News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 21 January, 2011
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Suu Kyi Meets Thai FM
Myanmar's Suu Kyi gets web access
All the Senior General’s Men in Burmese Parliaments
Aung Suu Kyi finally plugs into the cyber world
Burma names military figures to sit in new parliament
Internal Power Struggle at Myanmar Times?
Shan party candidate wins lawsuit
Army reps named for parliament
Myanmar fills military quota in parliament with 388 appointees
Myanmar Publishes 383 Name Lists Of Parliament Representative Nominated By Military
Myanmar heads for first parliamentary sessions in two decades
S Korea eyes Burma stock market
Energy minister ‘unhappy’ with privatisation
Gold and Dollar Values Up in Burma
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Suu Kyi Meets Thai FM
Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi had an one-hour talk with Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya at the Thai embassy in Rangoon on Friday morning, said officials of her party, the National League for Democracy. “The discussion was quite frank, but we still have no details from it,” said a party official. The personal meeting was the first between Suu Kyi and another country's foreign minister since her release from house arrest in November.
Published Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 - The Irrawaddy.
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Myanmar's Suu Kyi gets web access
Posted: 21 January 2011 1627 hrs
YANGON: Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has finally had Internet access installed at home after her years of isolation were brought to an end two months ago, an aide said Friday.
Her security chief Win Htein told AFP that the opposition leader was "glad" to be able to go online at her lakeside mansion in Yangon and would use the technology to contact her network of supporters.
"But she cannot use the Internet now as she is not feeling well and is coughing," he said.
It is believed that the Nobel laureate has never before surfed the web.
Suu Kyi, who was locked up for seven straight years with no telephone or Internet until November, has expressed an interest in using the micro-blogging site Twitter or the social network Facebook to reach young people.
She applied to a private company for Internet access soon after she was released, but the request was transferred to Yatanarpon Teleport, a firm run by the country's military authorities.
Citizens of Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, must obtain the authorities' permission to be able to go online at home and there is a thriving black market for facilities under assumed identities.
Suu Kyi applied officially under her own name for web access because she wants to use email, Win Htein said.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders describes Myanmar's legislation on Internet use, the Electronic Act, as among the world's most repressive, with online dissidents facing lengthy prison terms.
Just one in every 455 of Myanmar's inhabitants were Internet users in 2009, based on statistics from the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency in Geneva.
Some web users believed authorities intentionally slowed services ahead of the country's first elections in two decades in November, while many fear online surveillance by the state.
Myanmar is poised to open a new parliament this month following the polls, which were decried in the West as a sham aimed at shoring up military power and boycotted by Suu Kyi's party.
Her National League for Democracy won a 1990 election in a landslide but the result was never recognised by the regime and Suu Kyi has spent most of the past 20 years in detention.
-AFP/jl http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1106108/1/.html
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All the Senior General’s Men in Burmese Parliaments
By Zin Linn
Jan 21, 2011 7:38PM UTC
Burma’s military junta has appointed 388 members of parliaments to fill the military share of the three chambers of parliament which will first assemble on January 31, junta’s media said today.
The junta has appointed 110 military officers for the people’s parliament (lower house), 56 for the national parliament (upper house), and 222 for regional-and-state parliaments, The New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Friday.
All appointed MPs are military officers in commission, including one brigadier general, 19 colonels; the other 368 officers are majors and captains in ranks.
Under country’s new constitution, the military can appoint 25 per cent of all lawmakers in three chambers of parliament. It is enough for the military to veto any legislation and to control the picking of a new president and cabinet.
Meanwhile, the controversial Conscription Law, dated November 4, 2010, which is to be ratified in Burma, has been criticized by the National League for Democracy (NLD) on 19 January. As said by the draft law, it will come into force on the day that the military regime endorses the law by an article in an official decree.
According to NLD, a draft law is related to the whole population in the country and it should be approved through lower and upper parliaments. Releasing the draft law ahead of the approaching parliament assemblies looks like a dishonest tactic. And it also shows the military is above the parliament which is really a fake. The military authorities will be misused the rights of grassroots people under this law in the name of ‘the State’, NLD pointed out in its statement.
Although the 1959 Public Military Service Act said the state had the authority to order any person who is qualified to serve in the armed forces, the current junta’s draft law prescribes that all male and female adults between selected ages should be subjects to serve in the military, the NLD statement pointed out.
“If the law comes into life, the authorities will misuse the law as the corruption is prevalent. The law will open the door of evildoings for the authorities and it will put heavy burdens on the people who are under poverty line due to junta’s bad-governance”’, said NLD’s statement dated 19 January.
Burma or Myanmar, under military absolute rule since 1962, held its first general election in two decades on November 7 last year. Parliament is to hold its first session on January 31 to commence the procedure of choosing a new president. The parliament meetings would likely to take at least 14 days and people may only allow perceiving who will be the first president around mid-February, as said by an observer.
Besides the 25-per-cent ratio of appointed military parliamentarians, the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) took 77 per cent of the seats in three chambers of parliament by vote-rigging. Whoever won the presidential throne, there may not be any amazement during the first parliamentary session which will be held under junta’s tightly control.
The 2008 constitution says that the president and two vice-presidents needn’t to be elected members of parliament except acquaintance with military affairs. Many observers deem that Senior General Than Shwe, 77, boss of the junta since 1992 and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is an expected candidate, while ex-Generals Maung Aye and Shwe Mann are likely to be the deputies under Than Shwe.
If Than Shwe decided to take the presidential office, he has to resign from his military position. The president will have the power to shape the new government. Most of the new cabinet members seem to be chosen primarily from the USDP MPs who also were once high-ranking military officers with the junta.
The over 1,000 representatives-elect and 388 appointed military representatives are preparing for the first parliament session on 31 January. All representatives have been cautiously instructed about dos and don’ts in the parliamentary compound including which costume they have to wear, and which kinds of thing they are not allowed not to bring.
The Members of Parliament will not be allowed to carry mobile phones, recorders and laptop computers into the Parliament, as said by Dr. Myat Nyar Na Soe, a representative-elect from the National Democratic Force (NDF) party.
An invitation letter delivered to the representatives-elect calls on Members of Parliament to inform to the fortified office of the parliament in capital Naypyidaw by 27 January.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/46647/all-the-senior-general%E2%80%99s-men-in-burmese-parliaments/
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BBC ASIA PACIFIC
21 January 2011 Last updated at 11:56 GMT
Burma names military figures to sit in new parliament
Burmese state media has published lists of military officials who will take up seats in parliament when it opens on 31 January for the first time in 22 years.
Under the junta-drafted constitution, the military is allocated 25% of seats in both houses of parliament and the state assemblies.
Most of the 388 officers appointed hold relatively junior ranks.
Military-backed parties won by far the largest number of seats in the November polls, Burma's first in 20 years.
Opposition groups and Western nations have criticised laws under which the polls were held and condemned the elections a sham.
The official first sitting of parliament in Naypyidaw will mark the implementation of the new constitution and see the transfer of power from the military government to a parliament and president.
Representatives of military-linked parties - many of them former officers who stood down to stand in the polls - are expected the dominate the chambers.
The setting of a quota for the military in parliament has been interpreted by some observers as intended to prevent any surprises. More than 75% approval is required for any constitutional change.
The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that 110 military officers had been chosen for the lower house, 56 for the upper house, and 222 for regional and state parliaments.
The most senior appointees were a brigadier general and 19 colonels alongside a majority of majors and captains.
Under the new constitution, parliament will elect a president. It is not yet clear whether senior leader Than Shwe is eyeing this role.
The party that won Burma's last elections in 1990 - the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy - is not represented in parliament.
But there will also be a small number of lawmakers representing Burma's ethnic parties and its pro-democracy opposition.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12247940
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Aung Suu Kyi finally plugs into the cyber world
Agence France-Presse
Yangon, January 21, 2011
First Published: 14:45 IST(21/1/2011)
Last Updated: 14:48 IST(21/1/2011)
Myanmar democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi has finally secured Internet access at home after her years of isolation were brought to an end two months ago, an aide said on Friday. Her security chief Win Htein told AFP that the opposition leader was "glad" to be able to go online at her lakeside
mansion in Yangon and would use the technology to contact her network of supporters.
"But she cannot use the Internet now as she is not feeling well and is coughing," he said. It is believed that the Nobel laureate has never before surfed the web.
Suu Kyi, who was locked up for seven straight years with no telephone or Internet until November, 2010, has expressed an interest in using the micro blogging site Twitter or the social network Facebook to reach young people.
She applied to a private company for Internet access soon after she was released, but the request was transferred to Yatanarpon Teleport, a firm run by the country's military authorities.
Citizens of Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, must obtain the authorities' permission to be able to go online at home and there is a thriving black market for facilities under assumed identities.
Suu Kyi applied officially under her own name for web access because she wants to use email, Win Htein said.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders describes Myanmar's legislation on Internet use, the Electronic Act, as among the world's most repressive, with online dissidents facing lengthy prison terms. Just one in every 455 of Myanmar's inhabitants were Internet users in 2009, based on statistics from the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency in Geneva.
Some web users believed authorities intentionally slowed services ahead of the country's first elections in two decades in November last year, while many fear online surveillance by the state. Myanmar is poised to open a new parliament this month following the polls, which were decried in the West as a sham aimed at shoring up military power and boycotted by Suu Kyi's party.
Her National League for Democracy won a 1990 election in a landslide but the result was never recognised by the regime and Suu Kyi has spent most of the past 20 years in detention. http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/myanmar/Aung-Suu-Kyi-finally-plugs-into-the-cyber-world/Article1-652958.aspx
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Internal Power Struggle at Myanmar Times?
By LA PYAE Friday, January 21, 2011
RANGOON — Rumors are rife in Rangoon media circles about a possible takeover of Myanmar Consolidate Media (MCM) group, the company that owns four major publications in Burma: leading weekly The Myanmar Times in both Burmese and English; lifestyle journal Now!; and a weekly tabloid called Crime.
A source close to MCM said the company is entrenched in an internal power struggle between between two major shareholders, co-founder Ross Dunkley who is Australian, and Tin Htun Oo who is the owner of Swezon media group and publisher of The Myanmar Times.
The Myanmar Times co-founder Ross Dunkley.
According to the source, Tin Htun Oo, who won a seat in Pazundaung Township in the November general election representing the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, has been duelling with Dunkley to take over the position of CEO and editor-in-chief of MCM. Dunkley reportedly rejected the move in the past, resulting in an unfriendly relationship between the two shareholders.
On Jan. 17, a report in the state-owned Mirror newspaper indicated that Tin Htun Oo has taken over as editor-in-chief of MCM.
“Myanmar Consolidate Media Group Editor-in-Chief Dr. Tin Htun Oo donated over 2.6 million Kyats worth of journals to the library,” the newspaper said.
The article reportedly sent shock waves around the newsroom at The Myanmar Times. According to sources at the newspaper, MCM sent a official letter to Mirror complaining that Tin Htun Oo is not in an editorial position.
Permission for the publication of The Myanmar Times was originally granted in 2000 to Sonny Swe, the son of former military intelligence officer Brig-Gen Thein Swe. Forty-nine percent of shares were owned by Dunkley while Sonny Swe held onto 51 percent. Following Sonny Swe’s imprisonment in 2005, his shares were handed to Tin Htun Oo, who is close to the military regime's information minister, Kyaw Hsan.
Sources said that Tin Htun Oo's efforts to take over The Myanmar Times may well be successful as the military junta can interfere in the issue at any time.
In 2008, The Myanmar Times was ordered to sack four of its Burmese editors after carrying a report that had not been authorized by the government’s censorship board.
Dunkley is also a key stockholder in The Phnom Penh Post, a Cambodian English-language newspaper.
http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20582
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Shan party candidate wins lawsuit
By NANG KHAM KAEW
Published: 21 January 2011
Burma’s junta-appointed Election Commission has dismissed a complaint filed against a candidate of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) by a member of the victorious Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
The decision will come as a surprise to critics of Burma’s judicial system who claim that the country’s opposition forces rarely triumph in such disputes. The USDP had alleged that Sai Moon, who will be representing the SNDP in the Shan state regional legislature, used armed groups to force voters to vote in favour of him.
The Election Commission, the supreme body for all election-related matters, said that there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations and so dismissed the case. Sai Moon has received an invitation to report to Naypyidaw by 27 January along with the 1000-plus other elected candidates, days prior to the opening of the parliament on 31 January.
The SNDP came third in the 7 November polls with around 60 votes, while the USDP won 882. Ostensibly backed by the 388 seats appointed to the military, the USDP will dominate decision-making in the new parliament.
Nang Wah Nu, an SNDP candidate for the People’s Parliament in Kunhing township, Shan state, said there were two more lawsuits filed by the USDP against SNDP candidates.
The election victors have filed several other lawsuits against elected MPs from other parties, including the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, the Democratic Party (Myanmar) and the National Democratic Force (NDF).
The NDF’s Myat Nyarna Soe, who is fighting a complaint filed by USDP candidate Myat Thu, said that the tribunal for the case had so far been fair. Myat Thu, who lost the Rangoon division seat, claims that his NDF rival committed slander against the government during the pre-election campaigning phase.
“I witnessed the [Election Commission] being fair in the case,” he said. “There was no strong evidence to support the USDP’s allegations. The commission has formed a tribunal to listen to these cases and I saw that the judges were not letting them pass without any strong evidence to support their allegations.”
Additional reporting by Htet Aung Kyaw http://www.dvb.no/news/shan-party-candidate-wins-lawsuit/13824
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Army reps named for parliament
By MIN LWIN
Published: 21 January 2011
State media in Burma has named the 388 military officials who will take up seats in the country’s new parliament, due to hold its first session next week.
The pre-appointed personnel will sit in all three parliaments – 110 in the People’s Parliament, 56 in the Nationalities Parliament and 222 in the regional legislatures. They rank from brigadier-general down to captain.
The ruling junta announced prior to elections on 7 November last year that each parliament would contain an unelected military quota who will hold significant sway over the decision-making process – under the 2008 constitution, they can appoint 25 percent of all legislators, enabling them the power of veto.
DVB has learnt that the officials, all of whom are men, yesterday finished a two-week parliamentary training course in the capital, Naypyidaw. A source close to the army said that the 388 include Burmese graduates from military schools in Russia, as well as army doctors, but that no personnel from combat and infantry troops were appointed.
The first session of parliament is due to be held on 31 January. The 1000-plus MPs elected in last year’s polls have been carefully instructed in what to wear and what items are forbidden from being brought into the parliament.
The elections were won in a landslide by the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Observers claim the lines between USDP ministers and the military will be distinguishable only by the uniforms – many junta officials resigned prior to the elections in oprder to compete for the USDP.
Despite the USDP’s overwhelming victory, politicians from 22 parties, as well as several independent candidates, will travel to Naypyidaw next week in lieu of the first session.
http://www.dvb.no/news/army-reps-named-for-parliament/13816
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Myanmar fills military quota in parliament with 388 appointees
Jan 21, 2011, 4:06 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar's junta has appointed 388 legislators to fill the 'military quota' of the three chambers of parliament which will first convene on January 31, state media reports said Friday.
The junta has appointed 110 military officers for the lower house, 56 for upper house, and 222 for regional and state parliaments, The New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.
The appointees were all military men, including one brigadier general, 19 colonels, and the remainder being either majors or captains.
Under Myanmar's new constitution, the military can appoint 25 per cent of all legislators, enough for them to veto any legislation and to sway the selection of a new president and cabinet.
Myanmar, under military dictatorships since 1962, held its first general election in two decades on November 7. Parliament is to hold its first session on January 31 to begin the process of selecting a new president.
'I heard that parliament meetings will take at least 14 days and we will only know who will be the president around mid-February,' said a government official who requested anonymity.
Few surprises are expected from the first parliamentary session. Besides the 25-per-cent quota of military appointees, the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won 77 per cent of the seats.
Parliament's first task will be to set up an electoral college with representatives from the three chambers of parliament to nominate a new president.
The president does not need to be an elected member of parliament but must be familiar with military affairs, the constitution says.
According to political observers, Than Shwe, 77, junta chief since 1992 and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is a likely candidate, as are Generals Maung Aye and Shwe Mann, the second and third-highest ranking officers in the ruling junta.
All three would have to resign their military posts to take political office.
The president will be responsible for choosing the next cabinet, primarily selected from the ranks of the USDP.
Myanmar's elections were strongly criticized by the international community for being unfair and for excluding Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy opposition party.
Suu Kyi, 65, was freed from a seven-year house detention term six days after the polls.
The National League for Democracy won the 1990 general election by a landslide, but it was blocked from assuming power by the military. The party was officially disbanded in May for failing to register to contest the polls.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1613413.php/Myanmar-fills-military-quota-in-parliament-with-388-appointees
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January 21, 2011 11:06 AM
Myanmar Publishes 383 Name Lists Of Parliament Representative Nominated By Military
YANGON, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- The Union Election Commission of Myanmar Friday published 383 name lists of parliament representatives nominated by the military to the three-level parliaments as a follow-up of its announcement on Thursday night for taking part in the first parliamentary sessions set to take place simultaneously at the end of this month.
Directly nominated by the commander-in-chief of the defence services without going through election, 110 military personnel represent in the parliamentary house of representatives (lower house), while 56 represent in the parliamentary house of nationalities (upper house) and 217 in the region or state parliament shared among 14 regions and states, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
The 110 military personnel nominated as parliament representatives to the house of representatives include three with the rank of colonel, 59 with the rank of major, 39 with the rank of major officiating, three with the rank of captain and six with the rank of Lt-Cdr.
The three colonels are Htay Naing, Myint Ko Ko and Tint Hsan.
-- BERNAMA http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=558201
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Myanmar heads for first parliamentary sessions in two decades
16:28, January 21, 2011
With the Union Election Commission' s announcement and publication of 383 name lists of parliament representatives nominated by the military to the three-level parliaments on Thursday and Friday, the first three-level parliamentary sessions of Myanmar in two decades is to take place simultaneously on Jan. 31.
Directly nominated by the commander-in-chief of the defense services without going through election, the military personnel are to represent in each level of the three-level parliaments, accounting for 25 percent of the total.
1,537 parliament representatives including 1,154 elected through the Nov. 7, 2010 general election and 383 through direct nomination by the military will attend the first parliamentary sessions at three levels -- house of representatives (lower house), house of nationalities (upper house) and region or state parliament shared among 14 regions and states.
Of the 1,154 parliament representatives elected from political parties and independent individuals, 325 represent in the house of representatives, while 168 in the house of nationalities and 661 in the region or state parliament.
Of the 383 non-elected military-nominated parliament representatives, 110 represent in the house of representatives, while 56 in the parliamentary house of nationalities and 217 in the region or state parliament.
Adding up the representatives from the two sides, the total number of the house of representatives is 435, that of the house of nationalities 224 and that of the region or state parliament 878.
Myanmar is due to start its first three-chamber parliamentary sessions simultaneously on Jan. 31 morning with the sessions of the house of representatives (lower house) and house of nationalities (upper house) to take place at the newly-built parliament buildings in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw.
Sessions of region or state parliament will be held separately in respective regions or states on the same day.
The summon for the sessions of the three-level parliaments by the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) came nearly three months after the end of the multi-party general election on Nov.7, 2010.
The union parliament, made up of the house of representatives and the house of nationalities, will elect the country's president and vice presidents according to the new state constitution.
Meanwhile, the SPDC on Jan, 10 made public 17 laws and bylaws under the new state constitution for reference in discussions in the first parliamentary sessions.
These laws and bylaws include those related to state seal, election of president and vice-presidents, union government, region or state government, self-administered division or zone leading body, Nay Pyi Taw Council, state constitution tribunal, union appointment judicature, state flag, national anthem, union parliament, house of representatives, house of nationalities, region or state parliament, union judiciary, union attorney- general and union auditor-general.
In Nov. 7, 2010 general election, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by Prime Minister U Thein Sein, won the majority of 882 parliamentary seats or 76.43 percent out of the final total of 1,154 at three levels.
The USDP is followed by the National Unity Party (NUP) with 64 seats, in which 12 with the house of representatives, 5 with the house of nationalities and 47 with the region or state parliament.
The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) took 57 seats, in which the party shares 18 with the house of representatives, 3 with the house of nationalities and 36 with the region or state parliament.
The Rakhine Nationalities Development Party held 35 seats with 9 in the house of representatives, 7 in the house of nationalities and 19 in region or state parliament, while the National Democratic Force (NDF) and the All Mon Region Democracy Party ( AMRDP) each with 16 at three levels of parliament.
Some minor number of seats were won by other parties which fielded a lesser number of candidates for the election.
In the general election, a total of 29 million people across the nation were set as eligible to cast ballots.
Nationally, a total of over 3,000 parliamentary candidates from 37 political parties including 82 independents took part in the competition across the country's seven regions and seven ethnic states.
After completing the election, the 5th step of the government's seven-step roadmap to democracy introduced in 2003, the country is heading towards the 6th step, which is calling the parliaments and form a new government.
Source: Xinhua http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7268859.html
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S Korea eyes Burma stock market
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 21 January 2011
South Korean stock market operator Korea Exchange has confirmed that it is looking into the possibility of setting up a stock market in Burma.
Lee In-pyo, a project director at Korea Exchange, was quoted by Reuters as saying that they had “had a discussion [with Burma] before”, adding yesterday that “anything is possible, anything can happen” in regards to the possibility of setting up the bourse.
Korea Exchange has already created stock exchanges in Laos and Cambodia, regarded as the other two new frontiers in Southeast Asian economic development.
Burma economics expert Sean Turnell from Australia’s Macquarie University says that “Burma will need one – stock exchanges are the main source of long-term financing for companies”.
An anonymous official at the Seoul-based company told Reuters however that while the company had visited the pariah twice, “nothing has been decided”.
The move is a further sign of the Burmese military’s commitment to liberalising the economy and attracting foreign investment, a process that has been viewed critically for its management and lack of transparency.
A foreign businessman in Rangoon confirmed that business was hindered by the lack of security that investors possessed in front of the law, pointing out that licenses for business property were only given for one year and subsequently had to be renewed annually, with no guarantees.
Indeed Turnell told DVB that “Burma tried to establish one [a stock exchange] before about 10 years ago, but that went nowhere”.
“The big problem with stock exchanges, unlike banks and so on, is that they require very strict legal rights, like property rights and so on, because of course the key is the legal entitlement to ownership. So if you have a case like Burma where the legal ownership claims are often highly subjective to the actions of the state, then it can be quite difficult.”
Increased South Korean investment will also further highlight the military’s adept handling of rival nations. In this case they have seemingly played both bitter enemies from the Korean peninsula off against one another, as recent leaked cables corroborate fears of a military relationship between North Korea and Burma, whilst trade relations with the South continue to appear buoyant.
http://www.dvb.no/news/s-korea-eyes-burma-stock-market/13820
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Energy minister ‘unhappy’ with privatisation
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 21 January 2011
Burma’s energy minister Brig. General Lun Thi is unhappy with the recent privatisation of petrol retailing in the country, business sources in Rangoon have told DVB.
His alleged dissatisfaction echoes critical analysts who state that the scheme is economically unsound and leading to problems with distribution. This has resulted in long queues and a thriving black market that the privatisation drive was designed to solve.
Lun Thi is now reportedly willingly waiting for the privatisation experiment with fuel retailing to fail, a Rangoon-based businessman close to the ruling junta has said. Failure would mean his Ministry of Energy (MOE) will have to intervene and reinstate its management of fuel retailing.
The main problem is seen as the strict controls on the price at which retailers can sell petrol. This only allows for a small profit margin and thus limits the incentive to distribute fuel widely throughout new stations in more remote areas of Burma.
As a result black marketeering has been occurring whereby third parties would hoard cheap fuel in order to sell it for profit in areas where there was no licensed retailer. The discrepancy in price, reportedly almost double in some areas, was meanwhile responsible for long queues at official retailers who resultantly placed a quota on the number of litres for sale per person, per visit.
The low prices are for domestically-refined petrol, which is of a lower quality than imported fuel.
Why Lun Thi is seemingly willing the project to fail is not fully known but some analysts, including Burma economics expert Sean Turnell, believe it is political; that the minister will be smarting from the loss of control over this vital area of the economy.
“This is why Burma is not a normal developing Southeast Asian nation” Turnell told DVB. “It’s why I think the whole notion of privatisation in Burma is highly questionable.”
The situation was being compared to a similar occurrence in the 1990s when the MOE transferred control over petrol pumps to the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings (UMEH), a military “company” run by the quartermaster general, only for their management of operations to fail. They were subsequently transferred back to the MOE.
Petrol retailing has now been transferred to a number of crony-run conglomerates, such as Htoo Trading and Max Myanmar. Some have alleged that the conglomerates themselves were involved in the black market in order to turn a profit from the operations.
With the privatisation drive in full swing, it was recently reported that as much as 90 percent of state-owned enterprises would be sold off.
The move to fix fuel prices however was also seen as an effort to prevent social unrest linked to fuel price rises, as was witnessed in September 2007 with the so-called Saffron Revolution and prior to the 1988 uprising. Turnell notes that “petrol prices are always very politically sensitive”.
http://www.dvb.no/news/energy-minister-unhappy-with-privatisation/13833
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Gold and Dollar Values Up in Burma
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, January 21, 2011
RANGOON — The price of gold and the value of the US dollar both took a sudden leap in recent days in Burma following the military junta's announcement to hold the opening sessions of the new parliaments at the end of this month, according to business sources in Rangoon.
With fears high of political and economic instability ahead, Rangoon businessmen and traders reportedly invested in gold and dollars, the sources said, resulting in the hike in values.
“Gold and dollar buyers have increased since Jan. 18,” said a Rangoon-based day trader. “The number of buyers has increased on a daily basis.”
Among the investors are family members of the military generals, elected cabinet ministers, senior government officials and high-ranking police officers, the sources said.
Due to this increase in demand, the price of gold has increased by more than 10,000 kyat (US $11.65) per kyat-thar (0.035 ounce), and the black market exchange rate for dollars has gone up by 30 kyat ($0.03) for every dollar.
“The demand for gold has increased unexpectedly,” said a gold shop owner. “We are even getting requests from buyers living in remote areas.”
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Friday, a foreign currency speculator said, “Several buyers demanded large quantities of dollars—some over $100,000 and $200,000. The value immediately followed, jumping from 830 kyat on Jan. 17 to 858 kyat per dollar on Jan. 20.”
Burma's second currency, the Foreign Exchange Certificate (FEC), which was introduced by the military regime at an equal value to the dollar to stem the demand for foreign currencies, dropped to 800 kyat in recent days as demand for it was generally low.
The Burmese junta's official dollar-kyat exchange rate is slightly more than 6 kyat per dollar.
Although Burma's gold and dollar markets are active, other businesses are said to be relatively stagnant this week.
“Burma's citizens are keenly interested in what will happen after the formation of a new government,” said an investor who is a member of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commence and Industry. “With the exception of the gold and dollar markets, there is little spending in other markets because investors are waiting to see what unfolds politically.
“They all want to know what kind of new economic policy will be introduced by the new government,” he said.
http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20580
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Monday, January 24, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 21 January, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Thursday, 20 January, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Thursday, 20 January, 2011
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NLD Denounces Conscription Law
Activist in Hiding to Escape Arrest
Junta issues arrest warrant for Bawk Ja of NDF
BCIM forum to focus on regional connectivity
Unknown armed band runs amok in Shan East
Weak dollar hits Burma aid work
Insight: ASEAN’s new approach to Myanmar is nothing new
US pledges to work for Burma democracy with Suu Kyi
Clinton Calls Aung San Suu Kyi
Hillary Clinton calls Suu Kyi, pledges support
It's a wrap for Michelle Yeoh and 'The Lady'
Environmentalists welcome NLD’s concern over Myitsone dam project
Myanmar looks at stock market to attract capital
Shan Coal Mine Affecting Local Health, Report Says
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NLD Denounces Conscription Law
By BA KAUNG Thursday, January 20, 2011
The military regime should not have enacted a military conscription law without public consensus, according to Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).
“This law is directly related to the public,” said an NLD statement issued on Wednesday. “Therefore, it should be roundly debated by the the country's parliamentarians and should only be enacted if there is public consensus.”
The military conscription law will force every man between the age of 18 and 45 and every woman between 18 and 35 to serve in the military for two years or face prison sentences.
The law, dated Nov. 4, 2010, and signed by Burmese junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, is yet to be made public, and will come into force when proclaimed by the ruling military council, according to an official gazette which was recently circulated.
“The Parliament for the new government is going to emerge soon and it can exercise its legislative powers,” said NLD spokesman Nyan Win. “But since the law will only come into effect when proclaimed by the military regime, this shows the Parliament will not enjoy full legislative powers.”
Those who fail to report for military service could get three years in prison and those who intentionally avoid conscription through illnesses or inflicting injury on themselves could be imprisoned for up to five years, fined or both, according to the law.
Students, government servants, persons serving prison sentences or those who have to take care of elderly parents can postpone their military service, but can be called up at a later date.
Members of religious orders, married women or divorcées with children, and disabled persons will be exempted from the draft.
In an apparent attempt to offer a loophole to the military elite and their cronies, the law also exempts anyone whom the military has designated as free from military service.
In a separate statement issued on the same day, the NLD also criticized the new parliamentary laws and bylaws were made available to the public only this month although they had been issued by the junta in October.
The NLD, which is led by Aung San Suu Kyi, boycotted the general election last year and has since been disbanded. It will have no presence in the upcoming Parliament which is scheduled to be convened on Jan. 31 in the remote capital Naypyidaw.
On Monday, Burma's Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Suu Kyi's latest appeal against the dissolution of her political party. Nyan Win earlier said that he and other lawyers representing Suu Kyi would have to present their arguments for a special appeal to Naypyidaw.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20573
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Activist in Hiding to Escape Arrest
By SAI ZOM HSENG Thursday, January 20, 2011
Bauk Ja, a 44-year-old activist who has played a leading role in efforts to sue a company close to Burma's ruling junta for its confiscation of land in Kachin State's Hukawng Valley, is in hiding following reports that the authorities in the area are seeking her arrest.
According to Naw Din, the editor of the Kachin News Group (KNG), a Kachin news agency based in exile, the warrant for Bauk Ja's arrest was issued by the commander of the Burmese army's Northern Regional Command, Brig-Gen Zeyar Aung, and is directly related to the land confiscation case.
“Brig-Gen Zeyar Aung ordered her arrest on Monday, and the next day, the police force in Kachin State formed three groups to search for her in Myitkyina, Hpakant and Tanai Townships,” said Naw Din, speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
“Her relatives said that the order for her arrest was issued because she is standing up for the rights of local people who lost their land,” he added.
Speaking to the BBC's Burmese-language service on Wednesday, Bauk Ja said she didn't know why the authorities were looking for her. She said that she had just learned of the arrest order after she was told that local police have been searching for her for the past few days.
She added that she will try to find out what the authorities want and may turn herself in.
Bauk Ja, who was the National Democratic Force's candidate for the Hpakant constituency in last year's Nov. 7 election, is a leading activist in Kachin State.
In addition to spearheading the legal battle in the land confiscation case, in which she is one of the plaintiffs, she has also campaigned against a project to build a massive hydro-electric dam in Myitsone, at the confluence of two rivers that form the Irrawaddy River.
Since last July, Bauk Ja and 213 other landowners have been fighting in court in the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina for a total of 9.8 billion kyat (US $12 million) in compensation from Yuzana Company, whose chairman, Htay Myint, is a close associate of several leading generals.
The case relates to Yuzana's confiscation of around 1,300 acres of land in the Hpakant area of the Hukawng Valley since 2007. Around 600 landowners were affected by the company's seizure of the land, which it said was for the establishment of large single-crop plantations as part of a national plan.
Some owners said that although the company gave them other land to farm, it was useless for growing crops. Others said they did not receive any compensation at all.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Aung Thein, a lawyer associated with the National League for Democracy, criticized Zeyar Aung and the Northern Regional Command for ordering Bauk Ja's arrest, saying that only the courts can issue arrest warrants.
Bauk Ja's bid for a seat in Burma's Parliament was defeated by the former Northern Regional Commander, Ohn Myint, who ran as a candidate for the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party.
http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20574
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Junta issues arrest warrant for Bawk Ja of NDF
Wednesday, 19 January 2011 21:47 KNG
An arrest warrant has been issued by the Burmese military junta for Daw Bawk Ja, representative of the National Democratic Force (NDF) party for the country’s northern Kachin State, said sources close to her.
Her arrest warrant was issued on January 17 in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State by Brig-Gen Zeyar Aung, the junta’s Northern Regional Commander (Ma-Pa-Kha), the sources added.
A day after issuing her arrest warrant, police in Myitkyina formed three search squads to nab Daw Bawk Ja--- G-1 for Hpakant jade mining township, G-2 for Danai (Tanai) township and G-3 for Myitkyina township, said sources close to the police to the Thailand-based Kachin News Group.
It is not clear why commander Brig-Gen Zeyar Aung issued the arrest warrant for Daw Bawk, local sources close to her said.
An ethnic Kachin woman, Daw Bawk Ja contested the 2010 November 7 election as people’s representative of the Hpakant jade mining township nominated by the NDF, which was formed after the National League for Democracy Party (NLD) led by pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, split before the polls.
Bawk Ja recently told KNG she won the election in Hpakant defeating her rival the former Northern Regional Commander U Ohn Myint of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) but the Union Election Commission officially declared U Ohn Myint the winner.
Regarding the fraud over the results relating to U Ohn Myint, Daw Bawk Ja sent an official letter of complaint to the Union Election Commission (UEC) in Naypyitaw capital of Burma on January 7, laying her claim as the victor. She demanded a fresh announcement that she was the winner from the Hpakant constituency from the EC.
Daw Bawk Ja has stood firmly behind Kachin farmers, who sued the Yuzana Company over illegal land seizure in Hukawng Valley in the court in October last year.
Till Wednesday evening, Daw Bawk Ja had not been arrested, a source close to her told KNG. http://www.kachinnews.com/news/1840-junta-issues-arrest-warrant-for-bawk-ja-of-ndf.html
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The Hindu-20 - 01- 2011
BCIM forum to focus on regional connectivity
Sushanta Talukdar -January 20, 2011
Kunming (China): The Forum of Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) on Wednesday agreed on the need to improve the cooperation mechanism, which would feature a multi-track initiative with track I coordination, to promote regional prosperity and harmony.
The two-day, ninth meeting of the Forum, which concluded in the Kunming city of the Yunan province, agreed to rename the “Forum of Bangladesh China, India and Myanmar on Regional Economic Cooperation” as “Bangladesh China India and Myanmar Regional Cooperation Forum.”
Launched in 1999, the Kunming initiative, which later evolved into the BCIM Forum, has so far been a track II initiative.
In a joint statement signed by the heads of delegations, the Forum agreed to focus on improved regional connectivity and establishing the Kunming-Mandalay-Dhaka-Kolkata economic corridor. However, the Myanmar delegate emphasised the need to submit the matter to the new government in Yangon.
Business council
Business communities of the four countries agreed in principle to set up a BCIM council for holding regular meetings and exchange of information among enterprises. The BCIM Forum will fully support the proposed business council.
The four parties have to get each government to adopt measures to facilitate the cross-border flow of people and goods, eliminate overland trade barriers in accordance with each country's domestic laws and regulations and provide market access to each other, increase trade and mutual investments as well as other forms of trade, including trade in services consistent with the regional free trade agreement, the statement said.
Jin Cheng, Director, Foreign Affairs Office, the People's Government of Yunan Province, who is also the Deputy Director-General of the International Regional Cooperation Office of the province, told journalists that the BCIM agreed to conduct a joint road survey for a car rally from Kunming to Kolkata proposed to be held in 2012.
Track I system
On Tuesday, Governor Qin Guangrong, in his welcome speech, suggested that a multi-level and multi-form cooperation be evolved with track I as the guiding factor. “Under the present framework, track I high-level official meeting system and joint government workforce system should be set up, while track II academic forum system and entrepreneurs forum system are running,” he said.
“Since the first forum in Kunming in 1999, the four parties of BCIM economic cooperation have been actively participating in the cooperation, which enables its fruitful achievements despite ups and downs.”
Mr. Qin pointed out that presently trade with India, Myanmar and Bangladesh constituted one-fifth of the provincial export and import volume, while Yunnan's investment and project contractions in these three countries were also growing rapidly.
In his opening remarks, Eric Gonsalves, who led the Indian delegation, said that within the BCIM region all the four participants demonstrated their desire to undertake development programmes more effectively. “We should now seek to maximise the joint utilisation of resources and expertise from within the region to optimise the final outcome,” he said.
“For instance, the development of the Chittagong port with Chinese assistance can be dovetailed with the surface transport agreements recently reached between Bangladesh and India to give that port a much larger hinterland while allowing an outlet for goods from northeast India, Nepal and Bhutan. Similarly joint development of the port of Sittwe and the Kaladan River, development of the port of Khulna and the revival of the inland water transport system along the Brahmaputra are projects which could contribute greatly to economies and welfare of the region.”
The delegation included Consul-General of India to Guangzhou Indra Mani Pandey.
http://hindu.com/2011/01/20/stories/2011012054741500.htm
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Unknown armed band runs amok in Shan East
Wednesday, 19 January 2011 16:46 Hseng Khio Fah
An unknown armed group is said to have turned up in Shan State East’s Mongyawng township, and has been on the rampage in the areas these days, resulting on some local people fleeing from home villages, according to local sources who have arrived on the Thai-Burma border.
All the members of the group were said to have been attired in grey camouflage uniforms, and their faces were wrapped in grey masks. The group has kidnapped local people and asked for thousands of Kyat in ransom, said a villager who recently arrived in Tachilek, opposite Thailand’s Maesai.
“First they [the group] would ask about 50,000 Kyat (US$62 ) for each person. Eventually the price of the ransom has risen up to a million ($1234),” he said.
About 10 people had been taken by the group within two weeks. Most people that got caught were those who went working in the jungle farms and village headmen, according to him.
There are about 30 families who fled to Tachilek since the incidents took place.
While it is as yet not possible to identify who and what the group is, a group that also wears camouflage uniforms, green ones, is anti-Naypyitaw Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’. A battalion commander who asked not to be named of the SSA’s Military Region No. 1 that is active in the Shan State East denied having anything to do with the kidnappings.
“Our uniforms are green camouflage made in Thailand. We don’t wear grey uniforms,” the commander said.
In the mean time, 6 Burma Army soldiers wearing grey camouflage uniforms were reportedly asking for taxes from trucks, at Wantap village, 5 miles northeast of Mongyawng on 26 December, said a car driver whose truck runs between Mongyawng and Tachilek.
In September, Naypyitaw had ordered all its border units to make uniforms of United Wa State Army (UWSA), National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) and Shan State Army for Burma Army use. Each unit was reportedly assigned to make 100 suits (Wa, SSA and NDAA).
It [Naypyitaw] also ordered its units in townships of Shan State East: Monghsat, Mongton, Mongyawng, Mongpiang and Tachilek and Mongpan in the south, to mount a “hunter and prey” campaign against rebels.
Soldiers are divided into two groups: one group is assigned to stay in the jungle as “sniper team” and the other as “search and destroy force”.
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3417:unknown-armed-band-runs-amok-in-shan-east&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
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Weak dollar hits Burma aid work
By SHWE AUNG
Published: 20 January 2011
Falling US dollar prices have meant that domestic NGOs in Burma are unable to carry out infrastructural activities vital to peoples’ wellbeing, the head of a Rangoon-based aid group has warned.
Earlier this month the exchange rate hit a low of 780 kyat to the dollar, and businessmen in Burma are expecting that to decrease further over the coming months. The US is struggling to recover its housing and labour markets, and economic growth remains sluggish, although currency restructuring is underway to help boost exports.
Many NGOs in Burma rely on funding that comes in US dollars, which for decades has been used as the de facto second currency – as it has been globally – given its stability compared to the kyat. As the dollar weakens against the kyat, operational costs are effectively forced up. Prior to the global financial crash, the exchange rate hovered around 1000 kyat to the dollar.
“Usually it would cost us around 1.6 million kyat, which had normally been about $US1600, to dig a well, but now this will work out at around $US2000,” said Dr Hpone Win, head of Mingalar Myanmar, an independent, non-profit sustatinable development organisation in Burma.
“So we have to reduce the amount of wells and lakes we are digging. For example, we may only be able to dig wells in about eight or nine villages from an initial plan of 10 villages.”
He added that NGOs were also struggling to pay transportation fees in Burma, which have stayed at the same price while their funding has decreased.
Numbers of business owners in Burma are fearful that the exchange rate will drop to 700 kyat to the dollar as the quantity of US currency in the country increases following massive sales in the recent Naypyidaw gem fair.
There are around 20 Burmese-run NGOs operating inside the country, as well as a number of international aid groups who are permitted to work, albeit with limited mobility, by the ruling junta.
Such fluctuations in currency have prompted many to speculate or suggest that the world economy moves away from sole use of the dollar as a universal currency. Commodities such as oil are priced in US dollars, but as Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Washington, the sense of a seismic shift in currency usage is palpable, with World Bank chief Robert Zoellick even suggesting a modified gold standard to maintain stability through turbulent currency times.
Additional reporting by Joseph Allchin http://www.dvb.no/news/weak-dollar-hits-burma-aid-work/13792
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Insight: ASEAN’s new approach to Myanmar is nothing new
Rizal Sukma, Jakarta | Thu, 01/20/2011 9:22 AM | Insight
ASEAN’s foreign ministers just completed their two-day retreat in Lombok on Jan. 17, wherein Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa outlined the nation’s agenda and priorities for ASEAN as it assumes the association’s rotating chair.
He touched almost every issue of paramount importance to ASEAN, including the need to accelerate its community-building process, the imperative of finding a peaceful solution to the South China Sea dispute, the importance of East Asia Summit (EAS), and the question of ASEAN’s place in the world in the post-2015 period.
The most contentious and sensitive issue of all, Myanmar, was also touched upon and discussed.
Indonesia is of the opinion that it is time for the world — especially the West — to renew engagement with Myanmar by lifting sanctions against the nation. This position, unsurprisingly, was welcomed and embraced by other ASEAN countries.
Does ASEAN’s position signify a new approach to the Myanmar problem? It is fair to say that there is nothing new in this position. ASEAN has long argued that economic sanctions against Myanmar would never force the country to change. ASEAN believes that change, especially democratic change, cannot be imposed from outside. It has to take place within the country itself. In that context, external sanctions will not do much to bring change to Myanmar.
The recent call made by ASEAN for the West — especially the EU, Canada and the US — to consider lifting sanctions can also be seen as an ASEAN’s attempt to formulate a new approach toward the Myanmar problem. Three reasons can be put forward in this regard.
First, the call was made within a new context in Myanmar’s domestic politics. As Marty argued during the retreat, the international community should take note of two events in Myanmar: the general elections and the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Despite the fact that the general elections have been described as neither fair nor free, it seems that ASEAN intends to explore whatever opportunities — no matter how slim — that may arise in the post-election period. With the release of Suu Kyi, ASEAN also hopes that she will be able, and allowed, to participate in the process of finding a solution to the political impasse that has beset Myanmar for decades.
Second, ASEAN has long admitted that both ASEAN’s strategy of engagement and its policy of sanctions have failed. The position adopted during the retreat reflects an agreement to combine both approaches.
In this context, it is importance to note that Marty also emphasized that “lifting the bans and reconciliation should go hand in hand”. This should be seen as a warning to the junta in Nyapidaw that ASEAN’s willingness to help Myanmar is not a blank check. In other words, ASEAN will not blindly support Myanmar if the junta tries to block or delay an inclusive reconciliation process.
Third, the call also came about after a review by the US of its Myanmar policy under President Barack Obama. In September 2009, the US government announced that it would start engaging Myanmar’s government while retaining sanctions: a policy of “pragmatic engagement”. In effect, however, this new policy also constitutes an attempt to combine both engagement and sanctions, bringing the US’ position closer to that of ASEAN.
Indeed, if one wants to try a new approach towards Myanmar, it is time to go beyond the engagement-sanction debate. Regardless whether ASEAN’s dialogue partners will follow ASEAN’s call to lift the bans, ASEAN itself needs to formulate a more coherent and detailed Myanmar strategy, including how to engage without giving incentives to the junta to strengthen its grip on power by excluding and suppressing other forces in the country.
This is obviously a difficult proposition. However, ASEAN can begin its new approach by devising a three-pronged strategy. First, ASEAN should start devising a framework to make it possible for all major stakeholders to start reconciliation talks and discussions on democratization.
Second, ASEAN should have a common platform on how to encourage the junta to start a meaningful and inclusive economic development program. At the same time, ASEAN also needs to start helping the people of Myanmar directly through grassroots-based programs such as community development, humanitarian assistance and capacity building.
Third, ASEAN should also devise a platform on how to engage the wider Burmese community, to include both the new political elite (such as the “Parliament”) and civil society organizations.
Indonesia, as the chair of ASEAN, is in a position to devise such a new ASEAN Myanmar strategy.
Otherwise, the international community will see the Lombok agreement on Myanmar as another move by ASEAN to engage in rhetoric without substance. This is a challenge for Indonesia’s chairmanship and leadership in ASEAN. Hopefully Indonesia is more than ready to answer that challenge.
The writer is the executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/01/20/insight-asean%E2%80%99s-new-approach-myanmar-nothing-new.html
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US pledges to work for Burma democracy with Suu Kyi
* Published: 20/01/2011 at 03:30 AM
* Online news: Asia
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged to work for democracy in Burma with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi when she telephoned her on Wednesday, Clinton's spokesman said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged to work for democracy in Myanmar with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, pictured on January 4, when she telephoned her on Wednesday, Clinton's spokesman said.
"Secretary Clinton called Aung San Suu Kyi today and pledged to work with her to strengthen civil society and promote democracy in Burma," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said, referring to Burma's former name.
Crowley broke the news on the microblogging site Twitter.
The military junta in November freed Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate and leader of the democratic opposition who had spent most of the past two decades under house arrest, after her party won elections but was not allowed to take power.
But her release came only after the junta held new elections, which were widely denounced by Western nations and by opposition groups as a sham.
Human rights groups say that Burma is still holding more than 2,100 political prisoners who are less prominent than Suu Kyi.
President Barack Obama's administration in 2009 launched a dialogue with the regime aimed at ending Burma's isolation. US officials have voiced disappointment at the results but said engagement is the best way forward. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/217287/us-pledges-to-work-for-burma-democracy-with-suu-kyi
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Clinton Calls Aung San Suu Kyi
By LALIT K JHA Thursday, January 20, 2011
WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to Aung San Suu Kyi over the phone on Wednesday, in the first contact between the two leaders since the Burmese pro-democracy icon was released from years of house arrest last November.
“Secretary Clinton called Aung San Suu Kyi today and pledged to work with her to strengthen civil society and promote democracy in Burma,” said PJ Crowley, the State Department spokesman, in a message on Twitter on Wednesday.
During the call, which lasted 10 minutes, the two leaders briefly talked about what Suu Kyi has been doing since her release.
Crowley told The Irrawaddy that Clinton’s call followed up on a meeting late last year with the State Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary Joseph Yun.
“There will be further meetings in the coming weeks with the embassy staff in Rangoon and others to get into a more specific discussion,” he said.
Clinton wrote a letter to Suu Kyi soon after her release on Nov. 13 of last year. This was followed by Yun's four-day visit to Burma in December, during which he met with Suu Kyi.
“During a lengthy meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi and members of the National League for Democracy, Deputy Assistant Secretary Yun underscored our overarching goal of a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic Burma and discussed ideas on promoting reconciliation and dialogue,” an official US statement had then said.
Yun was the most senior US official to travel to Burma since Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell visited in May 2010.
Campbell, the Obama administration's point man on Burma, has so far had two meetings with Suu Kyi, both of them while she was still under house arrest.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20569
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Jan 20, 2011
Hillary Clinton calls Suu Kyi, pledges support
WASHINGTON - SECRETARY of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is pledging to work with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to promote democracy in Myanmar.
Department spokesman PJ Crowley said in a post on Twitter that Mrs Clinton called Ms Suu Kyi on Wednesday.
Ms Suu Kyi was released from house arrest after the country held its first elections in two decades in November. She had been detained for seven years.
Her National League for Democracy party said the elections were a sham and did not take part. It was disbanded by the government as a result. -- AP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_626177.html
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It's a wrap for Michelle Yeoh and 'The Lady'
Noorsila Abd Majid
The Star
Publication Date : 20-01-2011
Michelle Yeoh as Aung Sun Suu Kyi in a scene in 'The Lady'. Photo By Vincent Perez @ EuroCorp-Left Bank Pictures-France 2 Cinema
After three months of hard work, playing Burmese freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi in 'The Lad'y, Malaysia's very own Michelle Yeoh could finally take a breather as filming of the biopic was wrapped up on January 18.
In an exclusive e-mail to The Daily Chilli (The Star's sister-publication), Michèle Abitbol-Lasry, the publicist for EuropaCorp-Left Bank Pictures-France 2 Cinema, the maker of The Lady confirms that the eagerly awaited film is already in its post-production.
"We have yet to set a release date for the movie in Malaysia and are still looking for a distributor," says Abitbol-Lasry.
But definitely,The Lady will be released worldwide later this year.
"Michelle and Luc Besson (the director) are very busy at the moment. The shooting is finished and they're doing the post-production," she adds. "We would like to have all press be done when the film opens in each country."
In an earlier interview with The Guardian, former Bond girl Michelle described her experience playing Suu Kyi as awe-inspiring.
"When I got the script," the Malaysian superstar actress has been quoted saying, "I thought: either my agent wants to kill me or he's telling me I need a challenge."
On her first private meeting with Suu Kyi at the Rangoon International Airport, Michelle said " "The first thing we did is hug and I thought you are really skinny, man. One of the first things she said was 'Why doesn't the BBC world service have more music?'
"You feel a real sense of calm when you're with her. She's a very striking figure. She is so proud of her culture and the best way to show it is with dignity and elegance. She has a glow and an aura about her."
Directed by acclaimed French actor/director Luc Besson, The Lady also stars British actor David Thewlis (of Harry Potter fame) as Suu Kyi's university academic husband, Michael Aris.
The script was written over a period of three years by Rebecca Frayn, who spoke to the key figures in Suu Kyi's entourage to enable her to have a personal account of the national heroine of Myanmar who was put under house arrest most of her life.
Filming of the movie, which began on October 18, was done in various parts of Thailand, Burma, UK and France.
http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=16880&sec=10
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Environmentalists welcome NLD’s concern over Myitsone dam project
Wednesday, 19 January 2011 19:34 KNG
The Thailand-based Burma Rivers Network (BRN) has welcomed and appreciated the concern shown by the National League for Democracy (NLD) over the likely impact on people and the environment because of the construction of the Irrawaddy Myitsone dam in Kachin State.
The NLD party led by Burma’s pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was quoted by the BRN as saying that the construction of the 152 metre high Myitsone Dam, without taking into account environmental factors will affect thousands of local people and will have a negative impact on the country.
112009-irrawaddy-confluence
Ah Nan spokesperson of the BRN told Kachin News Group that Win Tin, a member of NLD Central Executive Committee told BRN that the foreign investor involved in the Myitsone dam construction should take into consideration the impact on the environment and the effect it will have on the local people.
“All political parties and the civil society should condemn the construction of the Myitsone dam project because it will impact the whole country,” said Ah Nan.
She said this was the first time a political party in Burma has officially spoken about the Myitsone dam construction. It should be done more often because it is not only the issue of the Kachin people but the whole country.
The Myitsone dam located over 20 miles from Myitkyina the capital of Kachin State will displace about 15,000 people living around the construction site and will be a threat to millions of people living downstream of the river by triggering floods. There will also be a shortage of water.
The dam construction started last year spearheaded by the China Power Investment Corporation (CPI).
The electricity generated will be sold to China, BRN said in a statement released on January 17. The water will be released depending on the power demand in China and it will “cause unpredictable water shortages and surges,” it added.
Limitation of water will affect farmers and fishermen, who depend on the river for their livelihood, said the BRN statement.
Myitsone dam is one of seven dam projects on the Mali Hka and N’mai Hka rivers. It will produce an estimated 17,160 MW of electricity, which will be exported to China, said the BRN.
“The Irrawaddy River, also Mali Hka in Kachin, is a critical artery for Burma and cutting it off at its source will affect the entire country,” said BRN official Sai Sai in the statement.
“We strongly encourage all political parties and civil society inside Burma to stand up and protect the river. Burma’s water resources should not be controlled by foreign engineers, but should be managed for the benefit of people in Burma,” said Sai Sai.
Ah Nan said, at least six villages have been relocated to a new site, where there is no hope of livelihood for the villagers. Recently the authorities (Ya-Ya-Ka) of Tang Hpre village told villagers next to the Myitsone dam to relocate and forced them to sign on the compensation agreement without paying any compensation.
The chances of ekeing out a livelihood by villagers, who are being forced to relocate by the regime, are bleak in the new place which has no agricultural land.
http://www.kachinnews.com/news/1839-environmentalists-welcome-nlds-concern-over-myitsone-dam-project.html
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Myanmar looks at stock market to attract capital
Thu Jan 20, 2011 5:34am EST
* Korea Exchange in talks with Myanmar govt
* No decision made on bourse, officials say
BANGKOK Jan 20 (Reuters) - Myanmar is in talks with South Korea's bourse operator about opening a stock market, the latest in a series of steps by its military rulers aimed at drawing much-needed foreign capital to the country.
Korea Exchange is already involved in running the newly opened Laos Securities Exchange [ID:nSGE70A08R] and is setting up a long-delayed stock market in Cambodia, which is due to open in July [ID:nSGE70D05D]. Both are joint ventures with the respective governments.
"We had a discussion (with Myanmar) before," Lee In-pyo, project director for the Cambodian exchange, told Reuters on Thursday. "Anything is possible, anything can happen," he said, when asked if the company was keen to work in Myanmar.
A spokesman for Korea Exchange in Seoul said representatives had visited Myanmar twice. "But nothing has been decided," the official said.
Myanmar is rich in natural resources but its development has been held back by five decades of economic mismanagement under military dictators and by Western sanctions.
But reforms are under way. The authorities have privatised hundreds of state assets in the past year and are seeking to expand the banking, telecommunications, shipping and agricultural sectors.
The country is on a drive to attract investment from its neighbours, promoting tourism, timber, gemstones and its vast oil and gas reserves, which are already being tapped by China and Thailand, its biggest investors.
Analysts warn that doing business in Myanmar is fraught with problems because of graft, cronyism and an unclear regulatory framework.
The privatisation process to date has been highly opaque, with most assets transferred to businessmen with close ties to the junta.
Myanmar held its first elections in two decades in November, and many countries in Asia now consider it a democracy. Western countries are not convinced much will change and expect the junta to pull the strings from behind the scenes.
Parliament, which will be dominated by serving or retired soldiers, will convene for the first time on Jan. 31 and a president tasked with appointing a civilian government will be chosen in the weeks after. (Reporting by Jungyoun Park in Seoul and Prak Chan Thul in Phnom Penh; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Alan Raybould)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE70J06O20110120?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews&rpc=40
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Shan Coal Mine Affecting Local Health, Report Says
By KO HTWE Thursday, January 20, 2011
The agriculture and health of nearly 12,000 people living within a five-mile radius of Burma’s largest coal mine and coal-fired power plant are threatened with air and water pollution, according to a report titled “Poison Clouds” that was complied by the Pa-Oh Youth Organization (PYO) and the Kyoju Action Network (KAN).
According to the report, the power plant, which is located near Tigyit in Pinglaung Township in southern Shan State, releases 100 to150 tons of toxic ash containing mercury, lead and arsenic into the atmosphere every day.
A farmer tends his crops in Tigyit while the coal-fired power plant looks in the background (PHOTO: PYO)
In recent years, ash has been known to cover roads and some 50 percent of the local population suffers from skin infections, the report says.
“Our skies and waters are turning black,” said Khun Chankhe of the PYO. “What future is there for our children who are growing up in a toxic wasteland?”
The residue from the coal mine is piling up so high that the dumps have become like hills and are blocking the flow of water, as well as creating pollution and stagnant lakes. Toxic fly ash that is dumped on coal mine waste piles or spread on local roads is also running off into local water sources, some of which eventually flows into Inle Lake, the report states.
The Burmese military regime’s Vice-Snr-Gen Maung Aye chose the site for the power plant in 2001, and instructed local military officials to confiscate more than 100 acres of local farm lands, said the 54-page report.
However, some 500 acres of land were seized. Three hundred and twenty-one families from Lai Khar and Taung Pola villages each received a maximum of 170,000 kyats (US $170) compensation for forced relocation.
However, the Myanmar Mines Law of 1994, Chapter 5, Section 4, states that “the holder of a permit for mineral production within an area under the Ministry's administrative control or which does not lie within the Mineral Reserve Area or Gemstone Tract, shall carry out such production only after coordinating and receiving agreement from the individual or organization having the right of cultivation, right of possession, right of use and occupancy, beneficial enjoyment, right of succession or transfer of the said land.”
The plant uses 640,000 tons of coal per year to produce 600 Gigawatts of power with a capacity of 120 Megawatts.
The China National Heavy Machinery Corporation, along with Eden Group of Myanmar and Shan Yoma Nagar, implemented the project in 2002 under the supervision of the Energy Ministry with an investment of $42.93 million.
Chit Khaine, the founder of Eden Group, is on the EU sanctions list under the category, “Persons Who Benefit from Government Economic Policies and Other Persons Associated with the Regime.”
“The project is for the sake of China, not for the local communities. The local people don’t receive sufficient electricity from the plant,” said Khun Chankhe.
Electricity produced from the power plant is sent to the nearby Nagar cement plant. A proposal is being considered to supply electricity to another mining project, the Pangpet iron factory near Hopone and the Taunggyi highway, which is run by Russian and Italian companies, the report said.
The Tigyit coal mine also produces nearly 2,000 tons of lignite and sub-bituminous coal every day. Lignite, a soft brown coal, produces the most carbon dioxide emissions per unit of energy than any other type of coal.
The plants and the mine are located within the watershed that is 13 miles from Burma’s famous Inle Lake in Shan State. River waters polluted by the mine and waste from the power plant are flowing into the lake via the Balu Creek, the report says.
Khun Chanke said that this is one of the main reasons why Inle Lake is drying up.
Residue piles from the mine are now towering above the homes of 3,000 people, blocking streams and contaminating fields. The coal is extracted through an underground tunnel system which runs beneath tea farms—another major concern for villagers who live in constant fear of landslides and land collapses, said the report.
“We issue the report today with concern for Inle Lake,” said Khun Chanke on Thursday. “We also wish to call on the elected candidates from Inle and Pinglaung region to discuss this issue in Parliament.”
The Inn National Development Party has previously said that the party will focus on the environmental issues of Inle Lake.
There are over 16 large-scale coal deposits in Burma. The Italian-Thai Development Plc, a large Thai construction firm, signed a multi-billion dollar deal with Burma in November for the development of a deep sea port in Dawei (Tavoy). The project includes plans for Southeast Asia’s largest coal-fired power plant that will build in Dawei where 18 villages have been ordered to move to make way for the project, said the PYO/ KAN report.
PYO was set up in 1998 and says it is “striving for peace and justice in Burma through empowering youth.” It published a report, “Robbing the Future,” in June 2009 after two years of research at the site of Burma’s largest iron mine and the Pangpet No. 5 Steel Mill in Shan State.
KAN was set up in 2010 and says its aim is “strengthening communities’ capacity to protect their natural resources.”
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20575
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