The Irrawaddy Magazine |
| Posted: 07 Jun 2013 09:12 PM PDT  Passengers from Sittwe transfer to larger boats for trips to outlying islands (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) SITTWE — Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, sits on the shores of the Bay of Bengal where three rivers, the Kaladan, Mayu and Lay, meet in a vast estuary of waterways in this south-western state of Burma. Remote from Rangoon, Arakan State is, sadly, now better known for the bitter inter-communal conflict which has wracked the region in the past year and which now spreads insidiously across central Burma. For the more adventurous traveler though, this delta region offers an insight into a very different world, slower paced, relaxed, occasionally trying on the patience, that is life in this vast network of waterways. The local transport is very water-oriented, but be prepared for flights which may or may not get you into and out of Sittwe on any given day, and ferries which may or may not be running on the scheduled days or times. The wise visitor will allow extra days for accomodating travel plan ‘adjustments’.
The riverboat ferry ride from Sittwe to the former ancient Arakanese capital of Mrauk U gives a fine insight to life on and around the rivers which form a transport network reaching deep inland. Mrauk U itself is rich in Arakanese culture, ancient pagodas and temples of weathered sandstone stretch across the landscape in every direction The Arakanese Mrauk U kingdom fell to King Bodawpaya who invaded from the kingdom of Burma in 1784 and defeated the Arakanese in a battle which was fought amongst the islands and waterways around present day Sittwe. Many homes of farmers and fishermen are raised on poles to allow for the tidal flows and water buffalo plunge their heads underwater in search of submerged grasses. Locals gather on the banks to await their boat rides, fishermen ply their nets and wooden cargo boats of all sizes ferry everything from motorcycles to building materials along the ample waterways. | |
| Burma Business Roundup (June 8) Posted: 07 Jun 2013 09:09 PM PDT Tourism Plan Envisages 7 Million Visitors a Year by 2020 Burma could be inundated with more than 7 million foreign tourists a year by 2020—or 700 percent more than this year—according to proposals put forward in a joint study by Norway, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Burma's Minister for Hotels and Tourism. The planners said Burma could cope with such a surge without overburdening the country's rickety infrastructure. Minister Htay Aung said it could be achieved "without threatening our unique cultural heritage or endangering pristine environments." The ADB said the massive expansion of Burma's tourism industry, still trying to cope with inadequate accommodation and transportation, would cost US$500 million to implement but would create 1.4 million jobs and generate revenue of $10 billion. "Tourism will be a pillar of [Burma's] economy, and it has the potential to create meaningful job opportunities for the country's people," said Stephen Groff, an ADB vice president. Small Businesses Make Do With Diesel Energy Until October Power Surge Small businesses outside the main industrial estates in the greater Rangoon area might have to manage without mains electricity until October when new generating capacity is supposed to become operational, the Ministry of Electric Power said. The ministry said it could only guarantee daily supply from the grid—for a maximum five hours—to large firms inside designated zones until new capacity totaling 1,360 megawatts at six new power plants now under construction is available. The extra capacity to supplement Burma's meager national electricity grid could be available from October, said Nyan Tun Oo, a Rangoon Division ministry official. In the meantime, many businesses have to reply on power from diesel generators which are adding to operating costs and end user prices for goods. Much of Burma's diesel has to be imported because of inadequate supply from the country's three small refineries. Burma's run-down electricity grid, which operates mainly in a Rangoon-Mandalay corridor, has a capacity of less than 4,000 megawatts. Lack of electricity is repeatedly cited as a major problem for potential investors in Burma. Global Chemicals Giant Eyes Burma for Investment in Asia Drive Burma is being eyed as a potential operating base and future market by the world's largest chemicals production conglomerate, BASF of Germany. The firm said it is targeting the Asia-Pacific region for expansion of its production processes by 2020. "To achieve this, BASF plans to invest 10 billion euros [US$13.1 billion] together with its partners by 2020 to further develop its local production footprint in Asia Pacific," the company said in a statement. BASF manufactures plastics, agricultural fertilizers and dyes, among many other industrial products, and is also investing in oil and gas exploration. Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing market for the chemicals industry, it said. BASF has major operational bases in Malaysia and China and smaller units in several more of Burma's neighbors, but it said it now planned to explore the potential for investment directly in Burma, Cambodia and Laos. Thailand's Dawei Port Dream 'Should Be Abandoned' as Unworkable A senior analyst-academic in Bangkok has described Thailand's ambitions for creating an oil transhipment port and petrochemical and industrial estate at Dawei on Burma's southeast coast as a pipe dream that should be abandoned. "The back-to-back visits last month by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to Japan, immediately followed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in [Burma], should signal once and for all that Japanese capital for Dawei development is not forthcoming. It is time to pull the plug on Dawei," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, the director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University. "The [Thai] authorities need to look for an alternative port development strategy inside Thailand." The multibillion dollar Dawei dream, proposed by Bangkok construction firm Italian-Thai Development, envisages a land bridge to link the Thai capital's industrial hinterland on the Gulf of Thailand coast with the Andaman Sea and access to the Indian Ocean. But Thitinan said logistics are lacking, human resources "challenging," and finance non-existent, and to cap it all the sea around Dawei is not deep enough to accommodate large ships at anchorage or in port. Indonesia Offers Expertise to Reduce Burma's Electricity 'Leakages' Indonesia's state-owned electricity firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has said it will help Burma to improve the efficiency of the country's electricity distribution system. Poor maintenance has meant that a quarter of electricity generated inside Burma is lost in leakage. PLN director Harry Hartoyo said his firm has offered to provide training and development programs to try to reduce the power losses to below 20 percent within two years. The leakage problem was highlighted by Asian Development Bank vice president Stephen Groff at the World Economic Forum meeting in Naypyidaw on Thursday when he called for an improvement in the power grid. But Groff estimated it would take five years for Burma to improve and expand the system sufficiently to meet today's actual electricity demand. PLN's assistance team, being drafted via cooperation links in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), would focus first on Rangoon, Hartoyo said. The firm which operates power plants as well as transmission grids in Indonesia, said it was also interested in examining potential for joint ventures to build now power stations in Burma. China Says Burma Oil Pipeline Is Complete, but Faces Protests at Home Contrary to local report within Burma, the official China media this week quoted the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) as saying its controversial oil pipeline through the country had been completed. Earlier reports said the oil line would not be finished until late this year. A sister natural gas pipeline running alongside from the Bay of Bengal at Kyaukphyu into China's Yunnan Province is currently undergoing operational trials, CNPC said. CNPC has faced widespread protests about land confiscation and forced removal of rural communities along the length of the 900-kilometer pipelines. Now, it is facing protests from Chinese residents in the Yunnan capital Kunming who are opposed to the construction of a refinery and petrochemicals plant, which is meant to be fed by the Burma oil pipeline. | |
| In Burma, Art to Heal Old Wounds Posted: 07 Jun 2013 09:08 PM PDT  People at a nursing home in Rangoon dance as part of the Myanmar Art Social Project (MASC), a new initiative set up by a Colombian actor and an Italian art therapist that uses artistic expression as a form of therapy. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON—Under the high vaulted ceilings of a nursing home in Rangoon, there are shrieks of laughter and bursts of applause as people rush to pass a ball between teams as part of a rowdy competition. Earlier in the day, this group of 60 or so elderly men and women waggled their toes and threw some impressive moves to Aretha Franklin's tunes as part of a sitting "chair dance." Even the really sick, deaf or partially blind took part—helped by their friends or one of the nuns working at the home. Noel, one resident from Rangoon, puts it quite simply: "We feel very happy." This is the Myanmar Art Social Project (MASC), a new initiative set up by a Colombian actor and an Italian art therapist, with the support of a Danish psychologist and a network of local Burmese artists and volunteers. The aim, they explain, is to use "art as a tool for expression," combining theater and visual arts techniques with a therapeutic framework to help participants work through difficult issues and build personal resilience. MASC focuses its work on vulnerable people and has worked with street children and the elderly at workshops such as the one at the Sisters of Reparation Home for the Aged Poor. The project draws on the unique strengths of its founders. Trained as a classical actor, Carlos Ossa worked as an actor, producer and director in Colombia for 12 years and has run theater workshops with groups as diverse as beauty queens and children living in conflict. His technical experience in the performing arts is paired with Cinzia Rigodanzo's knowledge of psychosocial support. She is a trained art therapist and has worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross in humanitarian emergencies for six years. "When we met, we realized we could combine our knowledge," says Rigodanzo. "Carlos has the art and theater skills, and I have experience using art as a tool and for therapy." By using mostly games, drama techniques and visual arts such as drawing or painting, MASC gives people the freedom to act out or express feelings and experiences without having to talk about them in detail. It is a powerful approach. Rigodanzo describes using "body sculptures" to help children express and work through their emotions at a recent series of workshops with street children in Rangoon. "I started and was expressing pain and sadness," she says. "One girl had to transform us—but instead of physically moving us [into happier poses], she started healing us with her hands." "This was really something strong," she adds. "It was clear how she interpreted the exercise—she really understood that in order to transform [my sadness], she had to first heal." Many of these children come from backgrounds of extreme poverty. Their future is uncertain, yet the feedback from the workshop was clear: "I will never forget this experience; I could feel a lot of happiness. I feel more aware now than before," said one participant. MASC also incorporates a strong peace-building element into its work. At a time when inter-communal tensions in Burma are spilling over into sectarian violence, and the peace process in ethnic states is under way, peace-building is a popular buzzword. But this is quite different from ceasefire monitoring or political settlements. "For three generations we are living in conflict," says Ossa, of his life in Colombia. "I was born in the conflict, my mother was born in the conflict, my grandfather was born in the conflict, and now my son, too." In Burma as much as Colombia, "the one thing in common is our resilience. In the middle of conflict, people find the space to live," he says. It is this space that MASC seeks to nurture. By working at a grassroots level, in particular with Burma's younger generation, the group aims to transform violence or anger through creativity. "Because art is creation, not destruction," Ossa says. It is not easy. There is little experience of using art or theater as a social tool in Burma, and very few art therapists. For this reason, one of MASC's goals is to build a network of local volunteers and artists, and to help with training and skills exchange. This, Ossa and Rigodanzo explain, also allows them to connect with the local culture and learn traditional art forms and social work. For Sister Lina, a nun at the Sisters of Reparation nursing home, the benefit of these workshops for the residents is clear: "This is very important. This is the last life moment for them… If we don't have these activities, they will be lonely," she says. Back at the workshop, there is a quiet moment between activities, and a microphone is passed around the group. Suddenly, a haunting voice echoes around the room, singing an old English melody with all the power of a professional singer. The old man doesn't explain how he learned to sing with such finesse. But given the freedom to express himself, the tools to do so and an audience keen to listen, he certainly found his voice. As Ossa says, "Art is for the humanity—it is space to open your soul." |
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