Monday, September 30, 2013

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Latpadaung protestors demand Buddhist site left untouched

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 05:39 AM PDT

The Sagaing division government's religious affairs minister has pledged not to destroy a revered Buddhist site as construction resumes on the controversial Latpadaung copper mine project in Sagaing Division.

Some 70 activists and Buddhist monks began a 120-km march on Sunday from Amarapura in Mandalay division towards the copper mine site which is situated near Monywa. The protestors said they wanted to protect the historic ordination hall of a late Buddhist monk, Lete Abbot, who based himself at the site for Buddhist practice and meditation for many years.

The marchers were initially stopped by local police upon leaving Amarapura on Sunday morning, and were once again confronted by some 200 Sagaing police when they arrived in the town that same afternoon. Two activists were reportedly arrested by the police but later let go after a crowd gathered to demand their release.

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Authorities in Sagaing warned the protestors they would face legal action if they continued their march.

On Monday morning, a meeting was arranged in Sagaing between representatives of the protestors and Sagaing authorities while National League for Democracy officials and members of the government-backed National Head Monks Association sat as mediators.

Protestor Ko Hlaing said the regional religious affairs minister agreed to three demands by the marchers including a pledge not to demolish the Buddhist site within the next six months while parliament discusses the issue.

"The minister agreed to not demolish the ordination hall over the next six months and to allow visitors – no more than five at a time – to the site; and to not arrest the protestors who marched from Mandalay," said Ko Hlaing.

"A report by the Latpadaung Investigation Commission previously recommended relocating the Buddhist building before the project resumed," said Ko Hlaing. "We are worried because the project is now restarting and they are flattening the terrain around the site. In the meantime, no one is allowed to go and inspect the location because of Article 144 [a ban on public assemblies]."

The site is currently off limits under a curfew declared after a sit-in protest by activists and monks was broken up violently by riot police in November last year. At least 80 were injured and many sources have claimed that the police used white phosphorous fire bombs when attacking the protest site.

Shwe Gas project sets ‘bad example’ for investment in Burma

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 04:58 AM PDT

Video: “The Source of Trouble” (courtesy of the Shwe Gas Movement)

The controversial China-backed Shwe Gas project sets a bad example for future investments in Burma's extractive industries and should be suspended pending genuine regulatory reforms, a new report said on Monday.

The 43-page report, compiled by the Shwe Gas Movement (SGM), documents serious abuses linked to the junta-era project, including forced labour, land grabs, pollution and an exacerbation of ethnic conflicts.

Villagers living near the 800-kilometre pipeline, which cuts through western Arakan state and the conflict-torn northern Shan plateau en route to China, report an influx of rights abuses since construction began.

SGM says that boys as young as 14 have been recruited by foreign sub-contractors to work as bricklayers or road labourers, while adults – most of whom have been forced to abandon their traditional livelihoods – are routinely underpaid.

"A villager is hired at a rate of 6,000 kyat [US$6.25] per day at first, but in reality the villager is given only 2,000 kyat [US$2.08] per day," a local worker told SGM. "If the villagers oppose and complain against [the contractor] about the wages, the villagers are fired from their jobs."

Thousands of fisherman and farmers have lost their lands, either due to land grabs or environmental damage, often without adequate compensation.

"They are dumping waste in the field after working with the bulldozer," a local man from Kyaukphyu complained in a letter to the township commissioner. "Now we cannot work in the field."

Faults in the pipeline, which began pumping gas in late July, have already been reported. In mid-September a gas leak burst into flames and terrified residents in Arakan's Ann township. It follows a report by the Northern Shan Farmers Committee in April, which included photographs of visible holes marking the pipeline.

"They fixed the holes in the pipeline with rubber patches, like fixing a tyre puncture," said the report.

SGM says the Shwe Gas project will set a dangerous precedent for foreign investors who are flooding into the country, unless key regulatory concerns – including mechanisms for benefit sharing and political federalism – are addressed.

"The only way to avoid complicity in abuse and a future of inequality and displacement is to postpone this and similar projects until the fundamental problems of poor governance and the disenfranchisement of ethnic nationalities are solved," warns the report.

Wong Aung, coordinator at SWG, described it as a "critical" time for Burma's extractive sector. "Only when we have ensured equal benefits and humane conditions can development proceed without conflict,” he said.

SGM warned that Burma's recent commitment to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) – a global transparency standard for the natural resource sector – was likely to prematurely "green-light" fresh investments. It follows the auctioning off of 30 new oil and gas blocks earlier this year.

President Thein Sein has set a deadline for Burma to submit its EITI candidacy application by December, which critics have described as "arbitrary". One of the key outstanding pieces of Burma's application is the creation of a multi-stakeholder work group (MSG), which represents the country's myriad civil society voices, and many activists say they need more time to prepare.

But Jeremy Weate, a senior consultant with Adam Smith International, who is advising Burma on its EITI process, told DVB that concerns about the MSG were "needless". While he acknowledged that it would not be possible to have a "fully inclusive or participatory" discussion by December, he insisted that EITI should be viewed as an ongoing process with checks and balances along the way.

"If there is any attempt to limit membership of the civil society aspect of EITI, it simply means that that country is not ready to implement EITI," he said, adding that Burma's application would be rejected by the governing board.

He also warned against conflating financial transparency with debates around benefit sharing or constitutional federalism.

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"The EITI has to be very careful not to get sucked into anybody's agenda. It should just be perceived as an independent source of very good information, which can feed into conversations [about federalism] but it should not be directly plugged into that," said Weate. "It should be impartial."

Burma, which is slowly emerging from decades of military rule, is rich in gems, industrial minerals, oil, and offshore natural gas reserves estimated at 10 trillion cubic feet. But most of the country's natural resources are found in its volatile ethnic minority regions, including Shan and Kachin states where armed rebels and government troops continue to clash.

The country's 2008 constitution largely excludes ethnic states from political decision-making on natural resource governance, a fact which has fuelled distrust and conflict between minority rebels and the central government. Earlier this year, Burma ranked last on a global study examining natural resource governance.

The Shwe Gas pipeline is a joint venture between the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the military-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), and is expected to earn Burma US$1.8 billion annually – totaling US$54 billion over 30 years of operation. CNPC did not respond to DVB’s request for comment.

Last week, ten Arakanese men were sentenced to jail for staging a peaceful protest against the project, which campaigners have described as "unlawful and a clear violation of human rights".

Govt says it’s working to return confiscated lands to farmers

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 03:09 AM PDT

Burma's nominally civilian government is working to ensure that confiscated farmland across the country is returned to its original or rightful owners before the end of its term in 2015, said ministers at a press conference in Naypyidaw on Friday, 27 September.

"We will work to implement this before the end of the current government term and also to prevent land disputes in the future," said Minister for Environmental Conservation and Forestry Win Tun. "We will abide by the rules and regulations concerning land seizures and negotiate compensation with the original owners of the land. I believe there should be no dispute if farmers are compensated accordingly to the market price."

He added that the current government harbours no intentions of confiscating land owned by members of the public. "Moreover, we are even looking to allocate forest areas to those who don't own any land," he said.

The press conference was held by committee members of the Land Utilisation Management Central Committee in Naypyidaw, which was formed by parliament on 16 September "with the aim of dealing with confiscated farmlands and other lands in the nation in a just and fair manner."

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It was revealed at Friday's press conference at the Environmental Conservation and Forestry Ministry that 745 individual complaints had been lodged involving land confiscations by companies for development projects under the previously military regime.

Ye Htut, the deputy minister of information, said: "If a government ministry or a company that confiscated an area of land wishes to continue using said land, they must provide solid evidence that the land has been continuously utilised. Otherwise it will be returned it to the original owner. Since such lands were confiscated under the order of the previous government, it shall be returned to the government's land management authorities. The original owners are to reclaim their land through village-level authorities. If the land in question is vacant or for pasture, then the committee will decide on it."

Concerning a much publicised case in eastern Rangoon where locals had previously taken to the streets to protest against their land confiscations, Ye Htut said that the government was looking to return the disputed lands in question to the original farmers in Thingangyun township's Michaungkan ward, and provide compensation to the previous owners of land where factories were already built.

The officials from the Land Utilisation Management Central Committee took the opportunity on Friday to publicly call on plaintiffs and those who believed they were victims of land grabs to provide authorities with as much documentary evidence as possible of their original ownership.

Thai, Chinese firms eye wind power potential in Burma

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 02:57 AM PDT

Two foreign companies – one Thai and one Chinese – have reportedly announced their intentions of harnessing wind power in Burma.

Thai firm Gunkul Engineering Public Co Ltd is conducting feasibility studies to produce windmill-generated electricity in Mon, Karen, Shan and Tenasserim regions while China's Three Gorges Co plans to set up similar windmill farms in Chin, Arakan, Irrawaddy and Rangoon regions, according to Burmese state-run media.

Ministry of Electric Power Assistant Director Aung Myo Win was reported in The New Light of Myanmar as saying, "Two MoUs were signed for wind power projects in Myanmar [Burma]. Feasibility studies are underway for developing commercial wind power … and it could take more than one year. They will push ahead with the business if wind power is economically feasible."

Burma has an abundance of natural resources and nowadays most of the country's electricity comes from hydropower. But less than 30 percent of the population has access to electricity, according to the World Bank, and few areas outside of Rangoon and Mandalay are connected to the national grid. However, Burma is currently undergoing a major process of economic reforms and an influx of new investors promises to help shore up the country's woeful infrastructure problems.

However, the enormity of the challenges Burma faces concerning the development of infrastructure will make it difficult for the energy industry to grow, according to Aye Tun, managing director of industrial firm Aung Thein Than Co and general secretary of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, cited in June by Tim Ferry writing for industry website Renewable Energy World.

Ferry writes that renewable energy sources is the best – if not the only – option for the country. When installing electricity in rural remote areas, solar energy is the only practical method, he said.

Years ago, the concept of wind power was discarded by the government because Burma was not thought to be windy enough, however now it appears that technological advancements have made up for any shortfall.

"A large amount of electricity can be generated by wind farms, but a significant amount of investments are needed for wind energy production," a retired officer of the Ministry of Electric Power said to The New Light of Myanmar.

DVB reported back in 2011 that Gunkul Engineering Public Co Ltd was planning on investing around $US1.9 billion in Burmese wind farms in the southeast of the country.

Four anti-Muslim rioters sentenced in Kantbalu

Posted: 29 Sep 2013 11:33 PM PDT

Four men in Sagaing division's Kantbalu township have each been sentenced to nine years' imprisonment by a district court under arson and vandalism charges, according to local National League for Democracy party chairman Hlaing Myint Han.

Kyaw Naing Oo, Min Lwin, Htun Aung (also known as Aung Gyi) and Khin Maung Htoo (also known as Pho Htoo) were each sentenced to consecutive terms of seven years for arson and two years for vandalism by Shwebo district court on 26 September for their involvement in anti-Muslim riots in Kantbalu's Htan Gone village on 24 August.

"Apparently they confessed to the charges during an interrogation with absolutely no beating involved," said Hlaing Myint Han.

On 24 August, angry Buddhist mobs ransacked and burnt down Muslim homes in Htan Gone after rumours spread that a Muslim man had tried to rape a Buddhist woman on her way home from work.

More than 50 homes, one rice mill, one chicken farm and one shop were destroyed in the attacks.

Eleven suspects were initially detained by the police following the riots but one of them died under uncertain circumstances while under police custody. The six others were released in September after police concluded they had no involvement in the incident.

The Muslim man accused of attempting to rape the woman was also jailed for seven years.

Tension high in Sandoway after two Muslim homes razed

Posted: 29 Sep 2013 08:04 PM PDT

Tension was high in a northwestern Burmese town late Sunday after Buddhist mobs torched two homes belonging to Muslims and security forces were placed on high alert.

Win Myaing, a government spokesman in the restive state of Arakan, said the trouble started in the coastal town of Sandoway [Thandwe] on Saturday after a Buddhist taxi driver told police he had been verbally abused by a Muslim small business owner while trying to park in front of his shop.

Police took the Muslim man in for questioning. But when he was released soon after, people became angry and started throwing stones at his home.

Win Myaing said at least two houses had been burned down by Sunday night. Security forces were trying to restore order.

“The situation is under control but very tense.” Myo Min a Muslim resident of Sandoway contacted by phone told The Associated Press, adding that residents were fearful because they were hearing rumors that more Buddhists in Arakan would come to Sandoway to destroy Muslim houses.

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A similar incident occurred in Sandoway, 170 miles northwest of Rangoon, three months ago when two Muslim houses were burned down after rumors circulated that a woman had been raped by Muslim men.

Burma, a predominantly Buddhist country of 60 million people, has been gripped by sectarian violence since June of last year. Most of the 250 people killed have been Muslims and 140,000 others have been displaced.

The latest flare-up will reinforce doubts that President Thein Sein’s government can or will act to contain the violence.
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