Sunday, March 2, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Japanese car builders bid on Thilawa

Posted: 02 Mar 2014 12:40 AM PST

Japanese auto giants Suzuki and Toyota are among the bidders for parts and manufacturing facilities at the Thilawa Special Economic Zone near Rangoon, said Burma's investment commission.

The Thilawa SEZ project is in the first phase of construction and expected to become operational for manufacturing by 2015.

Aung Naing Oo, director general of the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC), said Suzuki and Toyota, as well as France-based auto parts manufacturer Lafarge, have all made proposals to build in the SEZ.

The Thilawa SEZ, he said, will have a Free Zone and a Promotion Zone, geared towards attracting service companies as well as manufacturers.

"We are aiming to dedicate the Free Zone 100 percent to manufacturing, to draw industries focused on export process. The Promotion Zone will facilitate both manufacturing and service industries," said Aung Naing Oo.

"We are not limiting the amount of investments, to allow operation for both large and small enterprises."

No domestic companies have yet placed bids on the zone, he added.

The Thilawa SEZ Holdings Public Ltd has pledged to sell 2.145 million shares in early March at 10,000 kyat (US$10) each.

Maung Aung, advisor to the Trade Minister, said that development of Special Economic Zones will create job opportunities and increase exports.

"Special Economic Zones," he said, "played a main role for economic growth in China."

The MIC expects the Thilawa SEZ to create nearly 200,000 jobs and double foreign investment in the 2014-15 fiscal year.

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Life among the logs

Posted: 01 Mar 2014 11:09 PM PST

Every day at the port in Thaketa, Rangoon, people of all ages clamber over the huge piles of logs, scraping off the bark to sell as firewood.

"I can sell at least about 20 bags, one bag for 200 Kyat (US$ 0.20)" said a young child worker.

Many people have set up illegal huts around the logging port and whole families work day and night, stripping the logs of their bark.

Than Than Nwe is one of the residents here.

"If I can’t work, I can't get food and I go into debt. Sometimes I wash clothes as well," she said. "I have a husband but he doesn’t work. So, I have to work for my three children."

The huskers work at the logging port illegally as technically they are trespassing on the port authority's land. But authorities turn a blind eye because they know they are poor.

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As more people seize the opportunity to make money this way, the area has become crowded and competitive.

The huskers tie a piece of iron to a bamboo stick to make a spear.

"I use a small bamboo stick to pick at the logs. I tied some iron to the bamboo to make a spear, said Than Than New's mother, Tin Ei. "In the slum we have to earn our living this way."

The job is dangerous and many people have been injured by falling logs or by getting trapped between them.

If there is an accident the authorities block the area for a while but the huskers soon come back.

In April a new law will come into effect that bans the export of raw timber.

Tin Ei already notices there are fewer trucks now than even a few months ago.

"When there is no wood, I do laundry. If I cannot find wood, I will live by washing clothes," she said.

 

 

MSF operations set to resume, but not in Arakan

Posted: 01 Mar 2014 05:32 PM PST

Embattled aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) will be allowed to resume its activities outside of Arakan State on Monday, 3 March, but its programmes in the restive region will remain suspended following an order from the government to cease operations, issued on February 27th.

MSF was forced to shut down clinics across the country on the 28th, but HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and other treatment centres in Kachin State, Shan State, and Rangoon Division will re-open on Monday. MSF Holland's operations in northern Arakan, which provide front-line health care to tens of thousands of individuals, will not resume.

Operating in Burma for the past 22 years, MSF currently provides anti-retroviral treatment to roughly 30,000 HIV/AIDS patients in the country, as well as some 3,000 tuberculosis patients, often in areas where no other treatment is available.

MSF was widely accused of unduly favouring Rohingya communities at the expense of ethnic Arakanese Buddhists in northern Arakan State, but this allegation has been refuted by the organisation, which claims its "actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of neutrality and impartiality."

The agency's memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Health expired in January 2013, but its activities in Arakan were allowed to continue until last week. Last month, MSF staff members reported treating “22 patients for violence-related injuries” in Duchira Dan [Du Char Yar Tan] village, near Maungdaw, supporting allegations that a massacre of Rohingya people occurred there. The allegations were quickly and vehemently denied by the government.

A commission of inquiry, led by the Myanmar Human Rights commission, asserted the massacre did not occur. MSF stood by its initial report.

The organisation was subsequently chastised by Ye Htut, deputy information minister and presidential spokesman, who told DVB last week that the government had "made the decision not to extend MSF's MoU," on the grounds that MSF's activities were "fuelling tensions and are detrimental to the rule of law" in the area. The fact that MSF hired Rohingya as local staff, which the government refers to as "Bengalis," was also cited as grounds for the revocation of their permission to operate.

This article was edited on 2 March to correct the following: MSF has not reported seeing proof of a massacre at Duchira Dan as originally implied, rather, they reported treating violence related injuries.

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