The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- World Bank Loan Will Not Be Used for Govt Salary Increases, Says President’s Office Spokesperson
- Autopsies Conducted on Civilians Allegedly Killed by Burma Army
- Police Injuries and Burma Army Casualties Reported After Clashes With KIA
- Floods Affect Hundreds of Thousands in Irrawaddy Division
- Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week (August 9)
- Pills Pour Over Border from India to Fuel Burma’s Narcotics Boom
- Ethnic Armed Group Leaders Discuss Security Sector Reform
| World Bank Loan Will Not Be Used for Govt Salary Increases, Says President’s Office Spokesperson Posted: 09 Aug 2016 05:38 AM PDT  Aung San Suu Kyi meets with a World Bank delegation in February. (Photo: NLD Chairperson / Facebook) RANGOON — Government employees' salaries will not increase despite plans to take out a loan worth US$100 million from the World Bank, aimed at covering a state deficit by separating salaries from the budget, according to government officials. Burma's President Htin Kyaw sent a message on August 5 to the Union Parliament speaker about pursuing the World Bank loan in order to implement projects under the Myanmar Monetary Sector Development Plan. After the letter was shared, reports came out suggesting that the President planned to increase staff salaries by taking loans from the World Bank. Zaw Htay, spokesperson from the President's Office told The Irrawaddy that this was the result of a misunderstanding. "We have a big budget deficit. After taking loans from the World Bank, we will pay for the government staff salaries from this amount, so the state deficit will be lower. It doesn't mean civil servant salaries will increase," he said. "After spending the amount required for salaries, we will use the rest of the money for development projects," Zaw Htay added. In Tuesday's Union Parliament session, Maung Maung Win, deputy minister of National Planning and Finance, said the World Bank's International Development Association will provide a US$100 million loan interest-free for 38 years starting from 2017. "It's a no-interest loan, but the service fees per year will be 0.75 percent of the total loan amount," he explained. Of this, $75 million is earmarked for the Ministry of Planning and Finance and $25 million for the Central Bank. According to the Myanmar Financial Sector development project plan, $60 million will be used to provide monthly pay and allowances for civil servants, $7 million will be allocated to technical assistance in reforming state-owned banks, $5 million will go toward the development of the microfinance, insurance and monetary sectors and establishment of a better information technology system, and $3 million is for capacity building for the staff of the Ministry of National Planning and Finance. "If the financial sector develops, the country's economy will also develop," Maung Maung Win said. "$60 million can cover the state budget deficit for government servants." Maung Maung Win said that the $60 million will be received within four years. Estimates suggest it will come in increments: $20 million in 2017, $15 million in 2018, $10 million in 2019 and $5 million in 2020. Khin Saw Oo, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Myanmar said in the Parliament that the bank will use the $25 million loan for four projects: $15 million will go toward upgrading the transactions system, $6 million will be used for capacity building and establishment of a monetary training school, $2 million will be designated for a capacity development plan, an IT system and improvement of financial management systems, and $2 million will be for capacity building for the staff of the Central Bank. Khin Maung Nyo, an economist and columnist, said it is better to spend the World Bank's loans on government salaries to reduce the heavy state budget deficit in Burma. "State budget is always facing a deficit, so it's better if some expenses are separated out of the loan amount," he said. The post World Bank Loan Will Not Be Used for Govt Salary Increases, Says President's Office Spokesperson appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Autopsies Conducted on Civilians Allegedly Killed by Burma Army Posted: 09 Aug 2016 05:31 AM PDT  The burial ground of seven civilians in Lashio Township's Mong Yaw Village. (Photo: SNLD) Authorities exhumed the bodies of seven locals who were killed in Lashio Township's Mong Yaw Village on June 28 in order to perform autopsies. A forensic pathologist, judge and the Lashio Township police department carried out the autopsies. "It was part of our police work. We exhumed the bodies and reburied them. We have opened a murder case," said the head of the Lashio Township police force. He said the victims were innocent civilians and that police would look into the case in accordance with the law and hold the perpetrators accountable. Lt-Gen Mya Tun Oo of the Burma Army confirmed the army's killing of five of the victims at a press conference in Rangoon on July 20, and promised to take action against the accused troops. He added that he could not place responsibility on the army for two of the murders. The deputy commander of the Burma Army Northeast Command on July 3 compensated 300,000 kyats (US$250) to the families of the five victims killed by army troops in northern Shan State. Aye Lwang, a local of Mong Yaw Village, told The Irrawaddy, "Police came and exhumed the bodies on Saturday. We were not allowed at the scene. We want justice to be served for our seven villagers." Burmese military columns no longer stay in the village when they are nearby and locals do not go to distant farms out of concern for their safety following the incident, according to Mong Yaw villagers. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The post Autopsies Conducted on Civilians Allegedly Killed by Burma Army appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Police Injuries and Burma Army Casualties Reported After Clashes With KIA Posted: 09 Aug 2016 04:50 AM PDT  Kachin Independence Army Soldiers are pictured near Laiza, Kachin State. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) Clashes have broken out in several areas in Kachin State between members of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burma Army along the highway connecting Mogaung and Hpakant townships. According to local sources, government forces suffered casualties and police officers were wounded in the fighting. Locals said that KIA soldiers from Battalion 6 reportedly ambushed a convoy of Burma Army trucks using the road on Monday, destroying two vehicles—one near the village of Nam Sheng, and one near Gauri. Lt-Col Naw Bu, a spokesperson for the KIA, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, "We heard that fighting broke out on the highway from Mogaung to Hpakant. We heard that two [Burma] army trucks were destroyed in Kamaing." Kamaing is a town in Hpakant Township. According to a Facebook post by a Burma Army soldier who goes by Sgt Pho Si, eight policemen—including one officer—were wounded after the KIA attack in the Kamaing area. He said that those injured received treatment at a hospital in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State. Regarding the two army trucks which were destroyed, Lt-Col Naw Bu said that he did not have detailed information of the circumstances surrounding the clashes, but had heard that the Burma Army troops had "gotten close" to the KIA-controlled area, and members of the KIA had gone on the offensive. The military-owned Myawady Daily also reported on Tuesday that members of the KIA had attacked the Burma Army on the evening of August 7 in a village in the Dawphoneyan sub-township—which is near the KIA base of Laiza—and added that "some officers had sacrificed their lives for the country." Fighting has broken out in many locations throughout Kachin State following an initial clash in Hpakant– where the Burma Army cracked down on illegal mining and detained 12 men in the area. On August 3, in the midst of the crackdown, there was a clash with the KIA. Tension remains high in Hpakant and Tanai townships, as well as in northern Shan State, where the KIA's Brigade 6 is based, according to Lt-Col Naw Bu. Burma is set to begin its Union Peace Conference on August 31, but government forces have continued military offensives against the KIA and in northern Shan State against groups like the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). "This is the time to build trust, but the Burmese Army keeps attacking our KIA. We need to utilize defensive attacks in order to protect our area. They should stop fighting," said Lt-Col Naw Bu. The post Police Injuries and Burma Army Casualties Reported After Clashes With KIA appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Floods Affect Hundreds of Thousands in Irrawaddy Division Posted: 09 Aug 2016 04:26 AM PDT  A highschool in Hinthada Township on Monday after being hit by heavy flooding. (Photo: Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy) PATHEIN, Irrawaddy Division — More than 350,000 people from some 700 villages have been affected by flooding in three of the Irrawaddy Division's districts, said the divisional government. Floods hit Hinthada, Maubin, and Pathein districts in early August and have forced more than 38,000 people into relief camps. "Hinthada district was hit the hardest. Kyangin, Myanaung, Hinthada and Zalun—which lie near the Irrawaddy River—are also facing erosion from the flooding," Myo Min Tun, director of the office of the Irrawaddy divisional government, told The Irrawaddy. The government is operating 187 relief camps for flood victims and there has been no report of casualties so far. The divisional education department has closed more than 500 submerged schools in three districts until further notice. Floods have also inundated almost 100,000 acres of farmland in the area. The divisional chief minister has assigned five of his ministers to supervise relief and rescue efforts in the region. The divisional government plans to provide 1,000 bags of rice and 20 million kyats (US$17,000) to each district for the victims, according to Myo Min Tun. The Irrawaddy Division suffered severe flooding in July and August last year, which submerged more than 88,000 houses in 17 townships in the Pathein, Hinthada and Maubin districts and caused a financial loss of more than 18 billion kyats ($15 million). The post Floods Affect Hundreds of Thousands in Irrawaddy Division appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week (August 9) Posted: 09 Aug 2016 03:05 AM PDT
No Lights No Lycra is a dance community that was started in Melbourne in 2009. According to the group: "There is no light, no lycra, no teacher, no steps to learn, no technique, just free movement. NLNL is a space where you can completely let go, shake out the stresses of the week, and lose yourself in the music and the physicality of your body." Open to all with a suggested donation of 5,000 kyats. Where: Myanm/art Gallery, 98 Bogalay Zay Street, Third Floor When: Tuesday August 9, 7:15 pm to 8:15 pm
An international collection of modern furniture will be displayed at Tatmadaw Hall. Where: Tatmadaw Hall, U Wisara Road When: Thursday, August 11 to Sunday, August 14, 9am to 5pm
The American Center will hold its August Youth Forum titled "It's Our Future: Youth Engagement in Urban Development," focusing on what makes a sustainable city. Where: Count Basie Hall, The American Center, 14 Taw Win Road When: Wednesday, August 10, 4:30pm to 6pm
Organized by the Dagon University Law Student Association (DULSA), this seminar will introduce youth to business practices through discussions, presentations and networking. Various youth-led and legal organizations, along with business personnel, will participate. Where: UMFCCI Building, Min Ye Kyaw Swar Street When: Sunday, August 14, 8 am to 12 pm
Burma's celebrated hip-hop musician Sai Sai Kham Leng will perform, along with others, at the VeVe monsoon show at the Myanmar Convention Center. Where: Myanmar Convention Center, Min Dhamma Street When: Sunday August 14, 1pm to 5pm
Musicians play popular jazz and Latin tunes while guests enjoy French cuisine. Where: Rendez-Vous, Institut Francais de Birmanie, No. 340 Pyay Road. Tel: 09 250 436 951 When: Every Wednesday, 8 pm to 11 pm
Artist Soe Naing showcases 48 of his works at Think Art Gallery. Prices range from US$300 to $2,500. Where: Think Art Gallery, No. 23, Nawaday Street, Dagon Tsp. Tel: 095143266, When: Saturday, August 6 to Saturday, August 13
As a gesture to the upcoming Union Peace Conference—also known as the 21st Century Panglong Conference—the Burmese government and cartoonists have organized the Peace Cartoon Exhibition. About 200 works from some 100 cartoonists will be featured. Where: Maha Bandoola Park, in front of Rangoon City Hall When: Friday, August 12 to Sunday, August 14
The 11th Myanmar Watercolor Artists Association exhibition featuring about 100 paintings will be held at Ayerwon Art Gallery. Where: Ayerwon Art Gallery, No. 903-904, U Ba Kyi Street, 58th Ward, Dagon Seikkan Tsp. Tel: 09-450057167 When: Saturday, August 13 to Wednesday, August 24
A group exhibition showcasing the works of 24 different artists will be held at Lokanat Gallery. More than 70 paintings will be on display with prices ranging from $50 to $2,000. Where: Lokanat Gallery, No. 62 Pansodan Street, First Floor, Kyauktada Tsp. Tel: 01382269 When: Tuesday, August 9 to Saturday, August 13 The post Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week (August 9) appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Pills Pour Over Border from India to Fuel Burma’s Narcotics Boom Posted: 09 Aug 2016 02:00 AM PDT  Police in Tamu District display a test kit used to identify pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient for the highly addictive drug methamphetamine. (Photo: Reuters) TAMU, Sagaing Division — Five years ago, when cold pills first trickled across Burma's untamed border with India, many local officials were baffled. Where was this medicine going, and why were smugglers so interested in it? Today, the cross-border trickle has become a torrent and everyone knows why the Indian-made pills are so valuable: they are bound for secret laboratories in lawless eastern Burma that churn out most of mainland Southeast Asia’s methamphetamine, or "meth." Cold pills contain pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient of meth, a highly addictive drug whose ever-soaring popularity is rattling governments across Asia. In recent months the Philippines has elected a president on a platform of harsh action against drug dealers, Indonesia has resumed executions of drug traffickers after a year-long hiatus and Thailand is wrestling with a soaring prison population. Burma’s current boom in meth production would be impossible without a recent surge in pseudoephedrine smuggled from India’s huge and ill-regulated pharmaceuticals sector, say police and narcotics experts. The uninterrupted flow of the drug is highlighting a disconnect between countries in tackling a meth epidemic that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) calls Asia's "number one drug threat." "It’s big, big business," said Ye Htut, a former advisor to Burma's ex-President Thein Sein. He attributed a property boom in Kalay, the largest town in this otherwise impoverished region, to the profits made from smuggling pseudoephedrine. Meth is sold in pill form as "ya ba," a Thai name meaning "crazy medicine," or as a more potent, crystalline substance known as "crystal meth," "ice" or "shabu." Each Indian cold pill can make one "ya ba" and costs only a few cents to produce. By the time it has crossed the border and reached Mandalay—Burma's northern capital and a major smuggling hub—the pill's value has increased roughly tenfold. Across mainland Southeast Asia, the UNODC estimates the meth trade was worth about US$15 billion in 2013. CROSS-BORDER ROUTE The rugged and ethnically diverse region straddling the Indian border ranks among Burma's poorest, with no industry and modest infrastructure. Its main road is a two-lane highway linked by rickety bridges and plied by ox carts. It is here that Burmese police have been finding thousands of the cold pills, hidden in rice sacks, packed into truck chassis or spilling from the luggage of cross-border bus passengers. In one bust here in mid-June, police intercepted a car carrying more than 60 kilograms (130 pounds) of Indian pseudoephedrine—enough to make more than a million "ya ba" pills. Global demand for methamphetamine has created "new precursor chemical entrepreneurs in India," said the U.S. State Department in a 2015 report. Experts believe many criminals who once smuggled drugs now prefer precursors, which offer high profits but much lighter penalties. Burmese police say China is also a major supplier of pseudoephedrine. But with tighter controls there, and with greater demand for the chemical as meth use booms, drug producers have increasingly turned to India. Pseudoephedrine is a controlled substance in India requiring all handlers to register with the authorities. In practice, the trade is poorly monitored, with Indian officials complaining of weak intelligence-sharing between government agencies and rare prosecutions of offenders. Raw pseudoephedrine is made in a handful of Indian factories, then moved through a network of wholesalers, drug makers, distributors and drugstores. It gets pilfered at every point along the way, say experts. In a statement to Reuters, India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said seizures had dropped after the country's narcotics laws were changed in 2013 to define pseudoephedrine as controlled. And indeed, police in Kalay and Tamu, Burma’s two main districts bordering India, seized only 400 kilograms of pseudoephedrine last year, down from more than 3.5 tons in 2013. But that may well be because smugglers have found novel ways to avoid detection. "It’s highly likely that traffickers have just shifted approach," said Jeremy Douglas, the UNODC's Asia-Pacific head. Tamu district alone had more than 80 unofficial crossing points along its 125-kilometer (80-mile) border with India, said Douglas, making it almost impossible to monitor. The Indian Embassy in Rangoon did not respond to a request for comment on the problem. DRUG PROBLEM Already the world’s second-largest producer, after Afghanistan, of opium and its derivative heroin, Burma is now also reporting record-breaking seizures of meth. In May, police intercepted a truck in northern Burma carrying 21 million ya ba pills worth an estimated $35 million. The booming drugs trade poses a challenge to the fledgling government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Rapid urbanization in the commercial capital Rangoon is creating the kind of slums that have fuelled the increase in meth abuse in countries such as Thailand and the Philippines. Health experts are braced for an explosion in domestic meth use. Meanwhile, police in Mandalay, a transit point between the western frontier with India and the rebel-dominated eastern borderlands, say they are still making record seizures of Indian-made pseudoephedrine. Greater regional integration, aided by Indian and Burma road-building programmes, promised to boost both trade and trafficking, said the UNODC's Douglas. "India and Burma are cooperating to some extent but they’re not doing a lot of joint operations or intelligence-sharing," he said. Burmese police said most large drug and precursor shipments were smuggled through Moreh, the Indian border town opposite Tamu. They have arrested scores of couriers or "mules," but said they needed India’s help to arrest the ringleaders. An Indian man suspected of arranging a large pseudoephedrine shipment in 2013 sought refuge on the other side of the border, said Tamu police chief Major Soe Naing. "Cooperation with India is quite weak so we haven’t been able to catch him," he said. The NCB said Burma had not presented evidence that smuggling kingpins were hiding in India, or even that the pseudoephedrine it had seized was Indian-made. "It is coming from other countries too," said a top NCB official, who asked not to be named because he wasn't authorized to speak to journalists. The post Pills Pour Over Border from India to Fuel Burma's Narcotics Boom appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Ethnic Armed Group Leaders Discuss Security Sector Reform Posted: 09 Aug 2016 01:50 AM PDT  Ethnic armed group leaders discuss security sector reform in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand on Monday. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Ethnic armed group leaders are holding a three-day workshop on Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Burma, which started on Monday in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. Participants include members of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) ethnic armed alliance, alongside the Karen National Union (KNU) and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF)—two groups that, unlike UNFC members, signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the previous government last year. Discussions have focused on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR)—one of the key demands of the Burma Army in the peace process with respect to ethnic armed groups. The latter have responded with demands for reforms in Burma's security sector, including the formation of a "federal army" incorporating ethnic armed groups. Participants expressed concern at apparent efforts to fast track DDR and SSR processes simultaneously with political negotiations, and the Burma Army's insistence that ethnic armed groups accept the terms of both the NCA and the 2008 military-drafted Constitution as a pre-condition for full participation in peace talks. "We are discussing our strategy on security related affairs, and exchanging thoughts. We have invited others from Burma to hear their views and advice," said Nai Hong Sar, a spokesperson for the workshop. Representatives of ethnic political parties in Burma, who are members either of the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) or the Nationalities Brotherhood Federation (NBF), also took part. The participants shared their disagreements with the positions of the government and the Burma Army on the NCA, which was signed by only a minority of ethnic armed groups. Signing the NCA is currently a precondition for full participation in the Union Peace Conference scheduled to begin in Naypyidaw on August 31. Ethnic armed group leaders said they were worried by the plan of the government and Burma Army to implement DDR and SSR simultaneously with peace negotiations. Participants also expressed disagreement with the Burma Army's demand that ethnic armed groups "accept" the 2008 Constitution and "follow democratic processes" outlined in the charter, and with recent political proposals from the government that offer only limited autonomy for border regions where ethnic armed groups are currently based. They also signaled frustration with the Burma Army's insistence of there being only "one armed force" in Burma, with regards to future SSR—an apparent rejection of the demand of ethnic armed groups for a "federal army." International security and conflict specialists also took part in the workshop, sharing their knowledge and experience, alongside women's rights activists and civil society leaders. The "SSR/DDR and Security Policy Workshop" was organized by the Ethnic Nationalities Affairs Center, an organization that supports political dialogue in Burma's peace process. Meanwhile, representatives of ethnic armed organizations that signed the NCA are holding a separate meeting in Chiang Mai with leaders of the UNFC. The post Ethnic Armed Group Leaders Discuss Security Sector Reform appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
The Irrawaddy picks 10 interesting events happening in Rangoon this week.
No Lights No Lycra 
Myanmar International Furniture Expo
American Center Youth Forum 
DULSA Youth Connect 
Sai Sai Frenzo Tour
Jazz Night at Rendez-Vous
Think Art Gallery Exhibition 
Peace Cartoon Exhibition 
Watercolor Exhibition
Lokanat Gallery Exhibition| You are subscribed to email updates from The Irrawaddy. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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