Monday, May 19, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

DVB Multimedia Group | DVB Multimedia Group

Democratic Voice of Burma

Wanbao employees held hostage in Latpadaung standoff
Suu Kyi rallies Mandalay on Article 436
Electricity price hike impacts households, businesses
Shan party says govt charges ‘false’    
Thai earthquake may be causing aftershock in Burma

Wanbao employees held hostage in Latpadaung standoff

Posted: 19 May 2014 05:52 AM PDT

Three staff members of Myanmar Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd – two Chinese nationals and their Burmese driver – were seized and held hostage on Sunday evening by local residents in the village of Seté who are reported to be infuriated at the Chinese company for continuing to work on the nearby mining project at Latpadaung where lands have been confiscated from local farmers.

Win Win Htay, a native of Seté who has campaigned against the copper mine, said the Wanbao staff were detained by 20 villagers when they came to measure plots of land. The Burmese driver was later released but the two Chinese surveyors continue to be detained on Monday evening at the time of press.

The villagers released a statement on Sunday saying they would release the two Chinese in exchange for the release from prison of Latpadaung activist Aung Soe, and the dismantling of fences from around the by Myanmar Wanbao project lands in Seté.

A statement released by Myanmar Wanbao on Monday morning said the "kidnappers" had since dropped their demand for Aung Soe to be released, but had instead called for the complete suspension of the mining project in exchange for the two staffers.

"Wanbao confirms that at 11am this [Monday] morning, three of our contractors working for Norbenco, Mr. Lu Yuanhao and Mr. Miu Jie, both Chinese nationals and 23 years of age, and Mr Khin Aung Moe, a 21-year-old Myanmar national, were taken against their will by activists purporting to belong to the 'Student Network of Mandalay' and two monks from Old Sede village," the firm said.

Myanmar Wanbao also said that the Chinese employees had been beaten and that death threats had been made.

Resident and activist Win Win Htay, however, rejected the firm's allegation and said that the two detainees had not even by "touched with fingertips" during their ordeal.

"We did this [hostage-taking] because 37 local villagers are still waiting for compensation and are still living inside the fenced-off area at the foot of the hill. We have repeatedly urged Myanmar Wanbao to negotiate, but our calls have gone unanswered. We went to their liaison office, but each time they tell us they will raise our demands with the management of the company. It has all been fruitless. They repeatedly deny responsibility and accountability in resolving the land issues no matter what we do.

"Then, yesterday [Sunday], two Chinese employees came to take measurements of the farmland for which compensation has not yet been agreed. That's why we detained them. We would like a senior official from Wanbao to come and discuss the matter with us about the fences they have built and are planning to build.

"If they do this, we will let their men go," he said.

He added that the Seté villagers would guarantee not to harm the Chinese men, and provide them with food and hospitality until the meeting occurred.

Myanmar Wanbao Copper could not be reached for further comment at the time of press on Monday evening.

Activist Han Win Aung said, however, that the villagers would not guarantee the safety of the detained employees if police used force to try to secure their release.

Myo Nyunt Swe, the Salingyi District government administrator, said the action by the villagers is tantamount to kidnapping and that the authorities were preparing to take suitable action.

"We are working to secure the release of the two Chinese nationals – we assume there are elements behind the villagers who are instigating this unrest. It is them we will take action against," he said.

DVB reporter Tin Mar Swe, who spent Sunday night in Seté and was preparing for another night in the village to monitor the ongoing situation, said that the Wanbao staff were brought into the village with hands tied behind their backs but that they had not been mistreated.

"The two detainees are today [Monday] being kept in a villager's house and provided meals," she said by telephone.

The DVB reporter said that on Sunday night at about 11pm, villagers attacked police vehicles in nearby Kyaukphutaing village, presumably to stop the security forces travelling to the site of the standoff. Police retaliated with slingshots, she said, adding that five cars and 12 motorbikes belonging to police were smashed or destroyed by villagers who wielded knives and bricks. Three police officers were injured in the melee, she reported.

She also noted that about 200 security police had been stationed inside a school in Kyaukphutaing on Monday evening and had set up roadblocks around the area.

According to Burma's Ministry of Information (MoI), the police have been brought in to mediate with villagers, and that the Myanmar Wanbao staffers who had been apprehended had in fact been measuring air pollution in the area on Sunday, not land plot sizes.

MoI also said that the injured policemen were not in serious condition.

China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported on Monday that Wanbao had sent a letter to Chief Minister of Sagaing Region Thar Aye, "asking for urgent assistance for the immediate release of two Chinese nationals working for the Norbenco team".

Suu Kyi rallies Mandalay on Article 436

Posted: 19 May 2014 04:05 AM PDT

Tens of thousands of people from all ethnicities and walks of life joined one of the biggest rallies for constitutional reform in Mandalay on Sunday.

At Aung Pin Lae sports ground, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi spoke to the huge crowd, many of whom were dressed in red and white and waved National League for Democracy (NLD) flags. She urged the sea of supporters not to accept a leader who doesn't keep their promises.

"The attitude: 'We're always right and so what if we say false things. Are the people even significant? We'll tell them whatever we want,' is disrespectful," the NLD leader said. "Promises made to the people are very important and individuals who cannot keep these promises – I'd just like to put it bluntly – do not have them as your leaders."

One of the largest rallying calls was to amend Chapter 12's Article 436 of the Constitution, which states that any amendment to the 2008 charter would need the support of 75 percent of parliament. As the military holds a quarter of those seats they effectively have the power to veto any amendments put forward.

Further constitutional reform would be impossible if the military voted against it, the opposition party says. Therefore NLD leaders are prioritising overturning Article 436.

"Amending any other article in the Constitution can only be done after amending Article 436, which states that any amendments to the Constitution must have approval of 75 percent of MPs. We do not accept that," said one supporter at the rally.

Sunday's demonstration was co-organised by the NLD and leading activist group 88 Generation Peace and Open Society (88GPOS). People travelled from all over central Burma, including Mandalay, Naypyidaw and Sagaing, as well as Karenni and Chin states. Many of them attended the rally, they said, as they felt the current Constitution is undemocratic.

"I wish to see the article [436] amended because it is not in conformity with democratic standards. As long as the article continues to exist, Burma will never see real democracy. We will have only a superficial democracy that we wear like a mask," said another supporter of constitutional reform from Ottarathiri Township, Naypyidaw.

Following Sunday's rally, Suu Kyi met with community leaders and civil society groups in Mandalay urging them to sign a petition to amend Article 436.

On Saturday, 20,000 supporters turned out at Bo Sein Hman park in Rangoon for a rally on constitutional reform, again organised by the NLD and 88GPOS. Saturday's rally was the first time the two pro-democracy forces have joined hands in co-hosting a public event.

But speaking ahead of the two events, President Thein Sein warned on Thursday that instability caused by the ongoing public campaign to amend the Constitution would harm the country.

Electricity price hike impacts households, businesses

Posted: 18 May 2014 11:05 PM PDT

Burmese households and businesses face new financial pressures after being saddled with higher electricity costs.

In March, President Thein Sein's office introduced an energy-pricing scheme to parliament, which raised the cost of energy for consumers. The package was passed in April, eliminating a 25 kyat (US$0.02) per unit ceiling price for electricity.

The new scheme staggers household and industrial pricing of energy. Usage up to 100 units is now charged at 35 kyat per unit, and 40 kyat per unit for up to 200 units used. Usage over 200 units now incurs a cost of 50 kyat per unit.

Kyaw Lin Myint, a Rangoon construction worker, said it has been hard to stretch his monthly salary out to cover the electricity price hike.

"It hurts, my salary is not much and it has been hard to pay all the household bills now that electricity is more expensive," he said. "It is difficult for us to pay our rent now. There are many poor people like me in the country and I don't see the price increase as fair."

Businesses small and large are also reportedly suffering.

Reh Kyaw Thiha, operator of a Rangoon internet cafe said that they have not been able to pass on the costs to their customers and have seen profits dwindle as a result. "Income for the shop reduced compared with previous months," Reh Kyaw Thiha said.

"Our electricity bill was about 200,000 (US$200) kyats last month. The shops entire turnover is only 900,000 kyats, so it is very difficult for us."

Win Myint of the Myanmar [Burma] Plastic Industries Association is counting the cost to big business.

"Production costs for members of our association have tripled in the last month, he said. This is the first month, if we don't find a way to cushion this, then factories may begin to close."

"Businesses now have to weigh the market to increase the costs of their products. They'll also have to reduce the usage of electricity as well as renovating the supply wires," he said.

Despite the pain, the government's package is a good deal softer than a previously proposed pricing structure. An initial proposal by the Ministry for Electricity drew intense criticism from consumers — the 50 kyat (US$ 0.05) unit price for all households using more than 100 units seen as unfair. Last November, demonstrators took to the streets of Rangoon in a candlelight vigil to protest that proposal.

However the Ministry of Electricity has remained opposed to the reworked costings scheme launched in April, which they see as too generous. The ministry has advised parliament that the government stands to incur the cost of a 770 million kyat per year shortfall despite the revised pricing scheme.

Shan party says govt charges ‘false’    

Posted: 18 May 2014 10:30 PM PDT

An ethnic political party in eastern Burma claims that one of their leaders was wrongfully detained by the central government and demanded that all charges against him be dropped.

The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) has accused the Burmese military of arbitrarily detaining and physically abusing Sai Jan, a party leader in Kengtung, under the premise of false and baseless charges.

Party representatives claim that Sai Jan was beaten by Burmese soldiers of the Infantry Battalion 245 when they entered the party office in Nam Lin Mai village without warrant on 5 May.

"He was forced to confess without breaking any laws," said Sai Lek, spokesperson for the SNLD. "When he wouldn't confess, they forcibly took his fingerprint."

Sai Lek added that falsifying a case against a Shan party leader risks damaging the country's fragile peace process by challenging Shan State Army South. Sai Jan is believed to soon be facing charges under Article 17/1 of the Unlawful Associations Act.

Thai earthquake may be causing aftershock in Burma

Posted: 18 May 2014 09:54 PM PDT

Earthquakes in Burma over the weekend have raised concerns that the tremors may have spread there from northern Thailand, where a quake struck on 5 May, the Thai Department of Mineral Resources says.

Officials detected three quakes with magnitudes on the Richter scale of between 2.6 and 3.8 on Saturday and Sunday.

One quake detected at 3.18am on Sunday measured 2.6. Its epicentre was in Burma, officially known as Myanmar, about nine km from Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district in northern Thailand.

The quake was on the Mae Chan fault line, which passes Burma, Chiang Rai’s Mae Chan district and Laos.

The fault line is close to the spot in Chiang Rai where a 6.3 magnitude earthquake erupted on 5 May.

Officials believe some of the tremors detected over the weekend may relate to the Chiang Rai quake, said Thinnakon Thathong, chief of the mineral resource office in Lampang.

The concerns are based on the principle that when one fault line or crack in the earth’s crust moves, causing an earthquake, other nearby fault lines will move too.

Though there have been no reports of subsequent quakes on other fault lines in the northern provinces, an inspection has found fault lines in Burma have moved, which suggests they were linked, Mr Thinnakon said.

His department is monitoring other active fault lines to see whether they have been affected by the quake in Mae Lao district.

There have been more than 1,000 aftershocks reported in the area since 5 May, according to the department.

The 5 May earthquake, with its high magnitude and many aftershocks, was unusual.

Records suggest it had never happened before in the northern region, Mr Thinnakon said.

This article was originally published in the Bangkok Post on 19 May 2014.

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Monday, May 19, 2014