Democratic Voice of Burma |
- Bullet Points: 10 October 2014
- BUSINESS WEEKLY 10 OCTOBER 2014
- Michaungkan protestors stage one-day hunger strike
- Burma’s military leader calls for justice in Koh Tao murder case
- Burmese pilot confirmed dead on Hkakabo Razi
| Bullet Points: 10 October 2014 Posted: 10 Oct 2014 04:48 AM PDT On today's edition of Bullet Points:
You can watch Bullet Points every weeknight on DVB TV after the 7 o'clock news. |
| BUSINESS WEEKLY 10 OCTOBER 2014 Posted: 10 Oct 2014 03:47 AM PDT
Ups and downs The Burmese kyat was selling on Friday at 980 to the US dollar, while buying at 972. The price of gold is 651,900 kyat per one tical. Fuel prices remain constant: petrol 820 kyat; diesel 950 kyat; octane 950 kyat per litre. High-quality Pawsanhmwe rice is still 1,300-1,700 kyat per basket, while low-quality Manawthukha rice is set at 900 kyat per basket at most Rangoon Markets.
World Bank to loan US$100 million for Irrawaddy River basin The World Bank has pledged to cooperate with the Department of Water Resources in Burma and loan US$100 million to develop the Irrawaddy river basin. The project also aims to build weather information centers and increase the efficiency of inland water transport in Burma. Sein Tun, director of the Department of Water Resources, said that these funds will be divided and distributed at 30 percent per phase of the project over the next six years, reported Myanmar Business Today.
Burma, Israel sign bilateral trade agreement Burmese and Israeli diplomats signed a Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments Agreement on 5 October aimed at boosting bilateral trade. Israel becomes the 11th nation to sign such a deal with Burma. The move comes despite an international campaign to divest in Israel due to its occupation of Palestinian territory and what some are calling "genocide" in a recent assault on Gaza. Israel has been linked to selling weapons to the former Burmese military regime.
Thai energy giant fires up coal power plant project Thailand’s Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Pcl has signed an agreement to co-invest in a US$5.2 billion coal power plant in Burma. Three other companies that will also invest in the project are Blue Energy and Environment, Vantage Company Limited and Kyaw Kyaw Phyo Company Limited.
US, NASA launch disaster prevention project in lower Mekong USAID and NASA announced on Monday that they will fund a five-year programme called SERVIR Mekong, an environmental and disaster prevention initiative in the lower Mekong region. The programme, which will be implemented by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, is designed to ensure the lower Mekong region is better prepared to deal with floods and other natural disasters.
Tourists from 67 countries now eligible for E-visas The Burmese government has added 24 more countries to the list of nationalities eligible to apply online for tourist visas. Commonly known as E-visas, there is now a total of 67 nationalities now welcome to Burma on a visa-on-arrival system. According to the Ministry of Hotel and Tourism, more than 6,000 E-visa applicants have been approved since the project launched on 1 September.
Burma's growth rate set to hit 8.5 percent: World Bank In a report on East Asian countries' economies released on Monday, the World Bank estimated Burma's growth rate at 8.5 percent for 2014 and 2015, a figure higher than any other nation it surveyed, including China. The World Bank this year recommenced lending to the Burmese government, and in January it pledged US$2 billion in development aid to the country for projects such as healthcare and energy supply.
11 govt enterprises report financial losses Burma’s Finance and Revenue Minister Win Shein announced on Sunday that 11 out of 43 government-owned enterprises have incurred financial losses. These include: the Electricity Supply Enterprise; Myanmar Economic Bank and the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank; Myanmar Motion Picture Enterprise; and the Myanmar Railways and Road Transport department.
Mandalay wraps up international trade show The Mandalay International Trade Show wrapped up on Monday. In total, 43 companies from around the world displayed a variety of products—ranging from electronics and home appliances to automobiles and solar panels, as well as exhibitions on textiles from Thailand and medicine from India.
Burma announces rules governing investment in Thilawa Burma's Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development announced on Monday the rules governing investment in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone. The rules allow for investment in a broad range of activities, including manufacturing operations which involve the use of asbestos, imported industrial waste and toxic chemicals. The rules also specify minimum levels of investment based on the type of business, beginning at US$300,000 for service and manufacturing enterprises. Related Stories
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| Michaungkan protestors stage one-day hunger strike Posted: 10 Oct 2014 02:06 AM PDT Protestors from Michaungkan began a hunger strike at Maha Bandula Park on Wednesday calling for the release of Sein Than, a community leader from the eastern Rangoon village who was arrested and jailed for staging an unauthorised protest in July. The protestors have occupied the site in central Rangoon for seven months, demanding the return of seized lands. Maung Maung, an active Michaungkan protestor, told DVB in a phone interview on Thursday that, "We have been here for the past seven months and have now decided to stage a hunger strike for one day." He said that the sit-in protest will continue at the park "until our demands are met". Sein Than was arrested on 27 July and sentenced to eight months imprisonment in Rangoon's infamous Insein prison for protesting without official permission. The protests have continued despite an ultimatum issued by Kyauktada Township authorities which gave the Michaungkan protestors until 3 October to disperse and clean-up their camp at Maha Bandula Park. About a week after their initial protest began in late November 2013, approximately 400 villagers showed up at the protest site to receive funeral rites from local monks, proclaiming that they were "ready to die" for their land. Shortly thereafter, the demonstrators reported being attacked by a group of thugs who claimed to be military clearance personnel. Within days of the incident, which reportedly left at least eight people injured, police issued an eviction order demanding that the site be cleared by 9 December. Protest leaders and the Burmese parliament's Land Investigation Commission then negotiated a three-month suspension of the protest after the commission promised to deliver results within this three-month time-frame. Parliamentarian and commission member Aung Thein Linn told DVB in December that the government was committed to solving the dispute. "Otherwise," he said, "it will be damaging to our country's image, especially while the SEA Games are being held." At the time, Burma was scrambling to prepare for the major regional sporting event, which drew international attention and many visitors. Three months later and still unsatisfied, about 100 protestors resumed their sit-in, but this time the protesters re-located to Maha Bandula Park in downtown Rangoon, located just 400m west of Sule Pagoda and Rangoon City Hall. One week after setting up camp in Rangoon, the former landowners were forcibly dispersed in an early morning raid on 30 March by Rangoon security personally, including dozens of plain-clothed men. Nevertheless, the demonstrators have vowed to keep fighting on and have maintained a presence at the park ever since. In August, a 72-year-old protestor died at the encampment after 138 days at the park. After the woman passed away her fellow activists reiterated that nothing would make them accept the loss of their land, even death. During Burma's military era, land was routinely confiscated by the government for state use. But ever since Burma transitioned to a quasi-civilian government in 2011 protests have become increasingly common as villagers attempt to reclaim their assets. New land legislation introduced in early 2012 was met with major criticism. In particular, critics have argued that the new laws legitimise government and corporate land-grabs while offering little protection to individuals. A government commission established in 2012 to resolve thousands of land-grab claims has yet to make progress on the majority of claims it has received.
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| Burma’s military leader calls for justice in Koh Tao murder case Posted: 09 Oct 2014 11:46 PM PDT Burma's military commander-in-chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing has called for justice in the case of two Burmese suspects being held for the murder of British tourists Hannah Witheridge and David Miller on Koh Tao on 15 September. Speaking to Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Gen. Tanasak Patimapragorn in Naypyidaw on Thursday, Burma's senior military leader urged the Thai government to ensure that the Burmese embassy's special investigation team on the case "can conduct their work freely to uncover the truth", according to Burmese state media on Friday. Using a phrase very similar to the well-known legal maxim Blackstone's Formulation, Min Aung Hlaing said, it is [better] "that "many guilty persons should escape unpunished, than one innocent person should suffer." The meeting between Min Aung Hlaing and Tanasak was part of a high-level official delegation to Burma headed by Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, his first official trip abroad since he acquired power in a May coup. The two-day trip by Prayuth is scheduled to cement several MoUs and investment deals, however the ceremonial nature of the visit threatens to be overshadowed by the high-profile Koh Tao case, in which two 21-year-old Arakanese men, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, are being detained pending charges of rape and murder. Allegations have emerged that the pair claim to have been tortured ahead of their confession. However, Thai police have rejected the accusations, saying this was a "perfect investigation". Thai media reported on Thursday that prosecutors in the case have rejected the 850-plus page report on the police investigation. Citing the case’s high profile, prosecutors reportedly told the police the report was "flawed", needed to be "fortified with more relevant information" and "made shorter". On Friday, Pol Maj-Gen Apichart Boonsriroj, commander of Suratthani provincial police, said that a request had been lodged with the public prosecutor to bring the three Burmese detainees to court to testify in advance of the trial. Thai newspaper Khao Sod reported that the director of the prison on Koh Samui, where the suspects are being held, has advised that they are on suicide watch. "I have instructed other inmates to monitor the two Burmese men. I am afraid they may commit suicide, because they show signs of stress,” said Chanin Liangsuwan, chief of Koh Samui District Prison. “They may be feeling guilty for the crime they [committed]." English tourists David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, were found battered to death on a rocky section of Sairee Beach on Koh Tao in the early hours of 15 September. A candlelit vigil was held in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, on Wednesday night by Burmese migrants led by "Saffron Revolution" monk U Gambira to pay respects and pray for the souls of the deceased couple. |
| Burmese pilot confirmed dead on Hkakabo Razi Posted: 09 Oct 2014 11:28 PM PDT A Burmese helicopter pilot injured in an emergency landing on 27 September was found dead in a remote Kachin State forest on Thursday by a rescue team, according to the Htoo Foundation, sponsors of the ill-fated expedition. The pilot, Capt. Aung Myat Toe, was part of a three-person crew that also included a Thai pilot and Burmese guide Shwe Yin Taw Gyi. The Thai pilot and Burmese guide didn't sustain any serious injuries and managed to find a rescue camp after walking for several days through mountainous terrain. Speaking to DVB on Thursday, Htoo Foundation spokesperson Phyo Ko Ko Thet confirmed that the Burmese pilot's body had been found: "They found his body around 4pm," he said. "The Htoo Foundation team followed Shwe Yin Taw Gyi's lead to the spot where he parted company with Capt. Aung Myat Toe and there they found his clothing and some items. Sadly they found his body as they continued their search around that spot." The spokesperson added that Aung Myat Toe's wife is currently in Putao, the northernmost town in Kachin State, and that a funeral for the pilot will be held shortly. Shortly after his body was found on Thursday, an obituary for the pilot was posted on the Htoo Foundation's Facebook page: "The rescue team of Htoo Foundation found tragically the corpse of Myanmar pilot U Aung Myat Toe in the woods [this afternoon] about 4pm. The Htoo Foundation tried wholeheartedly to search and rescue [for] three persons on board the missing B4 rescue chopper since 27 September." The three-person helicopter crew was assigned re-supply rescue teams involved in an international effort to find two mountaineers—Aung Myint Myat and Wai Yan Min Thu—who had lost contact with their trekking party on 31 August shortly after reaching the summit of Hkakabo Razai, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia. However, soon after taking off the helicopter lost contact with ground control and was forced to make an emergency landing due to bad weather. According to AFP, the president of the Thai company which sent the chopper held a press conference on Thursday in Bangkok where he said, "It was an emergency landing, not a crash, and damages occurred to the helicopter. I don't know yet how serious the damages were or whether or not it can be flown back." The Htoo Foundation, which sponsored the expedition and was founded by Burmese billionaire Tay Za, reported on 7 October that Burmese guide Shwe Yin Taw Gyi managed to find a rescue camp after walking from a remote village called Lan Sar, which presumably is located near the site where the helicopter was either forced to make an emergency landing. The report mistakenly announced that all three crew members were safe. Aside from serving as a mountain guide and Tay Zaw's personal assistant, Shwe Yin Taw Gyi is the nephew of Nyima Gyaltsen (aka Aung Tse), an ethnic Tibetan who became famous for being the first Burmese citizen to reach the summit of Hkakabo Razi. He reached the summit alongside his trekking partner Takashi Ozaki, a Japanese mountaineer who later died while attempting to scale Mount Everest. On 7 October, the Htoo Foundation website said that upon seeing his long-time friend foundation Tay Zaw was ecstatic, quoting the tycoon-turned philanthropist as saying: "My heart was overwhelmed with joy when I saw my personal assistant U Shwe Yin Taw Gyi … He told me that he walked ahead of the two pilots as both of them suffered injuries." The Thai co-pilot Captain Chatchawal also managed to endure the long trek from Lan Sar Village (also called Lanka Village) through mountainous terrain and emerged from the jungle on 8 October, according to a statement released on the foundation's website the same day. |
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