Democratic Voice of Burma |
- Buddha Bar storm: lawyers refuse to represent Blackwood
- Keeping an eye on the Kaladan
- Burma, Thailand look to jump-start Dawei SEZ
| Buddha Bar storm: lawyers refuse to represent Blackwood Posted: 12 Dec 2014 09:46 PM PST Four lawyers have refused to represent Phil Blackwood, a New Zealand citizen detained in Insein Prison on charges of insulting religion, because they believe the case is "too sensitive". A friend of Blackwood's family, who asked to remain anonymous, said that they had hired a well-known attorney in Rangoon who is a prominent member of the National League for Democracy, after the New Zealander had been unable to attain the services of a legal representative during his arraignment at Bahan police station on Thursday. But the attorney backed out the following day, saying the case was too sensitive. "The lawyer we spoke to on Thursday night agreed to take the case, but then called us on Friday morning requesting an emergency meeting. He told the family he could not take the case because the police told him that this is a very sensitive topic that he should not be involved in," she said. Speaking to DVB on Saturday, the lawyer in question declined to comment about the case and requested his name be withheld. The family friend said that three other lawyers had also declined to represent Blackwood while he being held at the police station, each saying that the case was "too controversial as it relates to religion". She said that Blackwood's wife was due to meet with two other attorneys on Saturday. The New Zealand embassy has so far been unavailable for comment, however DVB has learnt that an official from the embassy is involved in the attempts to hire a lawyer to defend him. New Zealand media on Saturday cited a an embassy official saying they had been told it may take up to two weeks for a permit to visit Blackwood in jail. Thirty-two-year old Blackwood, recently appointed general manager of the newly opened VGastro bar-restaurant at the centre of the storm, has not been allowed any visitors and has been placed in separate cells in Insein Prison from the two other defendants, VGastro owner Tun Thurein and manager Htut Ko Ko Lwin. Both have acquired legal representation and, as they are Burmese citizens, have been allowed visitors, DVB was told. Blackwood's friend said that his wife had asked prison authorities to deliver a family photograph to him, but even that request was refused. "I am quite worried of how Phil might be feeling considering he hasn’t seen anyone, but I hope he is being optimistic," the family friend told DVB on Saturday. "He is very deeply sorry that they have offended the Buddhists with their promotional ad as that was clearly not their intention, and he’s hoping their apologies will be accepted. He removed it [from Facebook] even before it went viral and cancelled the event as soon as he found out that it had a negative impact. "I hope people see that it was just an honest mistake, and they can forgive him for that." Related StoriesBlackwood, Tun Thurein and Htut Ko Ko Lwin were arrested after a protest sprung up outside their nightclub on Wednesday evening in reaction to the promotional advert that had been posted on the VGastro Facebook page, which depicted an image of the Buddha wearing headphones. The posting was circulated widely in Rangoon and drew howls of protest from Buddhists, claiming it was insulting and in bad taste. The post was quickly deleted and an apology issued, but a crowd gathered outside the bar, calling for action. Among the crowd were local monks from the Association of Protection of Race and Religion, commonly known as the ma-ba-tha, a fundamentalist Buddhist organisation closely associated with extremist monk Wirathu's 969 movement. Bahan Township police intervened and arrested the three bar owners under articles 295 and 295(a) of the Penal Code: for "insulting religion" and "hurting religious feelings". Bahan police deputy-superintendent Sgt-Maj Thein Win told reporters late on Wednesday that police may also seek a closure of the nightclub. The post Buddha Bar storm: lawyers refuse to represent Blackwood appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group. |
| Posted: 12 Dec 2014 06:54 PM PST Within hours of the mix of stone and sand being dumped on the bank of the Kaladan River at Paletwa in Burma's western Chin State, local teenagers turned the new flat swath of land into a football pitch. The aggregate material had been dredged from the bottom of the Kaladan River to ensure clearance for the 260-ton cargos ships set to start docking at the currently under-construction Paletwa inland port in 2015.  Paletwa residents play football on a new swath of land created by dredging operations to deepen the Kaladan River to allow large 260-ton cargo ships to dock at the new Paletwa inland port. (PHOTO: Kaladan Movement) The port is the midpoint of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, which will ultimately connect a deep-sea port at Sittwe on Burma's Bay of Bengal coast to the national highway system in Mizoram State, northeast India. The Kaladan Project is one of two major Indian infrastructure development projects currently being implemented in Burma – the other being the India-Burma-Thailand Trilateral Highway – and was high on the agenda during a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Burmese President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw last month. In a press statement following the meeting, an Indian official referred to the Kaladan initiative as a "totally a win-win kind of project". While the project has the potential to provide economic opportunities in a remote part of Burma, local people have largely been kept in the dark regarding implementation plans. No environmental impact assessment has been conducted. The project area is home to over one million people, mostly from ethnic minority groups who have traditionally been allowed little political power by central governments in Naypyidaw and New Delhi. It remains to be seen whether these people will ultimately win or lose from this large-scale development project. The project was conceived by the Indian government in the early 2000s as an alternative shipping route to India's northeast region, as well as a potential natural gas pipeline route at a time when Indian state-owned companies had their eyes on Burma’s Shwe Gas fields. The Shwe Gas buying rights were ultimately awarded to China, but the idea for a Sittwe deep-sea port and Kaladan River transportation infrastructure development has remained a key component of India's "Look East" engagement with Burma, officially known as Myanmar. The Kaladan Project also has geopolitical significance as India attempts to counterbalance China's growing economic and naval presence in the Bay of Bengal – namely the deep-sea port and Special Economic Zone 100km south along the Arakan [Rakhine] coast at Kyaukphyu. The US$214 million Kaladan Project is being financed by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs' Development Partnership Administration as development assistance to Burma. Once in operation, ownership and management of the infrastructure will be transferred to the Burma government. Construction of the deep-sea port at Sittwe and the inland port at Paletwa is currently being carried out by Indian conglomerate ESSAR Projects Ltd. The contract for the 130km highway linking Paletwa with the Burma-India border is slated to go to an as yet unnamed construction company, widely expected to be Burmese crony Zaw Zaw's Max Myanmar Group although one of the Indian firms building the Mizoram-side highway is reported to be planning to make a bid.  Indian workers construct a wall around the Sittwe deep-sea port terminal. (PHOTO: Kaladan Movement) Chin State's Paletwa Township remains isolated due to notoriously poor roads, and an improved transportation infrastructure is clearly needed. Many local residents express hopes of future economic opportunities from the new Kaladan Project highway. But there are also widespread concerns about the potentially negative impact. No environmental impact assessment has been conducted on the Burmese side where there is the potential for deforestation and destruction of riverine ecology. No studies have been conducted on the impacts of increased river traffic to local fisheries, which provide an important source of protein and income in this remote and underdeveloped region. Project-connected job opportunities for locals have been few, and there are no comprehensive plans outlining how the project can be harnessed to spur local employment and economic growth in the future. There are concerns that rich businesspeople from other parts of Burma will swoop in and monopolise any new economic opportunities. Public consultations have been lacking, and the route of the planned highway from Paletwa to the Burma-India border has never been publicly announced. This information gap among local people has raised the spectre of land-grabbing by cronies and military-connected businesses, a common occurrence across Burma. For now, Paletwa residents will continue to make the best from what they have been given thus far; a new place to play football and watch the ongoing construction.
Danielle Swearingen is a research intern with the Kaladan Movement. The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not reflect DVB editorial policy.
The post Keeping an eye on the Kaladan appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group. |
| Burma, Thailand look to jump-start Dawei SEZ Posted: 12 Dec 2014 06:08 PM PST Officials from Burma and Thailand will meet next month to approve the framework of the initial phase of the delayed Dawei development project. Arkhom Termpitayapaisith, secretary-general of Thailand's National Economic and Social Development Board, said the two countries had already set up policy committees to oversee the scheme. Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula will chair the Thai committee, which is scheduled to meet its Burmese counterparts in Bangkok from 7-9 January. The development project in Dawei, also known as Tavoy, situated 350 km west of Bangkok, features a number of megaproject investments including deep-sea ports and a special economic zone (SEZ). In October, the Thai and Burmese governments agreed to revitalise the project by letting Thai firms play a bigger role in the much-delayed SEZ when Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha paid an official visit to the country. Mr Arkhom said the policy committees were expected to consider the proposed projects in the first phase proposed by Italian-Thai Development Co (ITD) and Rojana Industrial Park Plc, which were set to develop the road network linking the Thai border with Dawei. Related StoriesThey are the only two companies that proposed the project’s development in a bid opened early this year by Dawei Special Economic Zone Development Co, a co-company the Thai and Burmese governments set up to manage the Dawei project. ITD and Rojana will develop 27 sq km of industrial estate and construct a two-lane road from the Thai border to Dawei as well as develop a port and a power plant. Mr Arkhom said the meeting might discuss the next step of the development, and Japan would be invited to join this phase. Previously, Japan was reluctant to invest in the project due to worries over feasibility. Mr Arkhom said the initial phase was expected to take two or three years to complete, thus the two governments must set further plans as soon as possible. Thailand and Burma see completion of projects in the initial phase as a confidence builder for foreign investors. A motorway connecting Dawei with Laem Chabang deep-sea port in Thailand’s Rayong province is also under consideration by the government. Construction of a 98-km Bang Yai-Kanchanaburi motorway valued at 55.6 billion baht (US$1.8bn) is also set to start next year.
This article was originally published in the Bangkok Post on 11 December 2014. The post Burma, Thailand look to jump-start Dawei SEZ appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group. |
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