Democratic Voice of Burma

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• Searching for a delicacy in a vanishing jungle
• DVB talks to Norwegian politician Anniken Huitfeldt
• 7 dead, 3 missing in Burmese flash floods
• Suu Kyi reiterates call for national reconciliation

Searching for a delicacy in a vanishing jungle Posted: 20 Sep 2014 01:40 AM PDT Thick bamboo forests cast northern Shan State in a deep shade of green. Today, that picturesque landscape is fast fading. Industrial deforestation and increasing trade in jungle commodities is thinning out the once thick forest.  Now, increasing demand in China for a Shan delicacy, fired-smoked bamboo shoots known as Waboe, is exacerbating the problem. Villagers have long supplemented their meager plantation wages by foraging for the tender bamboo shoots. When the harvest season is over, many villagers find themselves out of work and the hunt for the shoots intensifies. “We have to search far and wide. In the village, if we don’t cut them, other people will,” says one bamboo forager. After the shoots are cut and the casing pruned, they are sliced and smoked over an open flame, in a time consuming and energy intensive process. "In China, Waboe sells for about 15,000 kyat [US$15] per viss [1.65 kg]," says one local trader. But the shoots shrink as they are smoked. Once the process is complete, the shoots are a quarter of their raw weight. "It takes around four viss of fresh bamboo shoots to produce just one viss of the finished product," the trader said. He points out the disparity between wages earned by Shan foragers and the prices that their product fetches in Chinese markets. "Chinese traders buy it from us for 200 kyat per viss," he said. "They invest thousands – but we know that their profits are in the tens of thousands." The Forest across this area of northern Shan state is thinning out as tens of thousands of bamboo saplings are being cut from the ground. Compounding the problem is the amount of trees that are felled in order to keep the smokehouse fires burning. A huge stockpile of firewood cut from the surrounding forest must be kept on hand. Related Stories 7 dead, 3 missing in Burmese flash floods Floods sweep Shan border town Burma reveals initial census data "To dry all these bamboo shoots, a lot of firewood is needed. Thousands of trees are cut for firewood, maybe 30,000 to 40,000 trees a year." The trader said that his village alone uses three fireplaces to smoke around 3,000 bamboo shoots per day. "[Foragers] start work in August, and continue through to October. If you consider the total cut down, it is a huge number of bamboo shoots disappearing from the forests." Bamboo is becoming difficult to find around the village as the forests are shrinking. That is forcing up the local market price and pushing a once staple product out of the reach of villagers. The Bamboo boom is undoubtedly adding to the rapid deforestation in Burma's north. And as the harvest earnings are moving to China along with the staple commodity, many villagers fear they may soon be left with nothing.

DVB talks to Norwegian politician Anniken Huitfeldt Posted: 20 Sep 2014 01:07 AM PDT Since 1991, when Burma's democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, was presented with the Nobel Peace Prize in absentia, Norway has led the international community in its concerted support for the Burmese democracy movement. When President Thein Sein launched his reform process in 2011, Norway was one of the first to embrace the new changes in the former pariah state. Norway pared back unilateral sanctions in late 2012, paving the way for heavy investment from Norwegian majority state-owned firms Statoil and Telenor. DVB Interview International's Khin Maung Win spoke to Anniken Huitfeldt, chair of Norway's Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs and Defence, during her recent visit to Burma. When asked about her general impressions of Burma in 2014, Huitfeldt highlighted the release of political prisoners, more freedom of movement and greater freedom of the press as indicative of a changing country. "There is a strong pressure for further reforms," Huitfeldt added. "And my view on this visit is to express that these changes must continue in order to develop a democracy." DVB asked Huitfeldt if she was aware of backslides on press freedom in 2014, particularly the recent sentencing of five journalists from Unity Weekly to ten years in prison with hard labour. "We had a meeting about the press situation in Myanmar before we came down [to Burma], so we are aware of the situation, and we have been talking about the importance of a free press in building a new democracy because it is crucial to always have these critical voices in a society." Huitfeldt said it was an honour to meet Suu Kyi. "She is an icon in Norway since she got the Nobel Peace Prize." In light of a recent meeting between the Norwegian delegation and Burma's ministry of Defence, DVB asked whether Norway intended to follow in the footsteps of the United Kingdom and the United States by committing to training programmes with Burmese police and military figures. "We had a very fruitful discussion on the military's role in transforming this society, that was the focus of discussions," she said. "If you look upon other transformation processes, there are always some people who are in favour of changes and others who want to resist changes. Today my role was to express a strong support for further changes in this society." Related Stories Over 1,000 in Mandalay protest mining activities Bullet Points: 27 August 2014 Bullet Points: 26 August 2014 DVB asked Huitfeldt about her view of the current peace process, considering Norway's long history of support for the Burmese democracy movement. "I do support the government when it comes to this," she said. "Speaking on behalf of the [Norwegian] Labour party, we do support the government." DVB asked whether Huitfeldt had a special message for the people of Burma. "We have had cooperation with the opposition [movement in Burma] for years," she said, "and we feel a commitment to continue this peace process. There will be obstacles, but we need to move forward."

7 dead, 3 missing in Burmese flash floods Posted: 19 Sep 2014 10:53 PM PDT Seven people, including a baby, lost their lives and three are still missing as heavy flash floods hit rural areas of Mandalay and Sagaing divisions on Friday morning. Speaking to DVB on Friday, Katha-based writer Hercules said that three people were killed when a flash flood swept them away in the middle of the night in Inn Daw Township in Katha, Sagaing Division. "Torrential rains started at 2:55am on Friday and continued for about three hours. Rainfall measured 4.92 inches," he said. "A strong flash flood developed from a mountain stream and it destroyed five houses. Two women were carried away in the current, a 58-year-old mother and her 20-year-old daughter. Their bodies were discovered among some bushes at around 10 the next morning. "In the afternoon, the body of 47-year-old Ko Yan Aye was found. But nobody else has been reported missing. Some cows were killed, and lots of paddy fields were inundated. All the concrete and iron bridges in the area were destroyed.” Hercules said that this was the worst flooding that Katha has ever endured. The Katha news and information officer for the National League for Democracy (NLD), Shin Tant, told DVB that the whole town had been swamped by the flood. Related Stories Searching for a delicacy in a vanishing jungle Severe floods swamp Shan border Govt says Tasang dam will benefit Burma "At around 5:30am this morning a stream inundated the town and left most houses and the local market underwater," he said by telephone on Friday. "Most areas were two or three feet underwater. We believe that the reason for the flash flood is the depletion of forests upstream [on the Irrawaddy River] in Kachin State." Flash floods and deaths were also reported in villages in Sinku Township in Mandalay Division. Four people including a baby were declared missing after water broke through a small dam at a gold mine, said Sinku's NLD information officer Maung Maung Win. He said that the body of the baby was later recovered. "A joint-venture gold mine company had blocked the stream," he said. "Local residents had previously told them not to do it, but they didn’t listen. When the torrential rains came down, the weight of the water broke the dyke and flooded the villages downstream. Silt and sand covered everything up to eight or nine feet deep. "Four people were carried away in the current," Maung Maung Win said. "The child's body has been found but the others are still missing." This was the worst ever flood in Sinku, he said, adding that almost all of the 100 households in Yay Myat village were destroyed, and that he was still waiting for details of any casualties. Several villages in Sinku, most notably Bone Thak Kone, were heavily impacted by a 6.8 earthquake which struck the Shwebo region in 2012, killing 13 people. Burma's national weather department had earlier in the week warned of heavy rain and landslides in some areas, including lower parts of Sagaing Region, due to a typhoon in the South China Sea.

Suu Kyi reiterates call for national reconciliation Posted: 19 Sep 2014 09:54 PM PDT National League for Democracy (NLD) Chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi has called on the ethnic minority peoples of Burma to keep alive the spirit of national reconciliation. Speaking in Naypyidaw on Thursday to NLD members who had travelled in from Karen State, she said, "I would like to urge you to keep alive the spirit of national reconciliation, which brings about mutual understanding and mutual respect, and allows us to help each other, whether it be among our own ethnic people or among all [Burmese] citizens – all the people of the union, regardless of race, religion, language or place of birth." Addressing 260 representatives from across Karen State, Suu Kyi proclaimed that the NLD is an "all-ethnic party" and would compete as such in the next general election. "Elections are one of the unavoidable processes you must pass through if you want democracy," she said. "But elections alone do not make a democracy. Of course, there is no democracy without free and fair elections, but they are not the only thing. There are other things [to consider]. Related Stories Magwe protestors charged with trespassing NLD 'not invited' to political conference Fresh population data will affect voting: NLD "That's why I have told our members many times that if you want democracy, you must be responsible. You must be responsible to achieve and maintain the rights you seek. We must try hard. If you try hard and contest the 2015 elections in the correct way, it will help to establish the Union that the people desire." Following the meeting, the NLD chairperson for Karen State, Nan Khin Htwe Myint, spoke to DVB. "We want people from rural areas to know that they can visit parliament," she said. "In the past, people thought parliament was unrelated to them. I brought people in from the countryside. We met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Our study group includes Karen, Mon and Pa-O ethnic nationalities. It was colorful with them wearing their traditional costumes."

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