in the paper, Mr Armstrong said in a statement.
Mr Dunkley co-founded the Myanmar Times in 2000 with local partner Sonny Swe, the son of an influential member of the junta's military intelligence service.
But Sonny Swe was jailed in 2005 and his 51 per cent stake in the paper's publisher Myanmar Consolidated Media (MCM) handed to Tin Tun Oo, who is thought to be close to the regime's information minister.
Since his jailing, Mr Dunkley has been replaced by Tin Tun Oo as chief executive of MCM, which is 49-per cent controlled by the Australian and his foreign partners.
Tin Tun Oo paid half of Mr Dunkley's bail sum, having said earlier this month that there was no business dispute.
Some observers believe that Mr Dunkley - who as a foreigner blazed a trail in Burma's tightly controlled media industry - fell out of favour with the ruling elite in the authoritarian country.
Trevor Wilson, an academic and former Australian ambassador to Burma, said last month the brash Australian may be the victim of a bid to secure control of the Myanmar Times.
"It has been suggested to me that they want to get him out of the country and get control of his magazine all for free and if that is the case they will probably succeed," he said.
Mr Wilson was doubtful that the case would have much impact on foreign investors' stance towards the country - the target of Western sanctions - as "there is enough to put them off anyway".
"But it is a very important case - a tiny media outlet pushing the boundaries where they haven't been before," he said.
The next hearing is on April 4.
- AFP http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/30/3177188.htm?section=justin
-----------------------------------------------
STRAITS TIMES
Myanmar to swear in president in days
Prime Minister Thein Sein, who shed his army uniform to contest controversial elections last year, was in February named for the top job in the new parliament, which critics fear is masking ongoing army rule. -- PHOTO: AP
YANGON - MYANMAR will swear in its new president within two days, paving the way for the imminent transfer of power from the ruling junta to a nominally civilian government, officials said on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Thein Sein, who shed his army uniform to contest controversial elections last year, was in February named for the top job in the new parliament, which critics fear is masking ongoing army rule.
'The president will be sworn in tomorrow. If they cannot hold it tomorrow, it will be the day after tomorrow,' the official told AFP.
'After he is sworn in, the ruling State Peace and Development Council will hand over power to the new government.' -- AFP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_650666.html
----------------------------------------------
Thein Sein and Cabinet Scheduled to be Sworn in on Wednesday
By WAI MOE Tuesday, March 29, 2011
While local authorities in Rangoon and other cities remove the signs of local “Peace and Development Councils,” Burma's president-elect, Thein Sein, and his cabinet are preparing to be sworn in on Wednesday in Naypyidaw ahead of the start of the 2011-12 financial year.
Members of Parliament who are currently attending Hluttaw, or Parliament, meetings in Naypyidaw said that officials invited them to attend the swearing-in ceremony at the Hluttaw building tomorrow morning.
“Hluttaw officials told us to come to the building by 10 a.m. tomorrow. They just told us it was for the swearing-in ceremony, but didn't tell us exactly when it would take place. But some officials said it would be around 11 a.m,,” said a Lower House MP from the Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP), which won last November's controversial election.
Another Lower House MP from a pro-democracy party said he was also told by Hluttaw officials to show up at the appointed time, but only learned later, after speaking to a USDP MP, the purpose of the gathering.
Alongside the swearing-in ceremony for the president and the new cabinet, there will be announcements specifying who will be appointed to which ministry.
The names of 30 ministers came out in February, but since then there has been no clarification as to which of the government's 34 ministries they will head. Only three ministers appointed by the command-in-chief of the armed forces, Snr-Gen Than Shwe—Lt-Gen Ko Ko, Maj-Gen Hla Min and Maj-Gen Thein Htay—have been assigned to specific ministerial posts.
Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony in Naypyidaw, sources in Rangoon and Pegu reported that local authorities had taken down signs at the offices of township- and ward-level Peace and Development Councils.
“The sign of the Ward Peace and Development Council was replaced with the sign of the ward administration office,” said a resident of Pegu.
Meanwhile, Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of North Korea’s Supreme People's Assembly, sent a message of condolence to Thein Sein, addressing him as “President of Myanmar,” on Monday, according to Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency.
“He [Kim Yong Nam] expressed the belief that the President and the government of Myanmar [Burma] would eradicate the aftermath of the disaster and stabilize the living of the earthquake stricken people at an early date,” the North Korean media reported. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21032
--------------------------------------------
Misery Continues for Earthquate Victims
By SAW YAN NAING Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Five days after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake which devastated eastern Shan State, aid groups have reported that thousands of survivors are lacking clean drinking water while being forced to live in shelters hit by serious diarrhea outbreaks.
Reporters for The Irrawaddy visited some of the affected regions and revealed that relief supplies are only being distributing to victims in vehicle-accessible areas, such as Tarlay. But inhabitants of several remote villages, especially the ethnic Lahu village of Jakuni, have been largely forgotten.
According to local sources, 85 people died in Jakuni Village alone although only 31 dead bodies have been recovered so far. And the whole village has developed a putrid stench owing to the remaining corpses jammed underground.
One of the most important jobs now is to provide access to purified drinking water and temporary shelters, according to Chris Herink, a spokesperson at World Vision in Shan State.
He said that 96 cases of diarrhea were discovered yesterday in three of the most affected settlements along Nar Yaung Village track.
“In response to this, we distributed 500 packages of oral rehydration solution. We also continue to contribute water purification tablets,” he added.
Despite aid being delivered, it is currently in insufficient quantities, and there is dire need for purified drinking water and shelters in the 13 most affected villages.
Herink said that World Vision will focus on trying to support 175,000 households in these 13 villages.
The government has so far reported that some 305 houses, 11 schools and 31 religious buildings have been destroyed in the region. However, residents expect the true loss of life and property will be much higher. Some believe as many as 200 people have died in the vicinity.
Ca Mu, a resident of affected Yanshin Village, told The Irrawaddy: “Drinking water is urgently needed now. People in Jakuni are suffering worse than most. We appeal for help to anyone who can help us in any way possible.”
He said that sewage came out of the ground and polluted water supplies after the earthquake, and two children then became sick after drinking this unclean water. People in Jakuni Village are now in great need of food, clothes, water, medicine, raincoats and shelter.
It was also reported that the government is afraid of delivering aid to Jakuni Village as it is close to ethnic armed groups such as the Wa and Shan armed factions. There has recently been stoked tensions in the region due to some groups rejecting the junta's Border Guard Force plan.
Neighbors have been forced to help each other through the crisis as NGO aid organizations apparently did not reach Jakuni Village. Residents claim this is because the area was not in their mission list.
Ca Mu said, “We, the Lahus people, collected some money and bought them 700 pieces of clothing. World Vision only help their target villages, but Jakuni is not one of them.”
While the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs praised the Burmese government for quicky getting aid and supplies to earthquake victims, Ca Mu said that junta troops forcibly seized some raincoats destined for survivors. They were being taken from a village—known as Me Yan Gate locally—to earthquake victims in Jakuni Village.
“I dont know what they are going to do with them, but it seems like they are going to use them for military purposes,” said Ca Mu.
“Many people do not want to donate things because they [government troops] control all the donations. If they didn’t do this then lots of people would want to donate,” he added.
Residents in Tarlay said that a damaged bridge in the town was temporarily rebuilt by local authorities and small vehicles such as taxis and motorbikes are now able to cross.
Herink said that World Vision also built six child-friendly humanitarian bases in Shan State. Youngsters can take shelter for safety, play and learning while receiving nutritional support. Their parents can then try to make a living to reestablish their livelihood, he added.
Herink said, however, that he found logistic difficulties in transporting additional supplies and aid from Rangoon to Shan State.
“It is a very long distance. It is estimated that the supplies convoy takes between five to six days to reach affected areas,” he said.
In order to support the speedy transfer of aid, Herink also said that World Vision is enquiring about sourcing some imported relief supplies from Thailand. World Vision is therefore attempting to negotiate concessions from both the Thai and Burmese border authorities to facilitate the move.
“We are now in the process of assessing whether or not it is possible because it is a shorter distance than Rangoon,” he said. Local authorities at the Mae Sai border said that Burmese authorities have not yet officially allowed aid groups to cross the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge to enter the Burmese town of Tachilek and help the earthquake victims. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21033
---------------------------------------
Oil Companies Complicit in Burma Right Abuses: ERI
By HTET AUNG Tuesday, March 29, 2011
A report released on Tuesday by EarthRights International (ERI) claims that the multinational oil companies involved in the Sino-Burmese oil and gas pipeline project are complicit in land confiscation, forced labor, arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as various violations of indigenous rights of the ethnic minorities in the affected regions.
“The contracts between the foreign companies and the Burmese state-owned company MOGE specify that the Burmese Army will provide security for the projects,” said Paul Donowitz, the campaign director of US-based ERI and co-author of the new report titled, “The Burma-China Pipelines: Human Rights Violations, Applicable Law, and Revenue Secrecy.”
“There are at least 28 army battalions already stationed along the pipeline route, and ERI is deeply concerned that the project will inevitably lead to more serious human right abuses against local population,” he said.
According to the report: “The companies are on notice that if such abuses do occur, they will be complicit. The French oil giant Total and the American oil major Unocal (Chevron) ignored warnings about their projects in Burma. As a result, local people suffered terrible [harm] and the companies were forced to compensate local victims of human rights abuse while their international reputations suffered greatly. We hope the Chinese, Korean, and Indian companies learn a lesson and postpone their projects.”
Asked about any possible legal action against the companies involved in the pipeline construction, Matthew Smith, a senior consultant with ERI and a co-author of the report, said, “There is no legal action plan currently being undertaken, but it is not outside the realms of possibility that these companies will be legally accountable in the future.”
The March 29 report highlighted that the most common human rights violations to date due to the pipeline construction have been “land confiscation, inadequate compensation, [and] a lack of … informed consent of the local people.”
ERI noted, however, that it still hasn't conducted an overall social impact assessment along the pipeline.
“There are significant populations affected by the project,” said Smith. “But we don't have any specific assessment figure of the overall population because there is no transparency on the part of the companies involved in the project nor from the Burmese government.”
Regarding the aims of the report, Smith said, “The primary goal is to prevent negative impacts from the project, and to raise awareness among the investors who will eventually be accountable for the abuses.”
Asked whether he thought the multinational companies will take action after reading the ERI report, Smith said, “In some way, we hope that the companies will make attempts to maintain their international reputation because they are aware of the negative impacts happening [in the projects].”
According to ERI, Daewoo International of South Korea is currently the main investor in the pipeline, possessing a 51 percent share in the offshore Shwe Gas fields in the Bay of Bengal, while China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is the main investor and operator on the onshore gas pipeline construction, possessing a 51 percent share.
Other oil companies involved in the project are: Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS); onGC Videsh; the Gas Authority of India (GAIL); and Burma's state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
Last year, the China Development Bank Cooperation signed a contract with the Burmese junta for a loan of US $2.4 billion to construct the dual oil and gas pipelines, which will be able to carry 12 million tons of crude oil per year and 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China through pipelines more than 1,000 kilometers in length, from Kyaukpyu on Ramree Island in Arakan State to Kunming, the capital of China's Yunnan Province.
http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21030
---------------------------------------------------
Praise for Burma's Quake Response
Daniel Schearf | Bangkok March 29, 2011
A soldier injects medicine into an earthquake survivor at a temple in Minelin March 27, 2011.
Photo: Reuters
Humanitarian organizations giving relief for last week’s deadly earthquake in Burma have praised authorities for their quick response and the sharing of information.
At least 74 people in Burma, and one woman in Thailand, were killed and over 100 injured. But aid organizations say there was a noticeable change in government attitude from past disasters when foreign help was hindered by red tape and suspicion.
Aid organizations in Burma are complimenting the way authorities reacted to a deadly earthquake that hit the country last week.
The 6.8 magnitude quake late Thursday rocked a remote area near Burma's eastern border with Laos and Thailand and was felt as far away as Bangkok and Hanoi.
Hundreds of houses in Shan State, home to the Shan minority, were destroyed or damaged along with schools and monasteries.
Humanitarian organizations scrambled to get emergency supplies to the disaster area. But, unlike past disasters, they say they were impressed by the government’s response.
Chris Herink, Burma country director for World Vision, a Christian aid organization that has staff members living near the earthquake hit area, says Burma’s Relief and Resettlement Department contacted them about providing emergency supplies.
"Very soon after the quake they actually made a request to World Vision to provide food and water," he says. "Subsequently the Ministry of Health has asked us to provide the water purification tablets. It's actually at their request that we've done this. So, that's very positive first and foremost in that they are relying not only on their own capacity but the expertise and resources of other partners to help in this response."
Herink says World Vision was able to quickly provide food and water for over 1,000 villagers left homeless by the earthquake as well as materials for hundreds of temporary shelters.
Burma authorities allowed World Vision and other aid groups as well as the United Nations to quickly access the areas most affected in Tachileik, Tarlay and Mong Lin.
Humanitarian organizations say they are also sharing information on causalities and damage to infrastructure faster than past disasters.
Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, says authorities in Burma, also known as Myanmar, reacted swiftly and efficiently to the emergency.
"Since the last major disaster in Myanmar I think step by step the authorities have understood what the UN and the NGO can do for them and the kind of neutral and impartial assistance they can deliver to the population," says Byrs.
The cooperation stands in stark contrast to May 2008 when Burma was hit by Cyclone Nargis, the worst natural disaster in the country's history.
Nargis swept across the Irrawaddy Delta killing 140,000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless. But Burma’s military rulers for weeks obstructed emergency aid and foreign workers from reaching those in need.
Herink says they learned a lot from Cyclone Nargis and hopefully trust more in humanitarian groups.
Relief workers say the focus now in the earthquake disaster area is to provide clean drinking water. The quake damaged water storage tanks and pipes and water supplies were contaminated.
Burma is also entering its rainy season raising the risk of landslides which could further complicate relief efforts.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Praise-for-Burmas-Quake-Response--118833949.html
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Monday, 28 March, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Monday, 28 March, 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------
The Man Who Foresees Storms
Ministry hatches plan to import more labour
Burma’s Censor-Board plays tricks on media personnel
MATRADE To Lead Business Delegation To Myanmar
Sports, supernatural bypass censor board
Parliament snubs ethnic harmony bill
Aid agencies update Myanmar quake casualty count
Aid to earthquake victims remains in high need
Relief teams pick through Shan rubble
Burma Marks Unusually Low-key Armed Forces Day
----------------------------------------------------------
The Man Who Foresees Storms
Monday, March 28, 2011
An apocalyptic series of earthquakes, cyclones, tsunamis and floods in the region has spooked everyone. Many people have turned to soothsayers and astrologers for advice about any impending natural disasters.
But rather than consult the Mayan calender or a fortune-teller, The Irrawaddy reporter Min Naing Thu interviewed Dr Tun Lwin, the former director-general of Burma's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH).
Since his resignation from the DMH in 2009, Tun Lwin has served as a technical adviser to the Regional Integrated Multi-hazard Early Warning System (RIMES) at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand. He also served as a consultant to the Myanmar Red Cross Society, CARE Myanmar, Action Aid Myanmar and Myanmar Egress's Network Activities Group. He has also been involved with the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM), Myanmar Egress, World Vision Myanmar, Global Green and other organizations, focusing primarily on climate change and how to minimize damage caused by natural disasters.
Tun Lwin posts many of his articles concerning meteorological issues on his website, Myanmar Climate Change Watch.
U Tun Lwin
Question: What is the difference between presenting weather reports at the DMH and now?
Answer: It's very different. When I was a civil servant with the DMH, I had to follow regulations and had to seek permission or approval from my seniors before doing something. Now that I am working on my own I am free to do what I like. The main difference is freedom.
Q: What kind of references and tools do you use to predict weather conditions?
A: Basically, I use my experience combined with the meteorological knowledge I gained at Florida University. The only tool I have for my work is the Internet. Based on sources of information from various websites I predict what will happen in Burma.
Q: In a recent article, you said Burma needs radar equipment to measure and analyze rain clouds, tornadoes and tropical storms. You also said the DMH has been trying to procure the necessary tools and equipment since 1997. Why has it not happened?
A: In terms of tools and equipment, we just need a meteorological radar station [radar dish and antennae]. There are different types of radar and based on their capacity we can even see every little thing within range.
We don't have a good radar station. We used to have one in Kyaukpyu, but it was manufactured in 1974 and, I think, the radar was installed around 1976. We, the personnel at the DMH, used it frequently. However, with time it became worn out and needed to be repaired. The problem was that we couldn't find spare parts to fix it as it was an old model. Since then, we have been trying to get a new radar station. We asked the World Meteorological Organization, but it didn't transpire. We simply couldn't find any donors.
Q: How much would it cost to install a competent radar station?
A: The cost depends on what kind of radar station we are talking about. We have calculated that if we reinstall a radar dish in Kyaukpyu together with a monitoring station and staff quarters, it will cost about US $7 million.
Q: Internet users in Burma often complain about inefficient speed and service, and say that it crashes regularly. You said you use the Internet exclusively in your work to forecast meteorological conditions. How does this affect you?
A: Of course, I have found it difficult using the Internet [in Burma] as its speed is inconsistent. It makes it difficult for me to collect the information I need or to update my site. The best time to use the Internet here is when others are not using it. Sometimes I sit up all night because it has a faster connection. Sometimes, I go to high-speed Internet cafés. I have tried my best to update the weather forecasts in time, but if there is no Internet access then I can't do anything.
Q: Climate change in Burma has become worse lately. What do you think should be done?
A: It is not quite so easy—the whole world's climate has changed for the worse. But that doesn't mean that we have to give up. What we can do is prioritize reforestation.
A study has been made with regard to global climate change. It has shown that agriculture, industry, deforestation, population growth and a few other factors are the main effect on the global climate.
After examining the impact of these different sectors on climate change, the latest study shows that climate change within a country is mainly related to its GDP.
Q: People have alleged that, in the past, smugglers and those involved in illegal shipping paid off staff at the DMH in order to get them to release false reports about potential storms at sea, thereby deterring government patrol boats from going out and clearing the way for smugglers to land. Can you comment?
A: This is not true at all. There was no such case. There is no way the DMH could act like that. It was all just speculation by people who are unaware of DMH procedures. At that time, the weather forecasts were issued by the DMH headquarters in Rangoon. No individual person could release an independent news report.
Q: How do you feel when you think of Cyclone Nargis?
A: I have many suppressed feelings connected with Cyclone Nargis, because we knew about five days in advance that it would strike the country.
I don't want to blame anyone in particular, but we have paid a high price for not having the experience to deal of this kind of natural disaster. We underestimated it.
The only thing I have in my head now is never to let anything like that happen again. To do this, we have to add, fix and improve our system wherever possible. Taking our lesson from Nargis, we need to be fully prepared.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21021
--------------------------------------------------
Ministry hatches plan to import more labour
Bangladesh, Indonesia targetted by ministry
Published: 28/03/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
The Labour Ministry plans to import workers from Bangladesh and Indonesia as Thailand cannot get enough legal workers from nearby countries such as Burma, Laos and Cambodia.
Permanent secretary of the ministry, Somkiat Chayasriwong, said the ministry's committee on alien workers wants to bring in Bangladeshi workers to replace illegal workers from Burma, Laos and Cambodia who fail to register.
Bangladeshi workers will be another option for Thai operators who need more labour and to help solve security problems in the country where there is a growing number of illegal alien workers.
Mr Somkiat said the legal import of workers from Burma, Laos and Cambodia is subject to complicated procedures and regulations in their countries.
Bangladesh is more ready to supply labour as the country exports as many as 10 million workers.
The panel plans to import labourers, construction workers and maids from the country.
Thailand informed Burma that it wanted 100,000 workers but the country could supply only 1,803 workers. He said the supply was meagre compared with the demand.
Mr Somkiat said the alien labour committee would propose the import of workers from Indonesia later.
Regarding about 200,000 alien workers who failed to register for their work permits, the Labour Ministry had already asked relevant authorities to arrest them, he said.
Meanwhile, Adisorn Kerdmongkol, of the Action Network for Migrants, said alien workers were normally placed in fishery and related jobs and the labour import from Bangladesh would not serve local demands because people from that country "did not like jobs" in the fishery business. He suggested workers from Indonesia and southern China suit fishery and related jobs.
Setting aside the origins of workers, Mr Adisorn said Thailand needed a clear strategy to solve the problem of illegal immigrant workers.
Regarding the 200,000 alien workers who failed to register within the deadline at the end of February, he said that was a normal problem and that there were in fact about 1 million illegal immigrant workers in the country.
He said when people shifted to a new employer their old employer would often seize the worker's ID card. The registration of alien workers that happens only once every two years is a complicated procedure and the process can drive some alien workers out of the legal system.
The labour activist also proposed that the Labour Ministry clearly study the businesses that needed to hire alien workers and determine the exact number of workers they required. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/228920/ministry-hatches-plan-to-import-more-labour
---------------------------------------------------
Burma’s Censor-Board plays tricks on media personnel
By Zin Linn Mar 28, 2011 7:52PM UTC
After freshly selected president Thein Sein and his 30-member cabinet sworn in, a few restrictions might become softer in the printing and publishing industries, according to a latest notice on last Friday.
Although such as political, economic, social and literary journals and magazines will not be permitted publishing without undergoing the censorship or the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), sport, entertainment, aesthetic, health, children’s literature, general knowledge, supernatural and technology publications will be allowed evading the PSRD.
There are more than 350 journals and magazines publishing in Burma. In contrast, roughly 200 publications bring out as sport and entertainment periodicals. The risky periodicals on politics and economics are the smallest number in military ruled Burma.
According the new instruction dated 25 March from Information Ministry, over half of Burma’s journals and magazines – mostly sport and entertainment journals – will get exemption to keep away from the infamous censor board or PSRD prior to publication.
Some cronies of the junta who invested in media industry said that the press freedom will come gradually and this might be a first step. But, most of the media related persons deem that the move seems to be trickery to pretend as if the new semi-civilian regime starts allowing press freedom. If the regime wants allowing press freedom honestly, they should let all periodicals and publications. Instead, the regime gives permission only on some selected issues and most influential journals have to maintain status quo under PSRD.
Before 1962 military rule, the then Prime Minister U Nu’s government had no literary censor board office similar to PSRD. Even the journalists and reporters were allowed to enter the PM office and parliament without any limitation. But, the current military rulers did not allow the media personnel entering into the parliamentary sessions to hear what the newly representatives-elect discussed about.
It is a remarkable move that did not allow freedom to every media related person. So, the writers and journalists have to carry on practicing self-censoring to escape severe jail-terms.
Journalists in Burma have received draconian jail sentences for reporting information challenging to the regime. In January 2010, DVB reporter Ms. Hla Hla Win received a 20-year sentence for violating the Electronic Act, and now in jail serving 27 years; her helper, Myint Naing got seven years.
Burma was at the vanguard of press freedom in Southeast Asia before the 1962 military coup. The country then enjoyed a free press; censorship was something unheard of. As many as three dozen newspapers, including English, Chinese and Hindi dailies, existed between 1948 and 1962.
On the contrary, Burma stands demoted from a free state to a prison state. All news media in Burma is stringently censored and tightly controlled by the military – all daily newspapers, radio and television stations are under control of the junta.
Critics disbelieve over the regime’s words that Burma is changing into a civilian government but it looks like merely an exterior change, not an essential one. Actually, the regime is attempting to quiet down denunciation of its press freedom records.
Analysts said the move was likely aimed at countering the flow of independent media, particularly social networking, that has spread as more Burmese log on to the internet.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released a press release on February 11 stating, “Burma’s new government under Prime Minister Thein Sein must put an end to the former military junta’s despicable policy of imprisoning independent journalists. The most recent case to come to light is the 13-year sentencing of Maung Maung Zeya in a trial held within Insein Prison on February 4.”
The court’s verdict remarkably came on the same day the junta-backed president Thein Sein was sworn into office.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/51318/burma%E2%80%99s-censor-board-plays-tricks-on-media-personnel/
----------------------------------------------------
MATRADE To Lead Business Delegation To Myanmar
KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 (Bernama) -- The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) will lead a 11-member marketing mission to Yangon, Myanmar, from March 28 to 30, led by its Deputy-Director of Professional and Business Services Section Haridass Nagalingam.
Malaysian companies, representing a wide range of Malaysian products and services, would also participate in the three-day mission which would include pre-arranged business matching sessions.
The mission will also include plant visits to Malaysian companies in Myanmar, a presentation by the Secretary-General of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and a talk by the President of the Malaysia Myanmar Association.
There were over 40 Malaysian companies operating in Myanmar covering the oil and gas, automotive, palm oil, household products, processed food and building materials sectors, Haridass said in a statement on Monday.
In 2010, Malaysia's bilateral trade with Myanmar was valued at US$630 million (US$1.00 = RM3.02) with Malaysia's exports to Myanmar valued at US$390 million and imports from Myanmar valued at US$240 million.
The strong export performance was driven mainly by Myanmar's strong demand for palm oil, petroleum products, chemical and chemical products, iron and steel, machinery and processed food.
In January 2011, Malaysia's total exports to Myanmar increased 84.7 per cent to US$44 million, from US$23.4 million, registered in January 2010.
-- BERNAMA http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsbusiness.php?id=574251
-------------------------------------------
Sports, supernatural bypass censor board
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 28 March 2011
More than half of Burma’s journals and magazines will no longer be forced to go via the country’s draconian censor board prior to publication, according to a new ruling that however maintains a tight clamp on political reporting.
Nearly 200 of Burma’s 350-odd journals and magazines will be subject to the easing of stringent laws surrounding publication, which is expected to take effect from the beginning of April when the new government is officially sworn in.
But only publications focusing on entertainment, general knowledge, sport, aesthetic, health, children’s literature, supernatural and technology will be allowed to bypass the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), which resides over some of the world’s harshest media laws. Anything deemed politically sensitive by the board – and the criteria surrounding that is highly arbitrary – will continue to be cut.
It bears resemblance to the system that was in place prior to the 1962 military coup, said prominent magazine editor, Hein Latt. Then, journalists weren’t forced to submit material to the censor board, but could still be punished if their writing angered the government.
He said that with the new ruling, “writers will have to take responsibility for what they write” – a case of self-censoring to avoid legal action and possible imprisonment.
More than 20 Burmese journalists are currently behind bars, some serving sentences of up to 27 years. The military-ruled nation consistently ranks at the tail-end of international press freedom indexes
Critics of the ruling junta have poured doubt over its claim that Burma is transitioning to civilian rule and would likely attack this ruling as merely a cosmetic change – given the strict rules that still surround so-called sensitive topics – aimed at appeasing condemnation of its media freedom record.
Ross Dunkley, the detained former editor of the Myanmar Times, the only newspaper in Burma with foreign funding, has said in the past that some 20 percent of its articles submitted to the censor board are rejected,
Yesterday the regime launched The Myawaddy, bringing to four the number of daily newspaper published in the country. Running the newspaper will be the Directorate of Public Relations and Psychological Warfare, which comes under the responsibility of military intelligence.
Analysts said the move was likely aimed at countering the flow of independent media, particularly social networking, that has spread as more Burmese log on to the internet.
http://www.dvb.no/news/sports-supernatural-to-bypass-censor-board/14983
------------------------------------------
Parliament snubs ethnic harmony bill
Published: 28 March 2011
Burma’s parliament has voted against a proposal that would urge the new government to work towards building stronger relations with the country’s marginalised ethnic groups.
The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) will head the government, due to be officially instated on 1 April, but the overwhelming presence of former military generals and a very much pro-junta ideology has begged the question of whether it will break with a past in which ethnic minorities have faced rampant state-sanctioned persecution.
“When the parliament speaker asked whether to approve [the proposal] or not, there were both agreements and disagreements among the MPs,” said Hpone Myint Aung, a parliamentary representative for the National Democratic Force (NDF). “So they decided to vote, and the turnout was 106 votes in favour and 520 against.”
He added that of those who voted on Friday last week, “only around 100 [were] non-military representatives”. The USDP, whose senior ranks include powerful former junta ministers such as Thein Sein, Shwe Mann and Htay Oo, swept around 80 percent of the vote in last November’s elections and, added to the more than 300 pre-appointed army officials, leads an overwhelmingly military-dominated parliament.
Burma is home to around 135 different ethnic minorities, largely grouped in the country’s seven border states where conflict has stretched over decades. The regime’s war with the Karen National Union in the country’s east has lasted more than 60 years and is thought to be the world’s longest-running.
Attempts last year by the government to assimilate the 18 or so ethnic armies that agreed to ceasefire deals into the Burmese army has largely met with failure. Only a small handful have agreed to become Border Guard Forces, while those that refused have been the target of threats and small-scale skirmishes with the Burmese army.
But it is the civilians in these areas that take the brunt of the predominantly Burman junta’s attempts to rout ethnic armies, and perhaps the ethnic minorities themselves: what appear to be state-sanctioned abuses such as rape by Burmese troops of ethnic women, as documented by various rights groups, has led some observers to accuse the regime of an attempted ‘Burmanisation’ of the minorities.
Conflict in the volatile border regions had led to the internal displacement of more than half a million in the country’s east alone, while close to 150,000 refugees, mostly Karen, live in camps along the Thai border.
The parliamentary proposal was submitted by Banya Aung Moe, an MP from the All Mon Regions Democracy Party, one of 22 ethnic parties that competed in the elections. Another MP who voted in favour of the motion said that it’s rejection means there “will be no chance to discuss the issue of peace with ethnic armed groups”.
Meanwhile, the parliament also voted to make official its denouncement of international sanctions on Burma, with USDP members claiming that the policy of a number of Western nations was behind the country’s slow development.
The prospect of an amnesty of political prisoners to appease the international community was mooted by some opposition MPs but made no ground against opposition from the USDP.
Burma’s Minister of Finance and Revenue, Hla Htun, said the country was losing some $US2.5 billion every year to sanctions, which necessitated the need to sell its vast reserves of gas to neighbouring states, despite only 20 percent of the country having access to electricity. Critics have said however that the vast majority of the finance generated from energy sales have gone towards lining the generals’ pockets.
http://www.dvb.no/news/parliament-snubs-ethnic-harmony-bill/14991
--------------------------------------
Aid agencies update Myanmar quake casualty count
Mar 28, 2011, 11:19 GMT
Yangon - A consortium of UN and other aid agencies said Monday the official number of casualties from last Thursday's earthquake in the Shan State of eastern Myanmar stood at 74 deaths and 125 injuries.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the magnitude-6.8 quake damaged 305 structures, including some government buildings, 31 religious buildings and 11 schools.
'There have been reports of sporadic disruption of basic facilities, including electricity, water supply and telecommunications in the affected areas,' the consortium's report said.
A total of eight aftershocks were reported between Thursday and Sunday night, and the threat of landslides remained high, the report added.
The report also described coordination between local authorities and agencies as efficient.
This was in stark contrast to the Myanmar government's reaction to the much bigger disaster of Cyclone Nargis in 2008 that claimed up to 140,000 lives in the Irrawaddy Delta.
Following Thursday's quake the government dispatched a team of doctors to the area and invited foreign aid agencies to assist the victims of the quake.
World Vision and other relief agencies such as Paris-based Doctors Without Borders were allowed immediate access to the area.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1629135.php/Aid-agencies-update-Myanmar-quake-casualty-count
--------------------------------------
Aid to earthquake victims remains in high need
Monday, 28 March 2011 16:54 Hseng Khio Fah
Hundreds of victims affected by Thursday’s ( 24 March) earthquake of magnitude-6.8 in Talerh (Talay) and Mong Lane (Monglin) village tracts of Shan State East’s Talerh sub-township, Tachilek district, are still reportedly lacking access to food and aid even though relief supplies are being distributed from local and international communities everyday, according to local sources.
Everyone is told to line up in queue to wait for food and medicine from the local authorities as supplies were controlled by the local authorities and were only given at the junta run relief center. Nevertheless, supplies are only being distributed in very small amounts although lots of support was pouring from several places and neighborhood, said a 65-year old elderly person from Talerh who went to ask for food on 26 March at the relief shelter.
“They [military junta] told us to go and sit in a line. Then they took our photos. Afterwards, we had to be in line at the relief center everyday from 8AM to 3 PM. But it was just a waste of time because we just received only one bag of instant noodles and a bottle of water each. No more than those,” he said.
Food and supplies like blankets, mats and tarpaulins for impacted villagers mainly come from people in Tachilek and Mae Sai, and some from Keng Tung. In addition, those impacted villagers are still living in tents in front of their damaged and collapsed houses.
Nang Lao from the same village also shared her experience that she had to wait for almost a day to receive the food until the ‘Phu Yai (superiors)’ came to give permission. “We had to wait for a long time for nothing, while worrying about more damage after the aftershocks.”
An aid worker from an NGO also told SHAN that they were not allowed to hand relief supplies directly to the villagers. They were only asked to drop their things at the junta’s relief shelters.
“We have to pile up all our supplies and donations at the aid centers and have to wait for ‘permission’ before delivering them to the villagers,” she said.
“Villagers are suffering as they do not have enough to eat or drink. Some family received only 2 bags of instant noodles. We know that it was not enough for them. But we could do nothing except tell them to share with each other,” she added.
There were only three relief centers being set up in the area: one in Mong Lane and two in Talerh, where hundreds of people are expected to have lost their lives under their collapsed buildings.
“One of the aid centers in Talerh is located at the head of the bridge (before crossing to Ta Lerh), opposite an army camp. There are a lot of security armed guards at the bridge, who have been temporarily repairing the damaged road, but causing traffic hold-ups for people bringing donations from Tachilek. Thus everyone has to leave their donations at the aid center before the bridge,” said the aid worker.
Apart from the local communities, even UN and NGO aid must be piled at the aid center even though they got permission from high level authorities. UNICEF and Myanmar Red Cross have provided support both in Mong Lane and Ta Lerh.
However, up to date, an accurate data of the deaths have yet been known as equipment to search for the dead bodies are insufficient. Currently, the death toll from the areas could rise to hundreds, approximately at least about 200, according to local relief workers who are currently still in the area.
But the official announcement from MRTV4, the junta-run television station only said that only 74 died and 125 injured.
The latest report from Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) which is in collaboration with humanitarian groups said that since the earthquake struck and as of 27 March evening, a total of eight aftershocks have been reported and the affected areas remain in the risk of landslides. And the number of damaged houses has increased from 224 to 305 including a number of government buildings.
The Talerh based Relief and Resettlement Department has estimated the damage of the earthquake approximately at Kyat 3 billion (US$ 3.6 million), the report said.
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3546:aid-to-earthquake-victims-remains-in-high-need&catid=93:general&Itemid=291
-------------------------------------------
Relief teams pick through Shan rubble
By AFP
Published: 27 March 2011
Rescue teams struggled Sunday to reach those affected by a powerful earthquake that struck Burma’s east three days ago, as aid workers feared the death toll would increase.
Officials say 75 people were killed by the 6.8 magnitude quake that hit near the borders with Thailand and Laos late on Thursday, reducing homes and government buildings to rubble and affecting thousands of people.
“As we learn more it appears that the casualty figures will continue to increase,” an aid worker in the country told AFP, asking not to be named.
Tachileik town and nearby Tarlay and Mong Lin in Burma’s Shan state appeared to have been most severely affected by the quake, which was felt as far away as the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.
“We don’t know how many people were affected yet. We are still trying to get the figures,” a Burmese official said on Sunday.
“Transportation is difficult. We still haven’t reached some areas, we still don’t know what happened to them and we don’t know how many people are living in these mountainous areas,” he added, declining to be named.
An unnamed Red Cross worker in Tachileik told exile news group the Irrawaddy that at least 150 people had been killed, but the official said there was no confirmed increase from Friday’s toll of 74. One woman was also killed in Thailand.
The charity World Vision believes around 15,000 people may have been affected in the worst-hit areas.
“One of the things that’s really emerging is water as a critical need. That’s the immediate challenge in addition to temporary shelter,” said Chris Herink, the charity’s Burma country director in Rangoon.
The group, in partnership with the health ministry, is sending in tens of thousands of water purification tablets along with first aid kits and emergency shelter.
The affected region was already difficult to reach before the quake, while access to the area by foreigners is restricted and the military-dominated government tends to keep a tight grip on information.
The ruling junta was widely criticised for refusing foreign assistance for weeks after cyclone Nargis wrought devastation across the Irrawaddy delta in May 2008, leaving more than 138,000 people either killed or missing.
But Herink has said his organisation, which is working in the affected areas with the Myanmar Red Cross and UNICEF, had found the government had been proactively cooperating.
He said a report by authorities assessed the estimated financial damage in Tarlay alone at $US3.5 million.
Sunday’s state New Light of Myanmar newspaper detailed the official relief effort on its front page, after various ministers travelled to Tachileik from the capital Naypyidaw on Saturday.
“They comforted earthquake-hit victims and presented cash assistance to them,” the English-language paper said.
But many have been getting their news from Thai radio rather than sources in Burma, and one Tachileik resident, posting anonymously on Saturday on an internet forum, lamented the lack of “concrete assistance from authorities”.
In Tarlay, as strong aftershocks continued on Saturday, a few rescue teams were seen picking through the rubble of buildings, a bridge was destroyed and roads were riven with huge cracks.
“The whole village is gone,” said Nan Myint, tearfully explaining that she had lost her father, nephew and sister-in-law in the quake, which took place while she was in Rangoon.
http://www.dvb.no/news/relief-teams-pick-through-shan-rubble/14976
----------------------------------------
Burma Marks Unusually Low-key Armed Forces Day
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Monday, March 28, 2011
RANGOON — Burma's military government on Sunday held an unusually low-key ceremony marking Armed Forces Day, as anticipation mounts that it will soon turn over power to a nominally civilian administration.
The holiday commemorates the day when the army rose up against Japanese occupation forces 66 years ago. It is usually is observed on a grand scale with a military parade and a speech by the country's military leader in the capital, Naypyidaw.
There was no explanation given for why the ceremony was cut back for the first time since the junta took power in 1988.
However, the move comes as rumors swirl that a military-dominated civilian government formed after elections last year will soon be officially sworn in, perhaps in the next few days.
The state-run media gave the holiday normal treatment. They printed the speech that junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe gave at last year's commemoration, and an editorial in The New Light of Myanmar newspaper praised the military—known as the Tatmadaw—for "leading the nation and the people to the way to democracy by serving as a major national force."
The opposition led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose father Gen Aung San led the uprising against the Japanese, held its own ceremony for the holiday, which it refers to by its old name, Resistance Day. The name was changed in 1974 to avoid offending Japan, Burma's top aid donor in the 1970s.
Her National League for Democracy party issued a statement urging that a "dialogue be held urgently to eliminate the misunderstandings between the democratic forces and the Tatmadaw" and that political prisoners be released.
Suu Kyi's party boycotted last year's elections, saying they were being held under unfair and undemocratic conditions. The vote and a constitution pushed through by the military ensure that the army will hold ultimate authority over the government.
Asked if the rocky relationship between her party and the government will change when a new civilian administration takes power, Suu Kyi replied: "I don't know but we always want good relations with the government. I wish that the relationship will improve."
"Only they (the new government) will know how they intend to treat us but we will work for good relations," she said.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21019
__._,_.___
Posts
