Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Poor governance in Burma’s extractive sector risks fuelling abuses: report

Posted: 17 Jul 2013 05:12 AM PDT

An influx of foreign investment in Burma's extractive industries is likely to fuel human rights abuses and environmental degradation across the country, unless "major shortcomings" in its legal and regulatory framework are addressed, a new report warned on Wednesday.

Burma's laws and regulations are woefully lacking in human rights and environmental protections and laced with authoritarian provisions, which allow the government to arbitrarily seize land from farmers and ignore local concerns, according to the Shwe Gas Movement.

The advocacy group accuses President Thein Sein of taking "superficial steps towards reform", while fuelling land grabs, civil war and a "flagrant disregard for the rule of law" in resource-rich ethnic minority areas.

The report calls on foreign investment to be "put to a halt" until serious regulatory reforms, including revenue sharing procedures, meaningful public consultations and genuine accountability mechanisms have been introduced.

"Burma's constitution and legislation must not solely represent a centralised government, but simultaneously protect the people and environment of Burma," warned the report, which was launched in Rangoon on Wednesday.

Burma currently has no laws requiring companies to conduct environmental and social impact assessments or to respect the principle of free, prior and informed consent – all of which are considered good practice standards by the international community. Even legislation introduced since the end of military rule legitimises arbitrary land confiscations by the state and stifles the right to protest, says the report.

"I think this is a warning, a cautionary reminder that the regulatory investment regime in Burma is in some places still very new and in others inadequate," Paul Donowitz, Campaign Director of EarthRights International, told DVB. "The concern is that companies in the absence of regulation will rush in and they won't abide by best practices because they are not required to."

The report comes as work on the controversial pipeline, known as the Shwe Gas Project, which will pump oil and gas from western Burma's Arakan state into China's Yunnan province, draws completion.

Activists say the project, which is expected to earn the government US$1.8 billion annually, has caused wide-scale environmental destruction and land confiscations across ethnic minority territories, but will bring slight economic benefits to the local population.

"Many people have not received compensation yet," Wong Aung from the Shwe Gas Movement told DVB, adding that the loss of local livelihoods, such as farming and fishing, is another concern. "Local people have been asked to sign a paper not to ask for any more compensation or land.

The China National Petroleum Corporation, which jointly operates the venture with Burma's state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Corporation (MOGE), has reportedly donated around US$10 million to the government for local investments, but Wong Aung says no one knows how that money is being spent.

On his trip to the UK, President Thein Sein reiterated Burma's commitment to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) – a global standard for disclosing payments and revenues around natural resource extraction. But the report warns that Burma has only fulfilled two out of five sign-up requirements to reach candidate status.

Notably, Burma has failed to develop an inclusive multi-stakeholder working group encompassing civil society and ethnic minority representatives. "It's very important to include stakeholders from ethnic communities in the discussions," said Wong Aung. "Unfortunately the state government has been rushing into EITI, so I don't think we have much time to build meaningful participation of civil society."

Burma is due to announce the winners of a highly anticipated off-shore oil and gas block tender sometime this month. Although information about the bids, which were launched in April and attracted considerable western interest, were "fairly transparent", according to Donowitz, the details are still opaque.

"None of the bids have been disclosed, it's to be determined who get's the contracts, whether they will go to the best bidder or whether it will be down to insider connections," he said.

But he added that Burma's interest in joining EITI means that payments made by companies and payments received by the notoriously secretive regime would likely be disclosed for the first time.

Burma, which is emerging from nearly five decades of military rule, is rich in gems, industrial minerals, oil, and offshore natural gas reserves estimated at 10 trillion cubic feet. But most of the country's natural resources are found in its volatile ethnic minority regions, including Shan and Kachin states, where violence continues to flare near areas slated for large-scale development projects.

The former pariah was recently ranked the least transparent country in the world by an international study examining natural resource governance. According to the report, Burma "performed extremely poorly" across all indicators, citing a prolific lack of transparency and accountability.

Following riots, Muslim communities celebrate Ramadan in fewer mosques

Posted: 17 Jul 2013 04:04 AM PDT

As Muslims celebrate the holy month of Ramadan, Islamic communities in riot-stricken areas have been forced to make due with fewer religious facilities after mosques were razed or officially closed following bouts of sectarian violence that rocked cities across Burma during the last year.

According to activists, authorities have only allowed three of Meikhtila's 14 mosques to reopen after local officials closed the remaining Islamic religious centres that were left standing following the riots that erupted on 20 March.

While Muslim residents in the city are filling mosques that have been reopened, there is not enough space to accommodate all of the members of the community.

"During Ramadan, we have to say Namaz prayer and a lot of worshippers show up during that time so we had to ban children as there was not enough space," said Meikhtila resident Ma Sandar during an interview with DVB.

"We wish that all the mosques would be allowed to reopen."

Officials reopened the Tharyargon Mosque and Turaky (Turkey) Mosque last month both of which are on the outskirts of the town, reported Ma Sandar.

Secretary of the Islamic Religious Affairs Council-Myanmar Wunna Shwe said his group has been pushing authorities to reopen more mosques, but officials have been slow to respond.

"We are sad that we cannot use our mosques during [Ramadan]," said Wunna Shwe. "We have made requests to the government to allow the mosques to reopen."

However, the deputy-director of the Department of Religious Affairs Soe Naing said the decision rested in the hands of local officials.

"Mosques in Lashio and Meikhtila can be reopened with the approval from the local government administration given that they can provide security measures," said the deputy director.

"The Ministry of Religious Affairs has no direct authority to allow them to reopen."

In Arakan state, more than 60 mosques were destroyed reported activists after two bouts of rioting kicked off in June and October 2012.

According to the chairperson of the Myanmar Muslim Youths' Religious Organisation Myint Htun, authorities have yet to provide the state's Islamic residents with the necessary permission to rebuild the mosques.

During a speech in London on Monday, President Thein Sein said his government was committed to bringing an end to religious and ethnic violence in the country after more than 150,000 residents were displaced and hundreds killed during the religious-based violence in Burma last year.

"I promise you that we will take a zero tolerance approach to any renewed violence and against those who fuel ethnic hatred," said Thein Sein at the Chatham House in London.

"We cannot let ethnic or religious difference become an excuse to revert to authoritarianism"

On Tuesday, Thein Sein's office informed the union parliament that the state of emergency issued under a presidential decree in Meikhtila would be rescinded on 20 July.

The state of emergency was issued on 22 March and effective for 60 days; however, the measure was extended by another three months during an emergency parliamentary session on 20 and 21 of May.

-Additional reporting provided by Saw Nang

 

Foreign trade increases as imports stream into Burma

Posted: 17 Jul 2013 01:53 AM PDT

Foreign trade from April to June in Burma increased by more than US$ 600 million when compared to the same period last year; however, the surge in imports into the country has resulted in a US$ 800 million trade deficit.

According to the Directorate of Trade's director Than Aung Kyaw, Burmese exports netted US$ 2.15 billion, while imports earned US$ 2.59 billion. The increase in foreign investment and importation of larger quantities of consumer goods and raw materials were largely responsible for the deficit, said the director.

"There have been more imports during this time period as foreign investments pours into the country," said Than Aung Kyaw, adding that the influx of construction supplies has increased as a result of recent real estate booms in the country's urban hubs.

However, analysts speculate exports in Burma would still top the last fiscal year's amount following the European Union's decision in June to reinstate the former pariah state into its trade preference scheme that will remove tariffs on Burmese goods.

"In the past year, prior to the EU reinstating the GSP (Generalised Scheme of Preference), our export market was disadvantaged by large taxation. There was a 14 percent tax on garment exports making it impossible for our exporters to compete with other exporters such as Bangladesh and Cambodia who were under the GSP preference," said Than Aung Kyaw.

"We have a better chance this year compared to the last year. But this doesn't mean we can export excessively now – we need some preparations first for that. We [need to] invest in production such as importing equipment and building factories to meet the qualification standards."

The news follows reports from the parliament where legislators are expected to pass a new security exchange law this month as Burma prepares to open its first stock exchange by early next year.

Coming out of the shadows

Posted: 16 Jul 2013 10:45 PM PDT

Burma's gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) community recently held the second ever Gay Pride festival in Rangoon.

For many years, LGBT people have had to hide their identity, fearing reprisals from the police and discrimination from the public.

Homosexual activity is still illegal in Burma and if caught they could face up to 10 years in prison. Officers from Mandalay's police department allegedly assaulted a group of transgender women last week.

But the LGBT community are slowly coming out of the shadows and the gay pride event is now an annual celebration that pushes for the acknowledgement of LGBT rights.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)