Democratic Voice of Burma

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• Bullet Points: 28 August 2014
• Landslide devastates Karenni refugee camp: 1 dead, 1 missing
• Foreign banks to be selected in September, official says
• Land prices skyrocket after unveiling of Rangoon development plan
• China inspects Burma’s rice in advance of trade agreement
• Tenasserim to allot land for refugees, officials say
• Mandalay students protest education bill
• Thailand expects trade surplus with Burma by 2016, says bank exec

Bullet Points: 28 August 2014 Posted: 28 Aug 2014 04:56 AM PDT On today’s edition of Bullet Points: Lawyers acting on behalf of four jailed journalists from Unity Weekly make their final appeal to Magwe High court. Shan Police s close in on suspects involved in a high-profile case of human trafficking. One dead and one missing in refugee camp landslide. United Nationalities Federal Council continue talks. You can watch Bullet Points every weeknight on DVB TV after the 7 o’clock news.

Landslide devastates Karenni refugee camp: 1 dead, 1 missing Posted: 28 Aug 2014 02:41 AM PDT A landslide induced by continuous heavy rains has killed at least one man at a Karenni refugee camp in Mae Hong Son Province, northern Thailand. More than 100 refugee homes were damaged in the deluge, camp officials said. "Heavy rain fell throughout Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, destroying a clinic, a school and a women's shelter, and damaging more than 100 houses in Zone B of the camp," said vice-chairperson Naw Khu Paw. “Twenty-five houses were destroyed, and 98 sustained substantial damage," she said. "The school was flooded, and one house was completely carried away in the flood." The dead man was identified as Tay Reh, 40, while Toe Reh, 53, has been reported missing. Both were working in paddy files 20 km from the camp when a flash flood hit. Though water levels had dropped by Thursday, debris has littered the camp, forcing more refugees to relocate to shelters or houses on higher land. The value of the losses has not been calculated, the camp committee said. There are about 3,000 refugees in Karenni refugee camp number 1. Thai news agency Manager Online reported that military personnel and township volunteers had formed rescue teams to assist. Related Stories Bullet Points: 20 August 2014 Rice wine remains perfect tonic for Karenni farmers Bullet Points: 19 August 2014

Foreign banks to be selected in September, official says Posted: 28 Aug 2014 01:58 AM PDT Out of the 25 foreign banks that applied to operate in Burma, the government will only allow about five to ten companies, which will be selected in September, said an official from the Banks and Financial Development Subcommittee on Wednesday. Currently there are 43 foreign representative banks in Burma, which mainly act as liaisons to their home country's investors but rarely do banking transactions. However, 25 banks applied to the Myanmar Central Bank in order to operate fully in Burma's banking system. Win Myint, secretary of the Banks and Financial Development Subcommittee, said that the selection process is still pending and will resume when parliament restarts on September 11. "We called for interested parties and 25 banks applied. We are now analysing the applicants before choosing," Win Myint said. "When parliament starts, I hope the selection board will submit our preparation analysis to the parliament. We have told parliament that between five and ten banks would be selectded." Local banks are not part of the selection process, said Than Lwin, vice-chairman of private Burmese firm Kambawza Bank Ltd. "Some are saying to compete with the foreign banks. We are currently in the cooperation stage; it is normal to be working together," Than Lwin said. "When the local banks become more established and we have more skilled staff and techniques, then we can compete with them." Related Stories SMEs to receive loans after eligibility survey France's largest bank hit with $9B fine for violating US sanctions Central Bank VP paints picture of hi-tech Burma

Land prices skyrocket after unveiling of Rangoon development plan Posted: 28 Aug 2014 01:46 AM PDT The announcement on Friday that Rangoon's divisional parliament had approved a proposal to implement a city expansion plan has caused land prices to skyrocket overnight in areas earmarked for development west of the city. The proposal to construct residential and commercial property on 30,000 acres of farmland – located west of the Rangoon River in townships stretching from Kanaungto to Twante – was not previously disclosed to the public, local residents and MPs have said. But within days of the announcement of the US$15 billion project, land prices have increased exponentially. "Four years ago, the land alongside the highway to Twante was one million kyat [$1,000] per acre," said a land broker in Rangoon, speaking to DVB on Wednesday. "Then in recent years it increased to more than 20 million kyat. This week, land prices are increasing every day. I believe some plots are going for more than 100 million kyat [$100,000] per acre now." He said that riverbank plots are also skyrocketing in price, and he noted that even rural and forested areas are now trading at grossly inflated values. Rural townships scheduled to be affected by the city expansion include Kyi-Myin-Taing, Seik-Gyi-Kha-Naung-To and Ton Tay, all located five to 15km southwest and west of the Rangoon River. Signposts offering plots of land for sale have been reported along the Twante highway, and several brokers are advertising their services in the area. Some villagers have suggested that that several speculators "looked Chinese", and that many carried cash to offer as deposits. Farmer Win Myint said that about 75 percent of the land from the 55 hamlets in Ton Tay Township has already been sold. "Only a quarter of the land remains," he told DVB. "The rest has been sold, mostly this week. Many people have sold all their farmland, others are keeping hold of a few fields to cultivate." Ko Ye Aung from Seik-Gyi Kha-Naung-To said he still wanted to live on his farm, but was willing to sell it if the price was right. "This new city project is going to take over our villages," he said. "But if I get a good price, I will sell everything." Meanwhile, several Rangoon divisional parliamentarians have complained that the development project was not disclosed publicly and that the bidding process and allocation of the contract were not transparent. Related Stories Bullet Points: 27 August 2014 Bullet Points: 26 August 2014 Will bell-searchers claim ring true? U Kyaw, an MP for the New Democracy Party, said he was unsatisfied as the divisional assembly was not informed about the project. "Without transparency, there will always be difficulties and delays," he said. "History will tell whether the [Rangoon] government was acting in accordance with the rules or not." Dr Nyo Nyo Thin, an MP representing Rangoon's Bahan Township, said she believed the project could seriously hurt local people, and questioned whether many of them had accepted the development on their own free will. “It is unacceptable to implement this type of project so secretly," she said. "For example, years ago in Cambodia and Indonesia, when government ministers were informed beforehand about a development, they ran out to buy the land around the project. We do not wish for that situation to happen to our country." Parliamentarians should have been given the opportunity to discuss the proposed city plan, she added. However, a representative of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, Kyi Kyi Mar, argued that the project will create job opportunities and said she believed the government would explain more details about the development at the appropriate time. Other Burmese media reports have indicated that the Myanma Setana Myothit Public Company has been awarded the contract to develop the city expansion project, and that it is investing some $8 billion.

China inspects Burma’s rice in advance of trade agreement Posted: 28 Aug 2014 01:44 AM PDT Chinese technicians arrived in Rangoon on Wednesday to kick-start implementation of rice-inspection protocols as the two countries move closer to reaching a trade agreement. Led by the director-general of China's Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), the four-member delegation was sent to inspect paddy fields, rice mills, sea ports and germ-eradication programmes. According to the Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF), the team will make an additional stop in the capital city of Naypyidaw to meet with Burma's minister of agriculture and irrigation. "We have been trying to make this happen nearly three years, since the new government took power," said Dr. Soe Htun, secretary of the MRF. Related Stories Thailand expects trade surplus with Burma by 2016, says bank exec Bullet Points: 26 August 2014 Burma's rice exports up 41 percent "This is the first step, and hopefully everything will be all right soon. But it's not as simple as people think; the visit alone will not make everything ready. We have many more steps to take," he added. An agreement on quality inspection will be signed following sufficient negotiations, and then the two sides will begin talks on an export agreement, Dr. Soe Htun said. Discussions will focus on cross-border trade more generally, and will include an agreement to legalise rice imports via land crossings to China, which is an important source of revenue for many small- and medium-sized agricultural enterprises. Roughly 80 percent of Burma's rice exports are believed to go to China. While it is legal for Burmese farmers to export to China, it is illegal for Chinese merchants to import the products. Illicit cross-border trade has had a devastating effect on value. Frequent large seizures of illegally imported rice have caused prices to nose-dive, causing hardship among farmers living along China's borders with both Burma and Vietnam.

Tenasserim to allot land for refugees, officials say Posted: 27 Aug 2014 11:46 PM PDT Government officials of Tenasserim Division [Tanintharyi Region] claimed that refugees residing in a camp in Thailand would soon be able to return to Burma as they are scouting for land for their resettlement. The camp in question is Tham Hin, located in Thailand's Ratchaburi province bordering Burma, which houses about 6,000 refugees. Karen Ethnic Affairs Minister Saw Harry visited the camp and said that 75 percent of the refugees wish to return home, so the divisional government is now looking for plots of land in Tenasserim Division to accommodate them. "We thought one plot near Maw Taung in Tanintharyi Township's border gate and one to the east of Myittar in Tavoy would be good places," Saw Harry said. "We are still searching for the exact places." He added that a resettlement committee will be there to assist the refugees. "If they come back, we would ask for assistance from one of the NGOs and prepare rations," Saw Harry said. Regional government secretary Tin Thein claimed that land would be given to the refugees when they return, though there are no plans to build houses yet. "When they come back to stay, we have plans to give them the land. Most of them may have families in their respective villages," Tin Thein said. "When they get back to their villages, we will help them together with the NGOs." "We cannot build the houses without them coming back first," he said. Saw Ramond Htoo, Tham Hin refugee camp committee chairman, said that refugees have no immediate plan to return. "We are not going back now," Saw Ramond Htoo said, adding that refugees mistrust whether the government's land offer is legitimate. "They came and took the land before and there was no land for us." Related Stories Mae La Refugees, On The Edge Refugees worried amid lack of govt transparency Bullet Points: 25 July 2014 Thailand currently hosts nine refugee camps where more than 130,000 refugees from Burma reside, having escaped armed and ethnic conflict from their home states. While the Thai and Burmese governments have expressed the desire to repatriate refugees from Thailand's nine refugee camps, aid agencies, including The Border Consortium, have said that the conditions are not right for refugees to return yet. Regional officials emphasised that they are only in a scouting stage and no decision has been reached about where and when repatriation might be possible.

Mandalay students protest education bill Posted: 27 Aug 2014 11:34 PM PDT Students amassed at Mandalay's Yadanabon University on Wednesday in a second round of protest against Burma's newly approved education reform package. The National Education Bill awaits the president's signature since being approved by both houses of parliament in late July. Controversial from the outset, the bill's detractors claim that it was drafted unilaterally and without enough transparency. On Wednesday, a crowd of about 100 students gathered to oppose several aspects of the bill, claiming that it creates excessive restrictions on the formation of student unions and centralises Burma's education system. The National Network for Education Reform (NNER) — a non-governmental group of education policy advocates comprising teachers, politicians and religious figures — has consistently hounded the drafting committee for changes. While some recommendations were conceded by the committee, the NNER said as recently as Thursday that they reject the legislation and demanded that key features be amended before it can be implemented. The bill mandates the formation of a National Education Commission, which the NNER fears will grant the government too much control over the nation's schools. They also claim that the new legislation doesn’t actually reform the education system, but rather re-brands the institutions that have crippled Burma's schools for decades. Related Stories Education would help stop child labour, say experts Growth at any cost: Strategic direction or tunnel vision? Drugs and development in the Wa region Many have also taken issue with a lack of transparency throughout drafting and parliamentary procedures. Students at the demonstration said that while they were told that the bill was reconsidered and amended to address complaints, the public was never made aware about this. "We were informed that there were 71 amendments made to the law, but students were not informed clearly," a spokesperson for the Yadanabon Students Union told DVB on Wednesday, adding that students ought to be involved in the drafting process. "We don’t know enough about it. That's why we are protesting,” he said. Wednesday's demonstration was organised by students of Yadanabon University and was joined by others from Sagaing, Monywa and Kyaukse. A smaller protest was also held at Yadanabon on 21 July, just days before the bill was passed. While the first demonstration drew a crowd of about 50 people, Wednesday saw that number doubled. Participants vowed to maintain their opposition to the law and ramp up awareness through a poster campaign. Burma's education system was stymied under decades of military rule, a period which also saw the imposition of policies geared towards disenfranchisement of the nation's minorities. The country is sorely short of highly-skilled instructors and the budget allocated for the school system is under six percent of national spending.

Thailand expects trade surplus with Burma by 2016, says bank exec Posted: 27 Aug 2014 08:00 PM PDT Thailand expects to have a bilateral trade surplus with Burma by 2016, fuelled by solid economic and cross-border trade growth, says a senior executive of Bangkok Bank (BBL). Executive vice-president Kobsak Pootrakool said the company forecasts increasing demand for Thai products from neighbouring countries thanks to improving economic sentiment. Thailand recorded a first-half trade deficit of 40 billion baht (US$1.33 billion) from its neighbours, but the figure is expected to dip to 20 billion baht by the end of this year, he said. There is increasing demand for Thai goods in Burma, especially fuel oil, food and beverages, textiles, electronic equipment, steel and vehicles. In the past several years, Thailand recorded a trade deficit of 70 billion baht with neighbouring countries, mainly from natural gas imports. Thailand imports around 100 billion baht worth of natural gas from Burma per year, accounting for 94 percent of the country’s total, Mr Kobsak told a seminar yesterday entitled “A Trusted Partner and Reliable Close Friend for the AEC”. Related Stories China inspects Burma's rice in advance of trade agreement Burma's rice exports up 41 percent Bullet Points: 22 August 2014 But Thailand has lowered its trade deficit with Burma in recent years, helped by strong growth of cross-border trade at 17 percent average annual growth, he said. Bilateral trade between Thailand and Burma is worth 200 billion baht a year, making it the second-largest trade value among Thailand’s ASEAN partners behind Malaysia. Burma’s economy is projected to grow by 7.5 percent this year, rising to an annual average of 10 percent over the next five years, said Mr Kobsak. “This growth will further stimulate our bilateral trade volume,” he said, adding border trade makes up 80 percent of total trade between the two countries. Mr Kobsak said mid-sized Thai companies are gearing up to expand in Burma in order to capitalise on huge business opportunities now that the country is more open. Agricultural businesses, processed food, natural resources, mining, and building and construction are key sectors with potential in Burma, he said. Many large Thai companies have already jumped into neighbouring countries. BBL, the country’s largest bank by total assets and a regional leader in international banking, is ready to support local customers with overseas business expansion, said Mr Kobsak.   This article was originally published in the Bangkok Post on 28 April 2014.

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