Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Dawei SEZ destroying local economy, says women’s group

Posted: 24 Dec 2014 01:55 AM PST

Even though the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is yet to be finalised, the presence of the project is already undermining local agricultural and fishing livelihoods, a new report by the Tavoyan Women's Union (TWU) claims.

TWU said the report – "Our lives–not for sale" – is based on interviews with women from six villages in the main project area, inhabited by over 10,000 people, where initial construction of this multi-billion dollar Thai-Burmese joint venture is underway.

"Women describe how widespread land confiscation, destruction of farmlands and restricted access to the coast are destroying the economic backbone of their communities," the report said, adding that the industrial zone has particularly serious impacts on women.

The NGO has called for the immediate cancellation of the project.

"The Dawei project has barely begun, but is already destroying the economic backbone of our communities, said TWU representative Su Su Swe. "It must be stopped before it proceeds any further."

The Dawei SEZ project has been fraught with investor setbacks since its initiation. Contractors Burma's Max Myanmar Group and the Ital-Thai group, Thailand's largest construction company, pulled out of the project at an early stage, leaving the Burmese government to seek new contractors.

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Japan was invited to stake a claim in the SEZ, which is slated to include numerous factory outlets and a deep-sea port, but Japanese investment has since turned to the Thilawa SEZ, which is situated close to Rangoon.

In October, when Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha paid an official visit to Burma, both governments agreed to revitalise Dawei SEZ by letting Thai firms play a larger role in the much-delayed project.

Officials from Burma and Thailand are scheduled to meet next month, reported to be in Bangkok on 7-9 January, to approve the framework for the initial phase of the delayed project.

TWU said that most local women said they had lost all or part of their income from farms, orchards and coastal shellfish collection, and are now facing food insecurity.

"Over three-quarters of the women [in the survey] had been forced to take their children out of school for financial reasons, including from primary school. Girls are increasingly being sent to work in Thailand to earn money for their families, placing them at risk of trafficking and exploitation," the report said.

TWU said that sexual harassment from workers at the project site threatens women's security.

The report also criticised the mass relocations forced on locals as land is confiscated to make way for expanding the project and building roads. It also pointed towards the pollution and environmental problems that were inevitably linked to such a massive industrial zone.

 

 

The post Dawei SEZ destroying local economy, says women's group appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group.

Latpadaung: Khin Win’s family demand justice

Posted: 24 Dec 2014 01:16 AM PST

Salingyi Township police have accepted a First Information Report filed by the family of Ma Khin Win, the Mogyopyin villager who was killed in Monday's clash between protestors and riot police at the Latpadaung copper mine site.

Farmer Khin Win, 50, was shot in the head when riot police opened fire on a crowd of villagers confronting them and trying to prevent workers from mine contractors Myanmar Wanbao from erecting fences around plots of land that the protesting villagers say were confiscated from them.

Nyan Tun, a member of activist group 88 Generation Peace and Open Society (88GPOS), said they assisted Khin Win's family in filing the report. He told DVB that the local police station, situated in Monywa District, accepted the case on the evening of 23 December and promised to launch an investigation once an autopsy has confirmed the death was caused by a gunshot.

"The police have accepted the family's report and promised to open the case once an autopsy has been performed," he said.

He told DVB that the report was filed by Khin Win's sister-in-law, who lives locally, as her daughters live in Mandalay.

Nu Nu Aung, another 88GPOS activist who was present for the incidents at Latpadaung on Monday and Tuesday, said Salingyi police were initially reluctant to accept the report when the family approached them.

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"We had to do a lot of painstaking talking with the police to convince them to accept the report," she said. "They complained about the fact that the body was moved from the spot, and that the case was not reported to them immediately after Ma Khin Win died.

Khin Win's body has been taken to Salingyi Hospital for an autopsy.

Meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party has released a statement calling for an "accurate and precise investigation into recent incidents in Latpadaung”, and “urged swift official action in accordance with the principles of Rule of Law and Tranquility”.

The statement, released on 24 December, said that a lack of implementation of recommendations presented by the Latpadaung Investigation Commission and the disregard of specific riot-control procedures led to events where civilian lives could be harmed.

NLD leader Suu Kyi headed the investigation commission in 2013, which recommended the Chinese-back project be continued on the Latpadaung site, much to the angst of many local villagers.

International rights group Amnesty International has also called for an inquiry into the killing.

 

 

The post Latpadaung: Khin Win's family demand justice appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group.

Burma’s top taxpayers 2014 announced

Posted: 24 Dec 2014 12:56 AM PST

Burma's Internal Revenue Department has published a list of the top 1,000 commercial and income taxpayers in the fiscal year 2013-14.

Ranking at the top of the commercial taxpaying list is military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings’ subsidiary Myawaddy Trading Ltd, alongside Dagon Beverages Co Ltd, each of whom paid more than 10 billion kyat (US$10 million) in commercial tax for the year.

Myawaddy Trading Ltd, whose parent company is operated by Burma's Department of Defence, is primarily a trading business and is involved in a range of sectors, including banking, tourism, tobacco and beverages. Dagon Beverages is best known for its Dagon and Skol beers and lagers, and produces a range of soft drinks

Htoo Trading Co Ltd, owned by business tycoon Tay Za, ranked only 31st on the list, paying less than 5 billion kyat in taxes. Among its many pursuits, the Rangoon-based firm is an exporter of timber and beans throughout South and Southeast Asia.

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On the list of the top 1,000 income tax payers, Kanbawza Bank, or KBZ, ranked first with a total of 17 billion kyat in income tax paid for the fiscal year. KBZ also came first for income taxpayers in 2013.

Other companies to make the list include: AsiaWorld Co Ltd, a conglomerate with interests including import-export and transport, Shwe Taung Development, who are mostly involved in construction and engineering; and the Max Myanmar Construction Co Ltd, which is invested in construction, manufacturing and hotels. Each of those companies paid between 4 billion and 5 billion kyat income tax, and ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively.

Only companies with headquarters based in Burma were ranked in the survey.

The post Burma's top taxpayers 2014 announced appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group.

Compromises reached on most ceasefire issues

Posted: 23 Dec 2014 10:00 PM PST

Senior peace negotiators say they have reached agreement on several outstanding points at the latest round of ceasefire talks in Rangoon.

Dr Salai Lian Hmung Sakhong, a representative of the ethnic group's Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), told DVB at the end of the two-day talks on 23 December that: "We and the government delegates have managed to reach a compromise on the majority of the remaining points for a single-text draft of a nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA)."

He could not, however, provide details of which points had been agreed and which remain outstanding.

"As for international monitors, there has been a suggestion to include three more countries on top of the UN, China and an ASEAN member, previously agreed by both sides. The UPWC said they will get back to us about this," he said.

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Chin National Front leader Salai Liam Hmung Sakhong said the NCCT had suggested meeting for talks with the government's Union Peace-making Work Committee (UPWC) delegates again next month to discuss measures that would prevent further hostilities between ethnic armed groups and Burmese government forces. He said 15-16 January had been penciled in as dates for the next meeting.

"We suggested a meeting be held in Myitkyina to prevent more incidents like the boot camp shelling in Laiza, but the UPWC proposed holding talks in Rangoon. We await their response on this issue too," he said.

Hla Maung Shwe, a senior advisor for the Myanmar Peace Centre, which has brokered successive rounds of peace talks, said at a press conference that he was confident both sides would sign an NCA this coming Union Day, 12 February, a date that marks the anniversary of the signing of the Panglong Agreement in 1947.

The post Compromises reached on most ceasefire issues appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group.
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