The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Rangoon Govt Invites Private Investment in Public Bus Company
- Govt ‘Ready to Finalize’ Nationwide Ceasefire: President
- 3 Ethnic Rebel Groups Threaten Rejection of Nationwide Ceasefire
- ‘We Have Been Subjected to International Pressure’
- Mass Protest Held Against Mon State Coal Plant Proposal
- Yoma Reveals Finger Lickin’ Good Location for Rangoon’s Premier KFC
- Health and Education Plan to Support Chin Women, Children
- Digicel’s Burma Deal Adds to Islamic Finance Landscape
- 17 Factories Suspended After Polluting Lake in Central Burma
- Panghsang, Former Communist Stronghold, Takes Center Stage in Peace Process
- The Core Issues Not Addressed
- China Military Says Army Yet to Fully Embrace Rule of Law
- US Voices Concerns to Shwe Mann on Race, Religion Bills
- Nepal: We Will Need Huge Foreign Support for Reconstruction
- Climate Change Sparks Tension in India’s Tea Gardens
- “It’s OK, I’ve Got Him!”
| Rangoon Govt Invites Private Investment in Public Bus Company Posted: 05 May 2015 06:26 AM PDT  Antiquated buses on the streets of Rangoon. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The Rangoon Division government on Monday launched an initiative to set up a US$25 million public bus service company that would improve major bus lines in Rangoon, Burma's biggest city. On Tuesday, an official said they had already received pledges for more than half of $15 million in private funding shares required for the venture. "It seems like we will not need to sell the shares to the public for a long time and it will be sold out quickly. Others also made proposals, but mainly four top businessmen proposed to buy nearly $8 million of the shares," Maung Aung, an advisor with the Ministry of Commerce, told The Irrawaddy. Myint Swe, the Rangoon Division chief minister, invited shareholders at a ceremony on Monday to invest in establishing the company, which is yet to be named, and he offered shares that are being sold at $100 each. His government is putting up $10 million, or 40 percent, of the capital required for the implementation of the first phase of the project. Official sales of the shares have yet to start. The company will have a seven-member board of directors, with three appointed government officials and four private sector shareholders. Many businessmen and directors from the country's top businesses, including FMI group, Sakura Co. Ltd, Htoo Company, Shwe Than Lwin Company, Max Myanmar, and KBZ bank, attended the event. Maung Aung declined to reveal the names of the four businesses that had pledged to buy a total of $8 million in shares in the public bus company. Currently, hundreds of small, private companies operate thousands of daily buses throughout the city of some 5.4 million residents. Many of the companies use old Japanese Hino Motors buses, which are often cramped with passengers and lack air-conditioning. Some 2.2 million people make use of 365 bus lines across the city that are operated by companies that own some 6,000 buses, 4,000 of which are deployed every day, according to Hla Aung, chairman of the Rangoon Region Supervisory Committee for Motor Vehicles. The Rangoon Division government would require the new company to operate new model buses, made in 2010 or more recently, that are left-hand drive, have air-con, a ticketing system and employ a driver on a monthly salary. "We will start with between 60 to 100 buses in phase 1 within four or five months and expand it later," Maung Aung said, adding that the first new bus line would run from Pyay Road to Kabaraye Pagoda Road. He said current, smaller bus operators could also buy shares in the new company or participate by committing an in kind contribution if they owned a new model bus. "The big businessmen are interested in it more, but we also invite the current bus owners and drivers too and we will wait for them. They are interested to invest with their buses. We will accept [their offer] if their buses match our criteria," Maung Aung said. The post Rangoon Govt Invites Private Investment in Public Bus Company appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Govt ‘Ready to Finalize’ Nationwide Ceasefire: President Posted: 05 May 2015 05:30 AM PDT  President Thein Sein speaks during six-party talks with Burma's top political figures in Naypyidaw on April 10. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's President Thein Sein has said his government is "ready to finalize" a long-sought nationwide ceasefire agreement with more than a dozen ethnic armed groups, and is "waiting for the outcome from the ethnic summit" that is ongoing this week in eastern Shan State. In his monthly radio address to the nation on Monday, the president said his government's aim in pushing for the nationwide ceasefire was "to leave a foundation for the next government to build on—one where there is no more fighting and political dialogue has started. "All parties have accepted that the only way to resolve armed conflict is through a political solution. Therefore we are trying our best to begin the dialogue as soon as possible," he said. But given the tenor of ongoing discussions among ethnic armed groups in Panghsang, a town in eastern Shan State controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the 70-year-old president's eagerness to ink a countrywide peace deal looks increasingly contingent on his government shepherding another major political achievement through Parliament: the passage of amendments to Burma's military-drafted Constitution. The gathering of ethnic armed groups, hosted by the UWSA, began on Friday and is due to conclude on Wednesday. Attendees have included senior leaders from ethnic rebel groups including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Karen National Union (KNU), Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-South (RCSS/SSA-South) and Arakan Army. Bao Youxiang, the UWSA chairman, said Monday that some ethnic armed groups would not sign the nationwide ceasefire accord unless the 2008 Constitution was amended. "The main key is to have amendments to the Constitution. If there are amendments to the Constitution, other ethnic groups, including our Wa, will sign the [accord]," Bao Yuxiang said. Brig-Gen Tun Myat Naing, commander in chief of the Arakan Army, echoed that sentiment. "We want to get the 2008 Constitution amended before the 2015 election," he told The Irrawaddy, referring to nationwide polls due late this year. "The peace [process] will not be successful unless the Constitution is changed." Drafted by Burma's former military regime and approved in a rigged referendum in 2008, the charter has been criticized as undemocratic, owing to provisions that grant 25 percent of seats in Parliament to unelected military representatives; ban opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's most popular political figure, from the presidency; and centralize authority in a way that ethnic groups say has stymied their political aspirations. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party and the pro-democracy group 88 Generation Peace and Open Society organized a nationwide petition to amend the Constitution last year, garnering nearly 5 million signatures in favor of the cause. A parliamentary Constitutional Amendment Committee has been tasked with drafting a bill to amend the charter, and the matter is expected to be discussed during the next session of Parliament, which is due to convene on Monday. The Union Parliament speaker, Shwe Mann of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), said in November that a required referendum on constitutional amendments would be held in May. That is looking all but impossible at this point, and talk has turned to the possibility of holding a referendum in tandem with the general election in November. The post Govt 'Ready to Finalize' Nationwide Ceasefire: President appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| 3 Ethnic Rebel Groups Threaten Rejection of Nationwide Ceasefire Posted: 05 May 2015 05:19 AM PDT  Arakan Army Commander-in-Chief Brig-Gen. Tun Myat Naing attends an ethnic armed groups' conference in Wa region's Panghsan town on Monday. (Photo: JPaing /The Irrawaddy) PANGHSANG, Wa Special Region — Three ethnic armed groups battling the Burma Army are threatening to reject a preliminary agreement on a nationwide ceasefire accord reached in March because the government refuses to recognize their political demands and continues to launch operations against them. The position of the groups—three smaller armies from the Palaung, Arakanese and Kokang ethnic minority areas—could not only complicate their participation in a nationwide agreement, but also that of the powerful United Wa State Army (UWSA), which in recent days has called for the inclusion of the groups in the ceasefire process. Tar Bong Kyaw, general secretary of the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), told a meeting of ethnic leaders in Panghsang on Monday that his ethnic Palaung rebel group believes it would not serve its interests to sign the draft accord under current conditions. "There are many problems with the draft [ceasefire]. Representatives from the NCCT and UWPC signed a [preliminary] agreement, but there are many points in the draft that we could not agree with," Tar Bong Kyaw told The Irrawaddy. On March 31, the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), which represents a coalition of 16 ethnic rebel groups, agreed in principle with the government's Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) on the content of a nationwide ceasefire accord. The government said it is eager to sign the accord, but NCCT groups said they have to review it with their respective leaders first. Meanwhile, the UWSA has organized a conference in the Wa Special Region capital of Panghsang on May 1-6 to bring together NCCT groups and non-NCCT armed groups in order to discuss the proposed accord. Tar Bong Kyaw told the conference that the government was trying to divide the ethnic armed groups by refusing to recognize and continuing to fight the Palaung, Arakanese and Kokang rebels, while including other groups in a nationwide accord. "The government will not accept the other three groups to participate in political talks, even though they might want to sign the [accord]. It's very clear they are trying to divide the alliance of ethnic armed groups. This is very dangerous," said Tar Bong Kyaw. Brig-Gen. Tun Myat Naing, commander-in-chief of the Arakan Army, told the meeting that there was no point in supporting the accord if the government refused recognize his group's political demands and continued to launch attacks against it. "They [the Burma Army] fights against our ethnics, including the Palaung, Kokang and our Arakanese people. They cut off aid for our refugees; they have no food and drink. This situation could hurt our peace talks," he said. Tun Myat Naing added his organization would like to see the Constitution amended soon as it would support the success of the nationwide ceasefire process. The Arakan Army is a small rebel group from western Burma's Arakan State that has joined ethnic rebels in northern Burma. In recent weeks, it tried to infiltrate northern parts of its home state and clashes erupted with the government that have displaced hundreds of civilians, many of who have gone without emergency aid. The Kokang rebels of the Myanmar Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) have been involved in heavy fighting with the Burma Army since February in Laukkai Township in northern Shan State. The TNLA and Arakan Army have fought alongside it. The Irrawaddy understands the MNDAA also rejects the ceasefire accord. The Arakan Army and the MNDAA are NCCT members, but the government refuses to recognize them as such. The TNLA is a NCCT member, but lacks a bilateral ceasefire with the government. It is unclear if the government recognizes the TNLA as a NCCT member. A government advisor at the Myanmar Peace Center has previously been quoted as saying that the government could sign a "nationwide ceasefire," while continuing to fight the MNDAA. The NCCT includes most of the country's major armed groups, such as the Kachin Independence Army, the Karen National Union, the Shan State Army-North and the New Mon State Party. The UWSA, the country's most powerful rebel army with some 20,000 men under arms, is not a NCCT member, nor is its smaller neighbor the Mongla group, but both armies have long-standing bilateral ceasefires with Naypyidaw. It has been an observer to the 18-month-long ceasefire negotiations. In recent days, the UWSA leaders have finally tried to weigh in on the nationwide ceasefire process by saying that it should include the Arakan Army, the MNDAA and the TNLA, and have pledged solidarity with them. UWSA Chairman Bao Youxiang said in rare interview on Monday that inclusion of all ethnic groups and reforms to the Constitution were preconditions for Wa support for the nationwide ceasefire accord. "The country will have peace if the government can represent all people in the country. The government can not only represent their people when working for development," said Bao Youxiang during an interview with journalists at the Wa headquarters located in the semi-autonomous Wa Special Region on the Burma-China border. "The main key is to have amendments to the Constitution. If there are amendments to the Constitution, other ethnic groups, including our Wa, will sign the [accord]," the chairman said in comments that were translated into Burmese by UWSA spokesman Aung Myint. The military-drafted 2008 charter centralizes powers over Burma's ethnic areas and its natural resources with the central government and the Burma Army. The ethnic groups want to see a federal union of Burma instead that grants them regional autonomy. "After there is no more fighting, the country will have peace and development. Then, our ethnic groups could build their modern towns like our Wa people have done," said Bao Youxiang. The post 3 Ethnic Rebel Groups Threaten Rejection of Nationwide Ceasefire appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| ‘We Have Been Subjected to International Pressure’ Posted: 05 May 2015 05:02 AM PDT  Bao Youxiang (left), the chairman of the United Wa State Army, in Panghsang. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) Ethnic leaders are currently meeting in Panghsang, the headquarters of the secretive United Wa State Army (UWSA), to discuss the draft text of a proposed nationwide ceasefire agreement negotiated between the government and ethnic armed groups in March. On Monday, after a private meeting with ethnic armed group leaders, Bao summoned journalists for a rare interview opportunity. Speaking through spokesman and interpreter Aung Myint, he told The Irrawaddy that the UWSA will only sign a nationwide ceasefire agreement if the 2008 military-drafted Constitution was amended to accommodate a federal system of governance, defended the UWSA's demands for self-administered territory, and insisted that the regions under UWSA control were no longer growing opium, which funded much of the area's initial development. What is the UWSA's political stance on the nationwide ceasefire agreement? In this case, we will analyze the final result that comes out of this ethnic summit. We want to see what case it makes for signing the nationwide ceasefire agreement. We will decide whether we will sign or not after we can analyze all the facts arising from the meeting. The main key is to have amendments to the Constitution. If there are amendments to the Constitution, other ethnic groups, including our Wa, will sign the [accord]. In your opinion, what is the difference between the military regime of Snr-Gen Than Shwe and the parliamentary government of President Thein Sein? There is no difference. They are the same. Why have the Wa repeatedly asked for self-governance of the territory they control? If there is no village to live, there will be no place for Wa people to work and survive. The Wa region is very developed, and it appears the UWSA is acting as a de facto government. Is this the case? There are other regions too where [ethnic armed groups] run their regions like a government. For the survival of our people, we have to work to develop the region. If there is no one working for the development of this region, how can our people survive? It appears from the decision to host this ethnic conference and the invitation extended to local media, the UWSA is working to improve its image. The UWSA has been frowned upon in the past because of its involvement in opium production, including by the US and other Western countries. There are many things to say on this point. For Western countries, especially for America, they have many problems that they are not equipped to solve. But they point their finger at us. We have been subjected to international pressure. This region has grown opium for over 120 years, but on this issue they have put a lot of pressure on us. We want to say clearly to America and other Western countries: you cannot claim that your faces are clean, but you point to the black spots on ours. They should not speak to us like this. Because of this pressure, we had to eradicate opium in the regions we control. We understand that opium production could lead to the genocide of our people. Therefore, we worked to eradicate opium with the cooperation of our people. Our region no longer grows opium. On Jun. 26, it will be a decade since the end of opium production in our region. (Editors note: The UWSA remains subject to a 2003 declaration by the US Drug Enforcement Agency which listed the army as a drug trafficking organization. Bao Youxiang was indicted alongside seven other leaders during a 2005 US Federal Court session over the UWSA's role in the export of heroin to the United States. The UWSA is not part of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team, the alliance of 16 ethnic parties which negotiated the ceasefire text with the Burmese government.) The post 'We Have Been Subjected to International Pressure' appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Mass Protest Held Against Mon State Coal Plant Proposal Posted: 05 May 2015 04:23 AM PDT Click to view slideshow. YE, Mon State — An estimated 5000 people from villages across Ye Township gathered in Inn Din village on Tuesday morning to protest the Union government's plan to build a coal-fired power plant in Mon State. Garbed in traditional longyi and white shirts, demonstrators against the Thai-backed coal plant gathered at a field in the middle of the village, brandishing placards which declared the proposal to be against the wishes of the local population. "Locals have the right to know, the right to keep their traditions," said Min Aung Htoo, a Mon state representative for the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA). "We doubt there is any goodwill here, since the project is moving forward step by step without the support of locals." On Apr. 9, Toyo-Thai Corp. signed a memorandum of agreement with the Ministry of Electric Power's Department of Hydropower Planning to construct the 1280-megawatt plant with a 30-year operating agreement. The 500 acre project site sits near the beach which abuts the Inn Din village tract. According to the Toyo-Thai website, construction will begin in 2016 and is expected to take between four and six years, with a total investment of US$2.8 billion. Although the project has continued to move forward since Toyo-Thai signed a memorandum of understanding with the ministry in 2012, locals have been outspoken in their opposition to the coal plant, despite promises to connect homes to the electricity grid from the ministry and compensation offers from the company. Aung Naing Oo, a state parliamentarian, estimated that 90 percent of locals were opposed to the plant after a community consultation last June. Ni Mar Oo, a 29-year-old villager and member of the Inn Din Youth Network, told The Irrawaddy at the protest on Tuesday that residents had no trust in the project and had repeatedly complained about the project's lack of transparency. According to Min Aung Htoo, villagers had become increasingly wary of the proposal after learning about the potential health and environmental risks posed by the project, which had not been presented to the community by either the government or Toyo-Thai. "If this project is not dangerous… please hold the academic discussion requested by the public to answer their questions about the positive and negative aspects of this project," he said. "At the moment there is neither transparency or honesty." In one meeting, villagers were told that Toyo-Thai would provide a one-time payment of US$1.5 million as part of its corporate social responsibility program in order to promote development in the Inn Din village tract. Villagers have conducted their own economic survey of the area and claimed the area earns $5.8 million per annum from farming and fishing, which they say renders the Toyo-Thai proposal well below the coal plant's potential impact on local agriculture. Aye San, deputy director-general of the Department of Hydropower Planning, told The Irrawaddy that the ministry was now finalizing a joint venture agreement with Toyo-Thai, which is in the process of raising funds for investment. The company will be expected to buy the land for the project and will sell electricity to the local market, but Aye San said the ministry would not buy supply from the plant if the company sought prices above what it was able to pay for. Denying that the ministry and Toyo-Thai had not consulted sufficiently with locals, Aye San said that a group of villagers had been taken on a study tour in Japan to learn more about the Ultra Super Critical technology used in the coal plant. "The company told the tour group that they will perform to the standard set by coal plants in other countries," he said. "They have shown us there is nothing to worry about. Their feasibility study was submitted years ago." Min Aung Htoo, who was also part of the study tour, retorted that the regulatory environment in Japan, construction procedures and standards of government accountability were worlds apart in Japan and Burma. The Human Rights Foundation of Mon Land and the Mon Youth Forum have also condemned the project. A petition against the coal plant has been sent to President Thein Sein, Union Speaker Than Shwe, the Myanmar Investment Commission, the Ministers of Electric Power and Environmental Conservation, the Mon State government and the Myanmar Human Rights Commission. The post Mass Protest Held Against Mon State Coal Plant Proposal appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Yoma Reveals Finger Lickin’ Good Location for Rangoon’s Premier KFC Posted: 05 May 2015 04:05 AM PDT  A rendering of Burma's premier Kentucky Fried Chicken, set to open later this year on Bogyoke Road in Rangoon. (Photo: KFC Myanmar / Facebook) RANGOON — The wait is almost over for fast food fanatics in Burma's commercial and culinary capital, as American franchise Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has settled on its first location in the heart of downtown Rangoon. Local partner Yoma Strategic announced late last month that its two-story premier venue will be installed across the street from the famed General Aung San Market on Bogyoke Road. "Our first restaurant in the heart of downtown Yangon [Rangoon] will enable us to introduce KFC's famous Original Recipe Chicken to the diverse mix of people who live and work in the area," Yoma's head of business development, JR Ching, said in a press release. The opening date for the new location has not yet been disclosed, but Yoma said it aims to have several new spots up and running by the end of the year. The new chain is expected to fare well in Burma's growing consumer market. An announcement on the KFC Myanmar Facebook page, which revealed an artists' rendering of the new restaurant, garnered thousands of "likes" and a flood of comments within hours. Fried chicken champion Yumi, who has sampled KFC's signature crispy fried chicken in Singapore, said she was "super excited to actually try out KFC here! in Yangon!!" The psyched supporter added that that she "never gets bored of crispy crunchy fried chicken" and "heavenly" mashed potato. KFC Corporation, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands Inc., is the world's second largest fast food chain with more than 19,400 KFC outlets in 120 countries around the globe. Yum! operates more than 41,000 restaurants worldwide, including Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains. Plans for the new KFC Myanmar, a joint venture between Yoma and Yum!, were announced late last year and met with eager appetite. Many Western food chains that flourished elsewhere in Asia never established themselves in Burma because of economic sanctions. Yoma's Executive Chairman, Serge Pun, has become a favored partner for investors as one of the only major Burmese tycoons that never appeared on the US sanctions list, a roster of individuals and businesses banned from partnering with US firms because of ties to the former military regime. Pun is one of Burma's most prominent businessmen and has built up a vast business conglomerate since the early 1990s. His firms, which include Singapore-listed Yoma Strategic Holdings and Serge Pun & Associates, have interests in real estate, banking, agriculture, the consumer market, automotive and luxury tourism business. The post Yoma Reveals Finger Lickin' Good Location for Rangoon's Premier KFC appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Health and Education Plan to Support Chin Women, Children Posted: 05 May 2015 03:42 AM PDT  Mindat Township is pictured nestled among the hills of southern Chin State. (Photo: Myat Su Mon / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Women and children in Chin State will benefit from a first of its kind five-year social welfare initiative implemented by the regional government in partnership with the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) and the Myanmar Institute for Integrated Development (MIID). "The Local Social Plan addresses unmet development needs and rights, prioritized by the people of Chin State and the Chin State government, such as food security, improved access to and retention in education, and expanded coverage of quality health services," Unicef's country representative in Burma, Bertrand Bainvel, was quoted as saying in a statement from the UN body on Tuesday. Rugged and sparsely populated Chin State is Burma's poorest, with the region lagging in many socioeconomic indicators. "Children in Chin State are more likely to be underweight and stunted than their peers living in other parts of Burma," the Unicef statement said. "Only 6 percent of children in Chin are delivered in a health facility, compared with 36.2 percent in the country on average." Provisional results of a census conducted last year put the western state's population at 478,690. No Than Kat, chairman of the Chin Progressive Party, said he welcomed the initiative, adding that women and children in Chin State had benefitted from fewer development projects compared with other parts of Burma. Women and girls in Chin State were "always facing gender discrimination" due to deeply ingrained traditional cultural values, the party chairman said, with girls frequently prevented by their parents from attending school. "And also, children are not receiving enough nutrition, so if this project can support them, I am happy to hear that," he told The Irrawaddy. "A lack of education and heath support impoverishes their lives in Chin State, so the state administration should manage this support prudently, so that it reaches the bottom," he said. The Unicef statement did not indicate how much money would go toward the Local Social Plan, which is to be implemented over the 2016-2021 period with financial support from the Danish government. Peter Lysholt Hansen, Denmark's ambassador to Burma, said his country's involvement in the program reflected a commitment to Burma's reform process. "The people of Chin deserve to see tangible results in their daily life as a result of the bilateral ceasefire agreement and the plan will contribute to this aim," the Unicef statement quoted Hansen as saying, referring to an accord signed between the government and the Chin National Front, a regional ethnic armed group, in January 2012. The post Health and Education Plan to Support Chin Women, Children appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Digicel’s Burma Deal Adds to Islamic Finance Landscape Posted: 05 May 2015 03:26 AM PDT  A man wears a cap bearing the brand of Digicel as he watches a football match at Aung San stadium in Rangoon April 26, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) Cellular operator Digicel Group Ltd has obtained US$60 million in sharia-compliant financing for its Burma venture, helping widen the reach of Islamic finance transactions as the sector continues to expand into new markets. Islamic finance has seen a string of landmark deals over the past year, with debut sovereign Islamic bonds (sukuk) from Britain, Luxembourg and South Africa helping test the funding format across a growing number of jurisdictions. Islamic financial products can require multiple transfers of title of the underlying asset, and so can present regulatory challenges for new jurisdictions in areas such as tax. When Digicel’s Myanmar Tower Company (MTC) accedes to the financing it would mark the first Islamic cross-border deal in the country, law firm Clifford Chance said in a statement. "This transaction is also a milestone as very few cross-border financings in relation to Myanmar have been completed in recent years," said the law firm, which advised Doha-based investment firm QInvest on the deal. Due to regulatory and timing issues, MTC’s parent company in Singapore is the initial borrower of the funds, with the terms of the deal allowing the Burmese entity to replace the parent company when it is able to do so. In 2013, MTC signed an agreement to build and lease telecommunication towers in Burma for Qatar’s Ooredoo, which in August became the first foreign firm to begin operations in one of the world’s last mobile frontiers. Norway’s Telenor Group holds the only other international operating license in Burma. As of March, Ooredoo had sold more than 3.3 million pre-paid SIM cards in Burma and hopes to expand coverage to reach 97 percent of the population within five years. The post Digicel’s Burma Deal Adds to Islamic Finance Landscape appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| 17 Factories Suspended After Polluting Lake in Central Burma Posted: 05 May 2015 01:46 AM PDT  Staff of Mandalay City Development Committee clearing dead fish from Mandalay's Taungthaman Lake on Saturday. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — The Mandalay municipal government has suspended operations of 17 factories in one of the city's largest industrial zones, citing diminished fish populations caused by water pollution in Taungthaman Lake. A Water and Sanitation Department official told The Irrawaddy that the factories, which include sugar refinery, canning, liquor brewing and leather curing facilities in Mandalay Industrial Zone 2, violated wastewater management rules. "We have ordered those factories to shut down because we found that they did not treat their wastewater before dumping it into the lake," said a high-ranking official from the department, which operates under the Mandalay City Development Committee (MCDC), requesting anonymity. "Instructions for waste water management were already given. If they can implement the department's instructions, and if we are satisfied the results after inspection, they can resume operations," the official said. He said the department plans to construct a wastewater pipeline that would empty into the Myitnge River, which converges with the Irrawaddy River near Inwa, in efforts to prevent excessive waste in Taungthaman Lake. The department plans to treat the water at a yet-to-be-built facility before sending it through the 12,000 ft pipeline, he added. Taungthaman Lake is located just outside Mandalay in Amarapura, and is the site of the famed U Pein bridge, a 1.2-kilometer (0.75-mile) teak structure that draws in crowds of foreign and domestic tourists throughout the year. It is also the site of a proposed 16-hectare (40-acre) resort slated for completion in 2018 at a projected cost of US$27 million. Fishery owner Chit Khine, who operates a number of breeding farms, said populations have significantly dwindled over the last month, and he plans to sue at least 14 companies for his losses. "I've lost about 60 million kyats [UD$60,000], so I'm planning to sue them," he told The Irrawaddy. Rumors began to circulate late last month that the dead fish were being sold to local markets at a reduced price, but local breeders and officials denied the claim, maintaining that the contaminated products had been "buried immediately" and that the sale of such items is "strictly prohibited." Maung Mung Oo, director of local environmentalist group Green Activities, said pollution has increased dramatically in recent years as more investors set up shop in the industrial zone and local entrepreneurs began opening restaurants and other businesses catering to businessmen and tourists. "The water is dirtier than it was five years ago," Maung Maung Oo said. "There will be an increase in the number of visitors, especially when the Taungthaman resort project is built. If there's no proper waste control, the pollution and its effects on people will only get worse." The post 17 Factories Suspended After Polluting Lake in Central Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Panghsang, Former Communist Stronghold, Takes Center Stage in Peace Process Posted: 05 May 2015 01:45 AM PDT Click to view slideshow. PANGHSANG, Wa Special Region — A few decades back, Tun Kyi was a different man: a loyal and disciplined medic who treated Thakin Ba Thein Tin, chairman of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), and his comrades. The party, which had long been engaged in armed struggle against the Burmese government, built its headquarters here in Panghsang in the early 1970s. Tun Kyi guided us through the rugged former CPB stronghold, showing us the room where he used to sleep, revisiting with each step the early days of the resistance. What made the visit so surreal was that just two days had gone by since the start of an historic summit in the town, which drew leaders from 12 of Burma's ethnic armed groups to discuss the prospect of a nationwide peace accord that could end decades of civil war. We went to Thakin Ba Thein Tin's modest room, and that of Col. Kyaw Zwa. "These people lived in very poor conditions at the time," Tun Kyi recalled, "but this was the main base from which they gave commands all over the country." The CPB eventually fell apart, its membership fracturing into a number of other armed resistance groups such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA), which later evolved into Burma's biggest and most formidable internal enemy. After a long struggle against the dictatorial Ne Win regime, Wa rebels reached a ceasefire agreement with the government in 1989, paving the way for both development and what would prove to be a devastatingly pervasive drug trade. But time seems to have stood still here in the run-down communist control center, where we could still see remnants of the party's past. The building has a storage room once filled with CPB documents. A few wooden tables and chairs, broken and weather-worn, remain scattered throughout the dilapidated grounds. Tun Kyi explained that the UWSA planned to renovate the site and turn it into a museum, but the project never got off the ground. The remote and enigmatic Wa Special Region, a semi-autonomous zone comprising two territories along Burma's borders with China and Thailand, has long captivated intrepid historians, academics and the like, but receives few foreign visitors. It is hard to imagine a day when the regional government will commit to turning this bizarre relic into anything more than the overgrown ghost town we see today. Nearby, however, there has been a world of change; new high-rise developments are springing up throughout the town, and improved health facilities, the likes of which are practically unparalleled in Burma, were erected in the years since the Wa struck a deal with the Burmese government. Tun Kyi now works as a health administrator in the region's main hospital, which sits in the center of the town amid a sea of scaffolding. From where we stood on the hilltop station, he pointed out the distant hospital, which employs about 60 medics, including six who were educated in neighboring China. The five-storey facility is equipped with an MRI machine and X-ray technology, and offers free health services to all low-income residents. Because the Panghsang hospital is among the finest in Burma, Tun Kyi said that many people, including ethnic Burmese construction workers, favor the Wa hospital over those that are run by the government. May Nu, a 62-year-old doctor in Panghsang, said education opportunities and medical services in the Wa region have improved immensely since the CPB era. She herself, an ethnic Pa-O woman from Taunggyi, studied in China because the educational system had stymied under communist rule. "You had to study in China if you wanted a better education," she recalled. "There was no proper education in this region at that time." May Nu predicted that ethnic unity and a genuine peace accord will bring about rapid and much needed development in Burma's hinterlands. Lessons Learned About Peace and Development But Wa leaders said they are worried that ongoing conflict could threaten the peace process, which has been several years in the making, and ultimately stall development all over the country. Tax Ai Kap, deputy officer of the regional construction department, told reporters here on Monday that local leadership was "not happy" to hear of fighting between the Burma Army and other ethnic armed groups because it created "a bad atmosphere" that is not conducive to peace and trust building. From the Wa perspective, he said, peace has to happen for development to proceed. Tax Ai Kap explained that since the UWSA achieved peace with the government, the region enjoyed rapid development of all sorts of necessary infrastructure. An ambitious road-building project is now underway throughout the territories, which is expected to be complete in 2019, just before a major ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of the ceasefire. Tax Sai Pang, who works for the Ministry of Construction, offered a glowing review of the regional government's post-ceasefire development works, claiming that the United Wa State Party (UWSP, the political arm of the UWSA) was truly representative of the will of its people. He said the regional government has worked wonders to facilitate growth by luring foreign experts and engineers. Officials said the region now operates some 400 schools, three cement factories and eight hydropower dams, which supply 24-hour electrical access throughout the region. "We welcomed anyone who wanted to invest in our region, because we wanted this region to be developed," Tax Sai Pang said, explaining that the group's agenda prioritized infrastructural development and drug eradication in efforts to improve the UWSA's reputation as a narcotic trafficking organization in the region, which is the world's second largest source of heroin after Afghanistan. Following decades of largely drug-funded development, the UWSA began an aggressive initiative in 2005 to reduce the production of opiates, focusing on crop substitution and, in some cases, relocating entire villages to poppy free land. Now, according to Tax Kat of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Wa farmers are cultivating a range of crops including rubber, tea and fruits. "We no longer grow opium," Tax Kat said. Those who are found growing the illicit crop will be subject to strict legal action under the hard-line policy, which he said has effectively eradicated the crop in the entire region. A rapid assessment by the United Nations' drug agency, UNODC, conducted in February 2014, found "no evidence of opium poppy cultivation in this region," though other researchers have pointed out that opium bans in Wa and Kokang territories did little to curb production, but rather shifted it to areas further south in Shan State. Seeking Self-Control Despite the unique nature of the Wa Special Region and its people, the region never achieved the level of autonomy it wanted from a ceasefire. While it does maintain a certain level of self-governance, the Union government still does not recognize Wa as a state, instead viewing it as a zone within the jurisdiction of Shan State. During the opening remarks of the ethnic summit on Friday, a UWSA spokesperson reiterated calls for support among the nation's other armed rebel groups for the government's recognition of a self-governing Wa State. Aung Myint, a spokesman representing the UWSA at the Panghsang conference, said that despite the progress of ceasefire negotiations and the prospect of meaningful political dialogue, "the government has not replied" to the group's insistent calls for recognition. The unprecedented summit, which brought together some of the most high-level ethnic representatives from around the country, is set to continue until Wednesday, with discussions geared toward achieving a lasting peace accord inclusive of all ethnic armed groups nationwide. During its opening remarks, the UWSA affirmed its solidarity with three rebel groups that are still currently in active conflict with the Burma Army. Other ethnic representatives responded in kind, showing their support for a government-recognized Wa State independent of Shan authority. "We are ethnic people," said Nai Hong Sar, joint chairman of the New Mon State Party and chief negotiator for the nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team, a 16-member organization representing ethnic interests during peace negotiations with the government. "They have their own specially controlled area. We recognize their self-control." The post Panghsang, Former Communist Stronghold, Takes Center Stage in Peace Process appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Posted: 05 May 2015 01:44 AM PDT  A demonstrator in Rangoon holds up a poster during a march against civil war to mark the International Day of Peace in Sept. 2014. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) The euphoria knew no bounds in certain quarters when, on March 31, it was announced that a text had been drafted for a proposed ceasefire agreement between the government and some ethnic resistance armies. The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Swiss-based peace and reconciliation outfit, hailed it "the most comprehensive ceasefire agreement in Myanmar's history," if ratified, which "will set the stage for resolving the longest-running conflict in Southeast Asia." Vijay Nambiar, special advisor on Myanmar to the Secretary General of the United Nations, also called the drafting of the proposal "historic" and UNICEF even suggested that it "could be the dawn of a new time of progress for the most disadvantaged children in Myanmar." More levelheaded observers pointed out that the event was nothing more than a small step in a long, hard process, and that not all groups are on board. Nai Hong Sar, an ethnic Mon speaking for the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), emphasized in an interview with Voice of America's Myanmar-language news site that the signing of a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) "can't be decided by the NCCT" but only after the ethnic leaders' summit meeting. Leaders at the summit "might like to alter or make some addition to the agreement," he said. "And only after deliberation and confirmation, will they be officially ready to sign the agreement." Khun Okkar, an ethnic Pa-O NCCT representative, said in an interview with The Irrawaddy that the NCA cannot be signed while there is conflict in Kachin State and the Kokang Special Region. "[The NCA] can only be signed when [the country] is stable," he said. "We will be a joke if we sign while fighting is ongoing. And other [ethnic] groups will not be satisfied." So much ado about nothing, then. And while the foreign peacemakers were congratulating themselves in Naypyitaw and Yangon, the reality on the ground remained depressingly familiar. Airstrikes and other attacks were continuing against Kachin and Palaung rebel forces in the north and northeast. Conflict Continues According to a March 29 statement issued by the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Palaung State Liberation Front, "Whilst the NCCT and the government's Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) were holding talks for the NCA draft, the Burma Army launched offensives in northern Shan State and fierce battles continued." The Free Burma Rangers reported on April 1 that despite the potential ceasefire agreement, in Kachin State "incidents of aggression by the Burma Army have increased to levels not seen since initial fighting in 2011." In Kokang, an area in northeastern Shan State mostly inhabited by ethnic Chinese, heavy fighting also continued with the government launching airstrikes and bombarding suspected rebel positions with 155 mm Howitzers and 122 mm truck-mounted multiple rocket launchers. The ultimate irony is that Myanmar has seen the heaviest fighting in decades—after the present government came to power in March 2011 and opened its Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) in November 2012. Fighting peaked in late 2012 and early 2013 with a major offensive against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) followed this year by a massive air war in Kokang. Myanmar's civil war has not been this intense since the government launched offensives against ethnic Karen and communist forces in the late 1980s. Democratic Voice of Burma reported on April 4 that fighting between government troops and the Kokang rebel group, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, had tapered off "for at least a day" after the agreement on the draft NCA. However, according to sources on the ground, that lull in the fighting had nothing to do with talks in Yangon. "The government's side is just rearranging the deployment of its forces, and trying to solve logistical problems," said a source close to the war in Kokang. Fighting is expected to intensify before the rainy season sets in at the end of May as the Myanmar Army consolidates its positions and works to secure long and potentially vulnerable supply lines from the Myanmar lowlands to the warzones in the mountainous north and northeast. Professional Peacemakers Insights into the actual situation on the ground have never been the strong suit of the foreign peacemakers. The term "military-industrial complex" is often used to describe a network of defense contracts, flows of money and resources among individuals, institutions and various government agencies in the United States. Myanmar now, it seems, has its own "peace-industrial complex" with an abundance of foreign NGOs, supported by massive grants from the European Union, the governments of Norway, Switzerland and Canada, and the involvement of representatives of the UN as well as regional and international bodies. "Peacemaking" has become a lucrative business in Myanmar, with little or no regard for the suffering of ordinary people in the country's warzones. Many people working for, for instance, the MPC earn in a month what an ordinary Myanmar citizen would make in five years or more. A foreign human rights activist familiar with the situation in the frontier areas described the foreign-dominated peace industry as "a cabal of carpetbaggers and conmen whose real contribution to the peace process is shrouded in self-laudatory assessments that have no basis in reality." Among the many misrepresentations floated by the peace-industrial complex is that the civil war is actually about money and control of business opportunities. This attempt at depoliticizing the conflict may serve to cover up the failure of the foreign peacemakers, but it is also a very dangerous way of looking at the problem. There has not been an ongoing civil war in Myanmar, virtually since independence in 1948, simply because some people want to control the trade in jade, precious stones or timber. Naturally, the people living in non-Bamar areas want their fair share of the natural resources in their respective regions once peace and normalcy have been restored. The government is also interested in collecting revenues from any kind of activity in the country. But the essence of the conflict since 1948 has centered on what kind of country Myanmar should be: a unitary nation or a federal union. The issues are political, not based on private business interests. Even a well-respected news organization like IHS Jane's issued a report on March 25 headlined "Mining industry fuels Myanmar civil conflict" which went on to claim that "jade has historically been a driver of conflict" between the Myanmar Army and the KIA. These two forces are supposed to be battling "for control over lucrative mining operations" with both having "historically launched attacks on mining operations in order to reassert control over the strategic resource." This is complete balderdash. No one has attacked "mining operations" which in any case are carried out by private entrepreneurs and contractors, not by the KIA or the government. Taxation on the trade, however, has provided the KIA with an income and the government gets its revenues from those contractors. This can be collected by both or either in cash or in kind. If the latter, raw jade can then be sold to generate income. The Profits of Peace Some foreign analysts have also suggested that those opposed to, or critical of, the NCA are holding this position because they are profiting from the war, while a peaceful solution to the conflict would put an end to their money-making activities. This is twisted logic, to say the least. Local rebel commanders who have entered into ceasefire agreements with the government have invariably got, in return, profitable business opportunities—once they have stopped fighting. A typical example is Zahkung Ting Ying, who once commanded a local unit of the now defunct Communist Party of Burma in eastern Kachin State. He made peace with the government in 1989, and his group immediately began exporting vast quantities of timber to China. Today, his group is running a gun factory, capable of producing automatic rifles, pistols, revolvers and shotguns, which are sold mainly to ethnic rebel forces in India's volatile northeastern region. With all the forest now gone, the people in the area are growing opium poppies and there is also a heroin refinery near Ting Ying's headquarters at Pangwa. Zahkung Ting Ying is also the only former communist who is a member of the Upper House of Myanmar's parliament. Karen rebel leaders, who entered into ceasefire deals with the government in January 2012, were subsequently granted licenses to import cars from Thailand and to run other businesses in eastern and southeastern Myanmar. The KIA, when it had a ceasefire agreement with the government from 1994, was also able to run all kinds of businesses. That arrangement ended with the outbreak of hostilities in June 2011, three months after ex-general U Thein Sein became president. If the KIA's, or any other ethnic resistance army's, main interest were to make money, they should sign the NCA today. Political Solutions What Myanmar really needs is not hordes of foreign peacemakers, or an NCA—which will only freeze the problem, not solve it—but to address the issue of why tens of thousands of people in the non-Bamar areas of the country have resorted to decades-long armed struggle. That would entail political talks now, not after the signing of an NCA, which many see as a trap. The ruse, or "con," of the current agreement is that, once signed into law, the ethnic resistance armies will be neutralized. The military has always insisted that its duty is to defend the 2008 Constitution, and every party—including the armed groups—has to pay allegiance to that charter. Political talks can then be held in the parliament, the argument goes. With the presence of the peace-industrial complex in the country, the military has been spared from the task of persuading the ethnic resistance armies to surrender, which is what the NCA effectively amounts to. But if that fails, which seems likely, the foreign peacemakers can always carry on to another conflict zone in the Middle East, Africa or some other place on the globe—and leave a mess behind in Myanmar. This article originally appeared in the May. 2015 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post The Core Issues Not Addressed appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| China Military Says Army Yet to Fully Embrace Rule of Law Posted: 04 May 2015 11:19 PM PDT  Paramilitary policemen take part in an unarmed combat demonstration for the new recruits at a military base in China's Anhui province. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — China’s armed forces, the largest in the world, have yet to become a military which fully follows the law, its official newspaper said on Tuesday, underscoring the problem of rooting out deeply-seated corruption. Weeding out graft in the military is a top goal of President Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission, which controls China’s 2.3 million-strong armed forces. Serving and retired Chinese military officers have said military graft is so pervasive it could undermine China’s ability to wage war, and dozens of senior officers have been taken down. In a front page commentary, the People’s Liberation Army Daily said that the concept of rule of law had yet to fully take root. “At present, the laws and rules system for our military has basically been formed, but the concept of rule of law and the transformation of ways of behaving has yet to be completed,” it said. Bottlenecks have formed that are preventing the military’s modernisation, it said, including what it termed “paying attention to experience and not paying attention to the law”. The Communist Party committees—the ones which exercise the real control in the military—must avoid the situation where only one person makes the decisions, and that any decisions they make are legal, the paper said. The more advanced the military becomes, the more it needs to follow the law, it added. The logistics department has been particularly problematic for the People’s Liberation Army. Lieutenant General Gu Junshan, who had been deputy director of the department, is suspected of selling hundreds of positions. He was charged with corruption last year. Xi is also waging a broader campaign against corruption in general, vowing to take down powerful “tigers” as well as lowly “flies”. The post China Military Says Army Yet to Fully Embrace Rule of Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| US Voices Concerns to Shwe Mann on Race, Religion Bills Posted: 04 May 2015 11:15 PM PDT  Parliamentary Speaker Shwe Mann (second from right) with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and US President Barack Obama at the Asean summit in Naypyidaw, Nov. 13, 2014. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque / Reuters) WASHINGTON — A senior US official met the head of Burma's ruling party and parliamentary speaker on Monday and expressed concerns about race and religion bills critics say discriminate against minority Muslims. The US State Department said that in a meeting with Shwe Mann in Washington, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the importance of holding “inclusive, credible, and transparent” elections later this year. Blinken also raised the need for constitutional reform, reconciliation with ethnic groups and “durable solutions” to human rights issues. Blinken expressed US concerns about draft race and religion bills critics say would restrict religious freedoms and the revocation of “white card” identity documents for minority Rohingya Muslims. He also called for an independent probe into the use of force to break up anti-government protests this year. In February, the Burmese government announced it would revoke temporary identification cards for Rohingyas on May 31, effectively disenfranchising them just days after parliament approved a law affirming their right to vote. The current constitution bars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from standing for the presidency because she was married to a foreigner and includes a provision reserving 25 percent of parliamentary seats for the military. Shwe Mann, who is chairman of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party as well as parliamentary speaker, said in Washington on Friday he had “aspirations” to change the constitution, but indicated time was short ahead of November general elections. Shwe Mann is considered a front-runner for the presidency and said he would put himself up for election if he was nominated by his party, which is comprised largely of former military officers and was created from a social movement set up by the former junta. Burma launched widespread economic and political reforms in 2011 after decades of military rule, convincing the United States and other Western countries to suspend most sanctions. But many in Burma now feel the reform process has stalled. Aung San Suu Kyi told Reuters last month that President Thein Sein was insincere about reform and accused the United States and the West of being too optimistic about change. The post US Voices Concerns to Shwe Mann on Race, Religion Bills appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Nepal: We Will Need Huge Foreign Support for Reconstruction Posted: 04 May 2015 11:11 PM PDT  Temporary makeshift shelters are pictured on April 28, 2015, in front of houses in Kathmandu after Nepal was devastated by an earthquake last month. (Photo: Reuters) KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal's government will need immense international support as the Himalayan nation begins turning its attention toward reconstruction in the coming weeks, in the wake of the devastating April earthquake, a top official said Monday. Nepal is one of the world's poorest nations, and its economy, largely based on tourism, has been crippled by the earthquake, which left more than 7,300 people dead. While there are no clear estimates yet of how much it will cost to rebuild, it will certainly be enormously expensive. "In two to three weeks a serious reconstruction package needs to be developed, where we'll need enormous help from the international community," said Information Minister Minendra Rijal. "There's a huge, huge funding gap." He also said foreign rescue workers were welcome in Nepal, saying they could remain as long as they are needed. He had earlier said that the need for their services was diminishing, but later denied that he wanted them to leave the country. Soon, he added, the nation will be shifting away from a rescue mode and "will be concentrating more on relief operations." Since the April 25 earthquake, 4,050 rescue workers from 34 different nations have flown to Nepal to help in rescue operations, provide emergency medical care and distribute food and other necessities. The still-rising death toll from the quake, Nepal's worst in more than 80 years, has reached 7,365, police said. The head of the World Food Program ended her visit to Nepal and the WFP so far has dispatched food for 250,000 people in some of the hardest-hit areas, the spokesman for the UN secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric, told reporters Monday. The agency warned that basic aid is still needed, especially for people living without shelter. Meanwhile, Buddhists turned out to visit shrines and monasteries to mark the birthday of Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. At the base of the Swayambhunath shrine, located atop a hill overlooking Kathmandu, hundreds of people chanted prayers as they walked around the hill where the white iconic stupa with its gazing eyes is located. Some of the structures around the stupa, built in the 5th century, were damaged in the quake. Police blocked off the steep steps to the top of the shrine, also called the "Monkey Temple" because of the many monkeys who live on its slopes. "I am praying for peace for the thousands of people who were killed," said Santa Lama, a 60-year-old woman. "I hope there will be peace and calm in the country once again and the worst is over." Kathmandu's main airport remained closed since Sunday to large aircraft delivering aid due to runaway damage, but UN officials said the overall logistics situation was improving. The airport was built to handle only medium-size jetliners, but not the large military and cargo planes that have been flying in aid supplies, food, medicines, and rescue and humanitarian workers, said Birendra Shrestha, the manager of Tribhuwan International Airport. There have been reports of cracks on the runway and other problems at the only airport in Nepal capable of handling jetliners. "You've got one runway, and you've got limited handling facilities, and you've got the ongoing commercial flights," said Jamie McGoldrick, the UN coordinator for Nepal. "You put on top of that massive relief items coming in, the search and rescue teams that have clogged up this airport. And I think once they put better systems in place, I think that will get better." He said the bottlenecks in aid delivery were slowly disappearing, and the Nepalese government eased customs and other bureaucratic hurdles on humanitarian aid following complaints from the United Nations. The post Nepal: We Will Need Huge Foreign Support for Reconstruction appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Climate Change Sparks Tension in India’s Tea Gardens Posted: 04 May 2015 11:06 PM PDT  Tea garden workers pluck tea leaves inside Aideobarie Tea Estate in Jorhat in Assam, India, on April 21, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) JORHAT, India — Usha Ghatowar smiles wryly when asked about the pay she earns picking leaves at a colonial-era tea garden in India's Assam. "Do you think 3,000 rupees (US$48) are enough when your monthly expenses can be double that?" she mumbles, as she puts on her "jaapi" hat of woven bamboo and palm leaves and takes a sip of tea from a steel mug. As the women workers around Ghatowar nod in agreement the heavens open—it has started raining heavily in recent days after three largely dry months. Unrest is brewing among Assam's so-called Tea Tribes, whose forefathers were brought here by British planters from neighboring Bihar and Odisha more than a century ago, as changing weather patterns upset the economics of the industry. Scientists say climate change is to blame for uneven rainfall that is cutting yields and lifting costs for tea firms such as McLeod Russel, Tata Global Beverages and Jay Shree Tea. While rainfall has declined and become concentrated, temperatures have risen—ideal conditions for pests like looper caterpillar and tea mosquito to infest the light green tea shoots just before they are ready to be plucked for processing. Use of pesticides and fertilizers has nearly doubled as a result in Assam's 800 big tea plantations, known as gardens, and the rising costs are making Indian tea less competitive. As a result, firms in Assam are resisting calls from activists and student leaders to lift the daily wage of tea workers from about $2 agreed to recently, blaming weak prices and the doubling of crop expenses over the past 10 years. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, whose Congress party was routed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2014 general election, has sided with the workers ahead of state polls due early next year. State elections have national significance in India—Modi needs to win most of the state assembly contests in the next four years if he is to take control of the upper house of the federal parliament and ease the passage of his reform agenda. Tea tribe votes can swing results in about a quarter of the seats in Assam, the country's main growing area, and the BJP has been making inroads. In an interview with Reuters, Gogoi denied an opportunistic motive behind his call for the wage to be raised to about $3 a day. "I had warned the tea planters about climate change but they did not take care for a long time," Gogoi said. "They thought it would be easy money. I can't allow injustice for tea laborers." Assam Tea Planters Association (ATPA) chairman Raj Barooah said they would examine Gogoi's demand but "there has to be a fair wage that can sustain the industry." The average temperature in Assam has risen by 1.4 degrees Celsius in the past century and rainfall is down by 200 mm (8 inches) a year, said R.M. Bhagat, chief scientist at the Tea Research Association in Assam's tea hub of Jorhat. "In the last 30 years we have seen that the magnitude of the effect of climate change is pretty high," he said. "Rainfall has gone topsy-turvy. There is either too much or too little water, forcing planters to use sprinklers on what is a rain-fed crop." Several tea garden laborers and planters Reuters spoke with said tea factories in Assam now only run for about six months compared with round-the-year operations earlier. Less rainfall resulted in an 8 percent fall in tea exports last year, according to the Indian Tea Association (ITA). India is the world's No. 2 tea producer but is less export-oriented than other producers thanks to its big home market, and Sri Lanka has been extending its lead as the world's third largest exporter behind China and Kenya. Labor accounts for 60 percent of the total costs for tea firms in Assam, whose prices last year were higher than those auctioned in Mombasa in Kenya, Chittagong in Bangladesh, Limbe in Malawi and the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Profit margins at Kolkata-based McLeod Russel, the world's largest tea producer, are estimated to have fallen to their lowest in six years in the year ended March 31, according to Thomson Reuters data. To cut labor costs, tea companies like Aideobarie Tea Estates, owned by ATPA's Barooah, are exploring greater use of machines to harvest and spray nutrients or pesticides. Barooah, whose company employs 48-year-old leaf plucker Ghatowar, her husband and now her eldest son, is also thinking of expanding into high-margin white tea made from tea buds. Other tea gardens have moved to cultivating black pepper, turmeric, ginger, vegetables and fruit alongside tea, while Indian scientists are testing tea varieties that can adapt and survive in hotter and drier conditions. But in the face of long-term climate change, that may not be enough. "With rain so scarce, a day may come when Assam will not grow tea anymore," said tea scientist Subhash Chandra Barua. "Planting a crop is fine but economic cultivation may not be feasible." The post Climate Change Sparks Tension in India's Tea Gardens appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Posted: 04 May 2015 09:57 PM PDT
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