| Senior UN Official Wraps Up Arakan Trip Posted: 10 Sep 2014 03:35 AM PDT  Haoliang Xu, the UN assistant secretary-general and Asia regional director for the United Nations Development Program. (Photo: UNDP) RANGOON — A senior UN official ended a three-day trip to Arakan State on Wednesday, after visiting camps for internally displaced people and meeting with Arakanese leaders to assess ways in which the United Nations can promote sustainable development in their communities. Haoliang Xu, the UN assistant secretary-general and Asia regional director for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), arrived in the western Burma state on Monday. He met with Buddhist and Muslim community leaders and pledged to continue providing humanitarian aid. "On his first day, he met us in Aung Mingalar," said Aung Win, a Sittwe-based rights activist for the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority group. Aung Mingalar is a quarter in the state capital where Muslims have been held in ghetto-like conditions since inter-communal violence broke out in 2012. "After that he went to Mrauk-U and Minbya towns," the activist added. Xu reportedly asked community leaders to assess the political and economic situation in the state. "We told him our people in Aung Mingalar still have not received rice yet. And we told him that we disagree with the national verification scheme because the government has not been transparent," Aung Win said. The government is attempting to verify the citizenship of people in predominately Rohingya areas of Arakan State, and in doing so has pressured respondents to identify as Bengali. Xu may share these concerns with Burmese government officials when he travels to Naypyidaw, where he is set to meet with Vice President Sai Mauk Kham before departing the country on Friday, according to a statement by the UNDP. It is his first official visit to Burma since he was appointed one year ago. During the trip to Arakan State, Xu also met with Arakan Chief Minister Maung Maung Ohn, the UNDP statement said. On Tuesday he visited IDP camps in Sittwe and Pauktaw townships, and on Wednesday he inaugurated a bridge construction and opened a food bank in Ye Chan Pyin village, Sittwe. The UNDP is also providing fishing nets and other supplies for Arakanese fishermen in the village. "It seems the UN is aware that they need to provide for our people as well," said Tha Pwae, an Arakanese leader from Sittwe and a member of the state's Emergency Coordination Committee. "In the past, they gave to only one side, and this was why there were ongoing problems in our region." Earlier this year, aid organizations in the state were attacked by Arakanese mobs who accused them of favoring the Rohingya. Aid workers say their assistance has always been allocated on the basis of need. The inter-communal violence between Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in 2012 left about 140,000 people homeless, most of whom were Rohingya. The post Senior UN Official Wraps Up Arakan Trip appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| From Plastic, Ex-Political Prisoner Makes Art Posted: 10 Sep 2014 02:24 AM PDT  Burmese artist San Zaw Htway takes a break in his studio in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Give him plastic bags of any color, and this former political prisoner will turn them into a work of art. Instead of acrylic paint and brushes, San Zaw Htway opts to work with not only plastic bags, but also cardboard, instant coffee packets and other recycled goods. He taught himself to make painting-like collages with these materials while he was serving time under the former military regime. "They're all I need," boasted the 40-year-old, pointing to scissors and adhesive containers littered across the floor of his studio in Rangoon. In one corner of the second-floor studio sits of a pile of smoothed plastic wrappings that otherwise would have been destined for a garbage can. Since his release from prison in 2012, San Zaw Htway has held five solo shows in Burma, in addition to teaching his collage techniques to orphans and children living with HIV. Now his work is gaining international attention. He has been shortlisted for the 2014 Artraker Award, which recognizes artists who are making a difference in highly challenging environments. The works of 12 candidates from 10 countries, including Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, will be exhibited from Sept. 18-25 at London's a/political gallery. "Being shortlisted means a lot to me because recycled collage art is still not well embraced in Burma," said San Zaw Htway at his home, while preparing for his trip to the capital of England. "Despite my access to paint and brushes now, I still stick to recycled collage art because it's environmentally sustainable and I want the art trend to develop in Burma," he added. Painting was a childhood hobby for San Zaw Htway. When he was sentenced to 36 years in prison for his anti-government political activities in 1999, he was only a college freshman majoring in history. He spent 13 years in prison, during which time he was put in solitary confinement and he went on hunger strikes. Burmese prisons are notorious for their squalid conditions and restrictions on prisoners' rights, with even reading and writing prohibited. San Zaw Htaw said he saw art as a way to defy prison authorities. "I intentionally did it to show them that they can't control everything in our lives," he said. "But the problem was how to make it happen, since painting materials were not allowed." The student activist decided to make collages with materials within his reach. When his family sent him foods wrapped in plastic bags, he turned the bags into a canvas on which he plastered colorful cuttings from instant coffee packets and shampoo sachets. He scavenged prison garbage cans for plastic sheets in colors that caught his eye. He washed them, smoothed them out and applied them onto the makeshift canvas with the help of a smuggled scissor and glue. Working late at night under the faint glow of a light bulb that dangled on the ceiling of the corridor outside his cell, he was careful to hide his work from prison authorities, taking days to finish a single collage. He produced portraits of Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and collages of peacocks, the emblem of Burmese student and democracy movements. Some of his works reflected his longing for freedom, including "Blue Moon on the Highway," one the three collages that have been chosen for the exhibition in London. "I was lying awake one night in 2009 and I heard the occasional swishes of buses on the highway outside the prison. I felt a surge of longing to be on one of those buses, so I poured out my feeling onto the collage," he said. Htein Lin, a prominent Burmese contemporary artist and another former political prisoner, said San Zaw Htway's nomination for the Artraker Award and his participation in the exhibition would be a source of pride for Burmese artists and their country. "I like his recycled artwork, not only for its promotion of environmental sustainability, but also for its reflection of an important message behind all forms of prison artwork: You can lock up our bodies, but not our emotions and our creativity," he said. Apart from being a collage artist, San Zaw Htway is a counselor for former political prisoners and their families. Earlier this year he joined a training program—organized by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) with support from Johns Hopkins University—and now he offers counseling sessions five days per week. "As a former political prisoner myself, I know very well to what extent we and our families have been mentally affected by what we faced for years. Counseling is one of the best ways to cure their traumas," he said. When asked how he felt to be participating in the exhibition in London, he said he was happy. "My prison experience has taught me that no matter how dire the situation is, there is a way to achieve what you want to do," he said. "That is my message to anyone who sees my art." The post From Plastic, Ex-Political Prisoner Makes Art appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Namhkam Locals Call for an End to Silica Mining Posted: 10 Sep 2014 02:18 AM PDT  Farmland damaged by silica mining in Namhkam, northern Shan State. (Photo: Shan community-based organization) Community groups in northern Shan State are calling for mining operations in the area to be halted because they are wrecking the environment and damaging farmland in Namkham. In a joint statement issued Monday, 10 Shan community-based organizations said mining for silica—a mineral extracted from sand—should not take place until mining practices are reformed and peace prevails in the area, which sees frequent clashes between the Burma Army and ethnic rebels. "The [silica] mining has led to floods, damaging more than 100 acres of nearby land and crops there," activist Nang Muay Noom Hom told The Irrawaddy. "Roads were also damaged by the floods and there have been fatal road accidents." More than 3,000 people demonstrated in Namkham on Sept. 5 to demand that mining stops immediately. In August 2013, more than 5,900 Namhkam locals signed a petition against mining and sent it to Naypyidaw, receiving no response so far. Six mining companies started to operate silica mines in Namhkam in 2012, exporting the mineral across the nearby border with China's Yunnan Province, said Nang Muay Noom Hom. "For more than two years, silica has been exported to China day and night in 10-wheeled trucks," she said. The joint statement quoted locals as saying that Nam Thiri Creek, on which nine local villages rely for water, had become blocked up with sand from the mines, and the resultant flood has damaged nearby farmland, crops and dams. GSM Co., which is reportedly linked to former Burmese Industry Minister Aung Thaung, was the first company to mine silica in Namhkam, according to the Shan groups. The statement also said that companies Myanmar Mya Oo Co.—linked to Pansay militia leader and ruling party lawmaker Kyaw Myint—New Kabar Kyaw Co. and Pan Thitsar Co. are also operating silica mines. Silica is a chemical compound that exists naturally as sand, quartz and flint and is used in soaps, cosmetics and other skincare products. The ethnic Palaung armed group the Ta-ang National Liberation Army, as well as the Kachin Independence Army and the Shan State Army-North are all active in the area around Namkham. "Ceasefire talks are going on, but the process is still not promising," said Nang Muay Noom Hom. "The international community says reforms are really taking place in Burma. In fact, they have yet to reach the people." The post Namhkam Locals Call for an End to Silica Mining appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Search for 2 Missing Climbers Begins in Kachin State Posted: 10 Sep 2014 01:21 AM PDT  A member of a Burmese team climbs Hkakabo Razi in Kachin State. (Photo: Invitation of Nature Foundation / Facebook) RANGOON — Helicopters will begin carrying out aerial surveys Wednesday for two mountaineers who lost contact with their base camp after scaling what has long been considered Burma's tallest peak. Myo Thant, leader of the Mountaineering Association, said an eight-member team set out to climb Hkakabo Razi in Kachin State last month, but due to the narrow nature of the summit, only two continued on the final stretch. The men reached the ice-capped peak Aug. 31, but reported before making their descent that their battery was weak, he said. They were supposed to reconnect with their colleagues at base camp Monday, but did not show up. The climb—the first ever to Hkakabo's peak by an all-Burmese team—follows a debate over what is the country's tallest mountain. When the nation's peaks were surveyed in 1925, back when the area was part of the British Indian empire, Mount Hkakabo was measured at 5,881 meters (19,295 feet), which would make it the highest, not only in the country but in all of Southeast Asia. Thant said his climbers confirmed that height with a GPS device. However, satellite and digital data, together with recent US, Russian and Chinese topographical maps, indicate the real title may belong to Gamlang, also in Kachin state. A new, high-resolution survey has been commissioned. The last person who scaled Hkakabo was Japanese climber Takashi Ozaki, who reached the peak in 1996. The post Search for 2 Missing Climbers Begins in Kachin State appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Medical Aid for Rohingya Could Resume After MSF Signs MoU With Govt Posted: 10 Sep 2014 12:52 AM PDT  Rohingya women and their children wait to receive treatment at a makeshift clinic in the Thet Kae Pyin camp for internally displaced people in Sittwe on April 24, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) International medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières said it has signed a new memorandum of understanding with the Burmese government, paving the way for the group's return to Arakan State and the resumption of vital medical aid operations for Rohingya Muslims in the state. "Médecins Sans Frontières Holland (MSF-H) welcomes the step taken by the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Myanmar by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MSF to establish a framework for our medical activities in Kachin, Rakhine [Arakan] and Shan states, as well as in the Yangon [Rangoon] Region," the group said in statement released on Tuesday. "MSF is committed to fully develop this agreement and stands ready in cooperation with the MoH to resume operations in Rakhine [Arakan] at any time. We hope this measure translates into an early resumption of our activities in Rakhine and provides the opportunity to engage with the communities on the ground," it said. "The signing of the MoU will allow MSF, the MoH and associated technical departments to work close together to ensure best care for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria patients in Myanmar," the group added. A MSF communications officer contacted by The Irrawaddy said the agreement had been signed on Monday but declined to provide further details of the agreement and how it was reached. In late February, the central government suspended all operations of MSF in Burma, alleging that it had violated certain conditions of its MoU with the government during its aid operations in Arakan State. The decision followed an announcement by MSF in January that it had treated 22 Rohingya injured in a reported raid by government forces that killed some 40 Muslim villagers—an allegation that the government has strongly denied. MSF was later allowed to resume operations in Rangoon, Shan and Kachin states. In late July, state media first announced that the government intended to allow MSF to restart aid operations in Arakan State. An official from the President's Office reportedly told the Arakanese Buddhist leaders that the government had chosen to do so because of international pressure. MSF has operated in Burma since 1992 and implemented medical aid projects in Arakan, which has suffered from inter-communal violence between the Rohingya and the Arakanese Buddhist majority of Arakan State, and in Shan, Kachin and Karen states, which are affected by ethnic conflict. MSF was the main provider of medical services to the stateless Rohingya Muslims in northern Arakan. The minority numbers around 1 million people, some 140,000 of who have been displaced by violence and live in squalid, crowded camps. The Rohingya are denied full access to basic government services such as health care and education, while also suffering from a range of restrictions such as limits on their freedom of movement. The government's suspension of MSF operations drew widespread condemnation from the international community, further deepening international criticism of its treatment of the Rohingya, which the government insists are mostly "Bengalis" who immigrated illegally from neighboring Bangladesh. MSF and other international aid groups are unpopular with the Arakanese Buddhist population, who views them as biased for helping the Rohingya. Malteser International, the second biggest medical aid provider to the Muslim minority, was suspended in March after Arakanese mobs attacked the group's office. The suspension of all international medical aid to the Rohingya left the group extremely vulnerable and numerous media reports have appeared in recent months documenting how men, women and children have since died from preventable diseases. The post Medical Aid for Rohingya Could Resume After MSF Signs MoU With Govt appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burmese Independence Leader U Ottama Remembered Posted: 10 Sep 2014 12:06 AM PDT  The 75th anniversary of U Ottama's death is commemorated in Rangoon on Tuesday. (Photo: Thaw Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) Events in Arakan State, Rangoon and overseas on Tuesday marked the 75th anniversary of the death of Sayadaw U Ottama, an ethnic Arakanese Buddhist monk who was a key leader in Burma's fight for independence. The Arakan State government commemorated the Sayadaw's demise at U Ottama Hall in Sittwe, and members of social organizations and political parties, locals and students paid tribute to a statue of U Ottama at the park in the state capital named after him. About 1,000 monks, Arakanese and admirers of the monk attended a ceremony at the MCC Hall in Rangoon. The attendees in both Sittwe and Rangoon called for the name of Kandawmin Park in Rangoon—near the south entrance to the Shwedagon Pagoda—to be changed back to U Ottama Park. They also want the introduction of U Ottama's biography into the school curriculum, and the designation of Sept. 9—the day of his passing in 1939—as a public holiday to be known as U Ottama Day. The anniversary is marked to revive the faded history of Sayadaw U Ottama, who took a lead role in Burma's independence struggle. He was imprisoned on several occasions by British colonial authorities, and his patriotic fervor and courage inspired younger generations of Burmese, who finally won independence in 1948. Likewise, the anniversary was held on a grand scale across Arakan State in Kyaukphyu, Taungup, Manaung, Kyauktaw, Ramree, Thandwe, Mrauk-U, Buthidaung and Maungtaw townships, according to local people. The anniversary was also marked in ceremonies in Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Japan. Sayadaw U Ottama was born on Dec. 28, 1879 in Sittwe and passed away on Sept. 9, 1939. The post Burmese Independence Leader U Ottama Remembered appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Japan, US Discussing Offensive Military Capability for Tokyo, Officials Say Posted: 09 Sep 2014 09:41 PM PDT  Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second left, and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, third left, review an honor guard at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo Jan. 20, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) TOKYO — Japan and the United States are exploring the possibility of Tokyo acquiring offensive weapons that would allow Japan to project power far beyond its borders, Japanese officials said, a move that would likely infuriate China. While Japan’s intensifying rivalry with China dominates the headlines, Tokyo’s focus would be the ability to take out North Korean missile bases, said three Japanese officials involved in the process. They said Tokyo was holding the informal, previously undisclosed talks with Washington about capabilities that would mark an enhancement of military might for a country that has not fired a shot in anger since its defeat in World War Two. The talks on what Japan regards as a "strike capability" are preliminary and do not cover specific hardware at this stage, the Japanese officials told Reuters. Defense experts say an offensive capability would require a change in Japan’s purely defensive military doctrine, which could open the door to billions of dollars worth of offensive missile systems and other hardware. These could take various forms, such as submarine-fired cruise missiles similar to the U.S. Tomahawk. U.S. officials said there were no formal discussions on the matter but did not rule out the possibility that informal contacts on the issue had taken place. One U.S. official said Japan had approached American officials informally last year about the matter. Japan’s military is already robust but is constrained by a pacifist Constitution. The Self Defense Forces have dozens of naval surface ships, 16 submarines and three helicopter carriers, with more vessels under construction. Japan is also buying 42 advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets. Reshaping the military into a more assertive force is a core policy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He has reversed a decade of military spending cuts, ended a ban on Japanese troops fighting abroad and eased curbs on arms exports. Riling China Tokyo had dropped a request to discuss offensive capabilities during high-profile talks on revising guidelines for the U.S.-Japan security alliance which are expected to be finished by year-end, the Japanese officials said. Instead, the sensitive issue was "being discussed on a separate track", said one official with direct knowledge of the matter. But any deal with Washington is years away and the obstacles are significant –from the costs to the heavily indebted Japanese government to concerns about ties with Asian neighbors such as China and sensitivities within the alliance itself. The Japanese officials said their U.S. counterparts were cautious to the idea, partly because it could outrage China, which accuses Abe of reviving wartime militarism. The officials declined to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the closed-door deliberations. A Japanese Defense Ministry spokesman said he could not comment on negotiations with Washington. Japan would need U.S. backing for any shift in military doctrine because it would change the framework of the alliance, often described as America supplying the "sword" of forward-based troops and nuclear deterrence while Japan holds the defensive "shield". Washington did not have a position on upgrading Japan’s offensive capabilities, "in part because the Japanese have not developed a specific concept or come to us with a specific request", said another U.S. official. "We’re not there yet—and they’re not there yet," the official said. "We’re prepared to have that conversation when they’re ready." North Korean Missiles North Korea lies less than 600 km (370 miles) from Japan at the closest point. Pyongyang, which regularly fires short-range rockets into the sea separating the Koreas from Japan, has improved its ballistic missile capabilities and conducted three nuclear weapons tests, its most recent in February 2013. In April, North Korea said that in the event of war on the Korean Peninsula, Japan would be "consumed in nuclear flames". Part of Japan’s motivation for upgrading its capabilities is a nagging suspicion that the United States, with some 28,000 troops in South Korea as well as 38,000 in Japan, might hesitate to attack the North in a crisis, Japanese experts said. U.S. forces might hold off in some situations, such as if South Korea wanted to prevent an escalation, said Narushige Michishita, a national security adviser to the Japanese government from 2004-2006. "We might want to maintain some kind of limited strike capability in order to be able to initiate a strike, so that we can tell the Americans, ‘unless you do the job for us, we will have to do it on our own,'" said Michishita, a security expert at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo. Reflecting Japan’s concerns, Abe told parliament in May 2013 that it was vital "not to give the mistaken impression that the American sword would not be used" in an emergency. "At this moment is it really acceptable for Japan to have to plead with the U.S. to attack a missile threatening to attack Japan?" Abe said. Under current security guidelines, in the event of a ballistic missile attack, "U.S. forces will provide Japan with necessary intelligence and consider, as necessary, the use of forces providing additional strike power". Shrouded in Euphemism The informal discussions on offensive capabilities cover all options, from Japan continuing to rely completely on Washington to getting the full panoply of weaponry itself. Japan would like to reach a conclusion in about five years, and then start acquiring hardware, one Japanese official said. Tokyo had wanted the discussions included in the review of the Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation Guidelines that are expected to cover areas such as logistical support and cybersecurity. Those talks, which formally kicked off last October, are the first in 17 years. But the United States was keen to keep discussions on offensive capabilities separate to avoid riling China and South Korea, another Japanese official said. Beijing and Seoul each have territorial disputes with Tokyo and accuse Abe of failing to atone for Japan’s wartime aggression. Reflecting the sensitivities of the issue even in Japan, any talk of an upgraded offensive capability is shrouded in euphemism. Itsunori Onodera, who stepped down last week as defense minister in a broad cabinet reshuffle, a year ago described it as "the capability to attack enemies’ military bases and strategic bases for the sake of self-defense". Defense guidelines compiled by the government in December watered this down to a "potential form of response capability to address the means of ballistic-missile launches and related facilities". The post Japan, US Discussing Offensive Military Capability for Tokyo, Officials Say appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Indonesia Parliament Mulls Ending Direct Elections for Local Leaders Posted: 09 Sep 2014 09:36 PM PDT  A voter casts her ballot at a polling station in July during the presidential election on July 9, 2014. The country's legislature is considering ending direct elections for local leaders. (Photo: Reuters) JAKARTA — Indonesian lawmakers are expected to vote this week on legislation that ends direct elections for governors and mayors, a measure critics say would weaken the country's democratic advances and encourage patronage politics. The world's third-largest democracy introduced direct elections of regional leaders in 2005, allowing for a new breed of politicians to emerge that were not linked to the political elite—such as president-elect Joko Widodo. But direct elections have also proved to be costly for candidates, limiting the field to those who can afford to pay for their campaigns. "High costs are required sometimes to carry our fair elections," said Robert Endi Jaweng, executive director of Regional Autonomy Watch, a local non-governmental organization. "But the logic of democracy is not about the logic of efficiency, it's about the right of the people to choose their leaders." The bill, which has strong support in parliament and is backed by several members in the coalition of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, would give local legislatures the power to choose governors and other regional heads instead of their constituents. "The selection of regional heads by local parliament is more effective and efficient than through direct elections," Prabowo's Gerindra Party tweeted on Tuesday. "Those who say that elections through local parliament are contrary to the values of democracy are not right." Outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose party supports the bill, must approve the legislation before it becomes law. Indonesia has embraced democratic reforms since the downfall of autocratic leader Suharto in 1998. This year's presidential election, the closest ever in Indonesia's history, took place without any major violence or military intervention. That contrasts with neighboring Thailand, Malaysia, Burma and Cambodia, which have seen recent setbacks to their democracies. Advisers to president-elect Widodo, who is also known as Jokowi, said they believe the bill violates the constitution but would not have a significant effect on how they govern. "If parliament passes the bill, there will be no impact on Jokowi's administration," said Faisal Akbar, deputy chairman of Widodo's transition team. Widodo's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle is the biggest party for 55 percent of the country's 34 local legislatures, said Achmad Sukarsono, a political analyst for think-tank Habibie Centre. Additional reporting by Yayat Supriatna. The post Indonesia Parliament Mulls Ending Direct Elections for Local Leaders appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| ‘Can’t They Spare Time for the People?’ Posted: 09 Sep 2014 05:30 PM PDT  Nyo Nyo Thin, a Rangoon divisional lawmaker, spoke in June as a panelist in Rangoon at the launch of a report about women's participation in government. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy) Among the most outspoken opposition lawmakers in Rangoon's divisional parliament is Nyo Nyo Thin, who represents a constituency in Bahan Township. Nyo Nyo Thin, one of few women lawmakers in the assembly, has spoken out recently against a lack of transparency in the Rangoon city expansion plan and other government proposals. She caught up recently with The Irrawaddy to explain the challenges that she and fellow lawmakers face. Question: Can you describe the role of the Rangoon divisional parliament? To what extent does it represent the voice of the people? Answer: The Rangoon divisional parliament has more than 100 lawmakers and is the second-largest assembly in the country. Rangoon is the most populous city in Burma but compared with assemblies in other parts of the country, the Rangoon assembly can't hold sessions often. As a result, it can't take care of people's needs in real time. For example, there was flooding in Rangoon in June, but the assembly could be convened only at the end of August. And it could do nothing about the eviction of Thameegalay villagers. There are nearly 1,000 land-grab cases that the national-level farmland confiscation investigation commission has asked the Rangoon divisional government to settle, but the divisional government has settled only more than 100 cases. The divisional assembly should put pressure on the government or form a committee to handle the remaining issues, but the assembly hardly meets once in four or five months. To be frank, the divisional assembly can't respond to the voices of the people in real time. Q: Can the divisional assembly exert checks and balances on the divisional government? A: In other countries, checks and balances mean the cabinet needs approval for every decision, so subnational assemblies are convened weekly or monthly. But here they can only be held once in four or five months. Checks and balances, therefore, are too weak here. Instead of pointing out the faults of government, lawmakers mostly make proposals to repair or build roads and bridges. …And the assembly basically can't monitor the government on major issues like the budget. The assembly has approved for four years the budget as the government proposed it. Regarding budget control, the level of the divisional assembly's checks and balances on the government is zero. Q: Can the divisional assembly adopt laws that meet the requirements of the people? A: Parliament needs to enact laws in accordance with the needs of the people. For example, Rangoon is experiencing skyrocketing rents. To address this, the divisional assembly needs to draft a law to control exorbitant rents immediately. Meanwhile, the so-called affordable housing options are still expensive for regular people. The assembly should enact a law to help people rent if they can't afford to buy apartments. Unfortunately, the assembly still can't promulgate laws on dwellings, which is a basic need of the people. Almost four years into its existence, the assembly can't introduce laws that people need urgently. But, it can pass draft laws brought forward by the government. So far it hasn't been able to turn down a bill submitted by the government. Even though there have been objections—from me and other opposition members—most of the time, the bills are approved as they were submitted by the divisional government. So, obviously, there's not a balance of power. Q: Rangoon is vulnerable to floods now, during monsoon season, and the divisional government has spent millions [of dollars] to address this. But the city is still experiencing floods. Is this due to management problems? A: Yes, that's right. The Rangoon mayor replied to my question at an assembly session that flooding can only be prevented by spending large sums of money. But we simply think it's a question of management. The divisional government spent more than 10 billion kyats [or US$10 million, to prevent flooding]. That amount has never been spent before, and it may be at least 16 or 17 billion kyats if the national government's expenditure is added. That amount is for Rangoon city alone. So we should ask whether the government has done nothing, since flooding still hasn't been addressed. Quite obviously, it is not a question of budget but a question of management. Q: President Thein Sein has sped up the reforms, saying the country is in the third wave of reforms. Can the Rangoon government keep pace with the entire reform process? A: The divisional government held a workshop focusing on the national government's third-wave reforms and it seemed to conclude that the targets of the third-wave reforms proposed by the president have already been realized in Rangoon Division. Since then, I have found that the government is doing nothing. I'm quite sure the third-wave reforms initiated by the president have not reached Rangoon Division. The president has called for accountability. So, at the assembly I always ask who will take responsibility if such and such case happens again next time. Ideally, the concerned ministers would pledge to take action in accordance with the existing code of conduct for civil servants. … For example, if a place sees flooding, who will take care of it? District-level authorities, township authorities, the [Yangon] City Development Committee or the irrigation department? They need to make it clear who is responsible for what. But they [concerned ministers] did not give clear answers about accountability when such questions were asked during the previous session. So, the divisional government doesn't understand accountability and responsibility, I reckon. Q: What changes should be introduced to address the shortage of potable water and electricity as well as rising rent and land prices in Rangoon? A: We need to introduce radical reforms. The reforms I mean here are not political, but rather management reforms, starting from the very lowest level of management. To do so, they [administrators] need to know what they are doing wrong and accept that they are making mistakes. …Whenever members of opposition forces or scholars point something out, cabinet members see them as enemies. If this continues, reforms can't be realized. People are bearing the brunt of flooding and exorbitant rents. To handle it, responsibility and accountability must be set specifically. … In so doing, power must be relinquished to lower levels. Township authorities that take care of utility supplies on the ground have no authority at all. The authority is in the hands of central- and district-level or above authorities. Public needs have never been fulfilled because of centralization. Q: Do you think that's because the authorities don't know the people's wishes, since they were not elected by the people? Would you suggest the direct election of ward/village administrators and the mayor by the people? A: That's why the Constitution needs to be changed. The mayor should not be directly appointed by the president [as is the case currently]. …The provision that divisional and state assemblies can be held once a year must be annulled. Again, township, district, and divisional and state administrators must be elected by and for the people. Only then will they pay attention to the people's voices. At present, because those administrators are appointed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, they look up to it [the ministry] rather than looking up to the people. They just fulfill the wishes of Naypyidaw. Q: Is the Rangoon divisional government a capable governing body? Some critics say the ministers, including the chief minister, are frequently seen at opening ceremonies of car showrooms and companies rather than out meeting with the people. I often see Chief Minister Myint Swe at such events. A: I'm quite disappointed with it. Rangoon government ministers often attend the opening ceremonies of companies, but when I propose that they meet with the people, they don't seem to listen. The government even refuses to meet us, the people's representatives, every month. We, lawmakers, can't meet with government ministers except when the assembly is in session, and that's only once in about five months. How good would it be for them to meet with community elders of each district in Rangoon division monthly? …In Irrawaddy Division, the divisional government, in cooperation with a civil society organization called Bridge, is meeting with the public directly. Why can't the Rangoon divisional government do the same? Can't they spare time for the people by attending fewer opening ceremonies? Q: The Rangoon expansion plan has drawn criticism for poor transparency and the proposed developer is said to be connected to Myint Swe. How much do you know about this, as a divisional lawmaker? A: I only know officially what the assembly is told about the plan, but I also know many things unofficially. It is the responsibility of the concerned authorities to find out if these unofficial facts are groundless or not. To discuss the issue at the assembly as lawmakers, we need to have strong evidence, and I have been trying to get it. I also take tip-offs provided by the people into consideration. Q: What kind of pressure do you face as a woman lawmaker? A: Over the past three years, I have faced authoritarian objections and point-blank refusals to proposals I have made because I am a woman and also an opposition lawmaker. It was especially obvious during the seventh and eighth sessions of the assembly. Some ministers raised objections overstepping the bounds of their authority just because I am a woman. Some ministers tried to humiliate me. I have frequently thought about it and am sure they would not have done so if I were a male lawmaker. Q: How do you overcome these challenges? A: I will do what I need to do. I would rather let my life be taken away than allow my name to be ruined. But at the moment I need to forget that I am a woman while I am an opposition lawmaker. The post 'Can't They Spare Time for the People?' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Water Shortages Lead to ‘Tanker Mafia’ in India Posted: 09 Sep 2014 05:00 PM PDT  A boy rolls a drum to collect free drinking water supplied by a municipal corporation water tanker in a slum on a hot summer day in New Delhi on June 16, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) NEW DELHI — Every summer, when Minoo Phakey's water runs out, she does what most people do in her middle-class neighborhood: She calls the mafia. Within an hour, a man in a tanker arrives, carrying a load of dubious water drawn illegally from the city's groundwater. With India's capital gripped by its annual hot season water shortage, the city's so-called tanker mafia is doing a roaring trade. An estimated 2,000 illegal tankers ply New Delhi's roads every day, lifelines to millions whose taps have run dry, and symptoms of a much bigger problem—the city's desperately dysfunctional water system. The tankers don't come cheap. But some Delhi-ites have no choice. "You need water, you will pay anything, right?" says Phakey, a marketing executive. She is hardly alone. In a city known for its vertiginous inequalities, the shortage affects people from both upscale gated communities and dust-blown slums, as every day, the city's supply falls more than 160 million gallons short. Most residents have piped water for just a couple hours a day, and almost a quarter have none at all. With a leaky water infrastructure long overwhelmed by new arrivals, New Delhi is grappling with a dizzying social and environmental challenge, worsened by chaotic management. For many, it is a distressing reminder of a daily reality that lags behind India's superpower dreams. While New Delhi has had water troubles for decades, the shortage has become critical in recent years as the city's population has grown with little or no planning, rising from 9 million in 1991 to almost 17 million today. Even many of the wealthiest neighborhoods get water for just an hour in the morning, with residents rushing to turn on pumps and fill storage tanks when the municipal supply flows. The most urgent problem, though, is getting water to the sprawling neighborhoods of illegally constructed buildings, home to 40 percent of the city's residents and largely without water lines. The city's water agency, the Delhi Jal Board, sends 900 tankers onto the crowded roads every day. In some neighborhoods, a tanker passes every few minutes, its load sloshing down its sides. But it's nowhere near enough. Tankers usually stop for just 15 minutes, while dozens of people crowd around waving buckets and plastic tubes. Tempers flare in the fierce heat; fights are frequent. In some areas, people get just 3 liters (quarts). In a slum in Vasant Kunj, a young woman, Fatima, keeps her entire week's supply in five 50-liter (13-gallon) plastic containers lined up next to her bed. They take up a third of the 3.5-meter (12-foot) metal box where she, her husband and child live. "Sometimes only one water tanker comes, sometimes they come after a day's gap," says Fatima, who uses only one name. "We are poor people. If we sit and wait like this for a whole day for the water tanker, when will we go out to earn our daily wage?" New Delhi's water authority downplays the problem. "I wouldn't call it a crisis," says Vijay Kumar, the agency's chief. "If you look at Delhi overall, certain pockets are water-scarce—not all." Those pockets, though, are home to roughly 3.5 million people. The water board says it doesn't have enough water and largely blames neighboring states, which it says failed to deliver extra water to the city after a 2012 canal renovation. "That is our biggest constraint," says Kumar. "Once we are in position to commission the entire infrastructure, water will be more equitably distributed, more rationally managed. But what is crucial is that we should get more water." Still, critics say the city—which is close to two major rivers and has a significant water table—shouldn't be running short. In theory, as the World Bank noted, New Delhi should have more water available per capita than Paris. Instead, critics say, the water board has squandered its resources. "Delhi is a very privileged city in terms of water availability. So Delhi seems to be a case of crisis of mismanagement," says Himanshu Thakkar, who runs the New Delhi-based South Asian Network for Dams, Rivers and People, a research and environmentalist organization. Insiders agree. A 2013 government audit of the water board depicted a system verging on collapse, with projects launched and then halted after years of delays, quality control labs understaffed, and most plants constantly leaking. One plant hadn't been repaired in 57 years. Management failures mean New Delhi wastes the water it has, distributing it unevenly and, by its own admission, losing 40 percent of its supply a day. Some neighborhoods get more water than they can use while others go dry. Despite repeated audits acknowledging the problems, little has been done to address them. Often, the board ignores many of the real reasons behind the shortage. For instance, while the board blames leakage for most lost water, experts say more is actually stolen. Sanjay Sharma, a water engineer with the activist group Citizens Front for Water Democracy, says tens of thousands of builders and homeowners have illegally tapped into the city's water mains. They don't have many other options. With no reliable supply, illegal connections and calls to the water mafia have become routine. Aware they can offer no alternative, authorities largely tolerate it. In any case, the water board only manages to collect water charges on half its authorized connections. Ramanand Sharma, who runs a small illegal tanker business in southern New Delhi, fills his tankers from illegal wells outside the city, paying off police patrols with $3 bribes. Government tanker drivers also often divert their loads for cash, he says. "The government water tankers are not under scrutiny," he says. "Everyone knows that they make money, too." Sharma charges 3,000 rupees, or about $50, for a thousand liters, impossibly expensive for most Indians. Other suppliers charge 600 rupees, or around $10, per trip, but that's still beyond most people. Instead, hundreds of thousands of families dig pumps directly into the increasingly polluted groundwater, paying around 15,000 rupees, or $250, for installation. That has prompted a precipitous drop in the water table in many areas: In several parts of southern New Delhi, water has been receding by up to 9 feet (2.75 meters) a year, threatening environmental and human disaster. "There are predictions by the central groundwater authorities that, in decades and not more, some of these areas will be completely devoid of any usable groundwater," says Thakkar, of the New Delhi environmental group. There are signs of progress. New Delhi's government is completing a massive drainage project, which it says will cut river pollution by almost two-thirds, allowing more water to be pumped from the Yamuna River. A system of underground reservoirs is being constructed to distribute water more equally. The water board is also experimenting with smaller projects, including pay-per-use water dispensers. Known as "water ATMs," the solar-powered machines offer treated water for a nominal sum in unpiped areas. Five hundred ATMs are to be installed in 10 slums in the next year. But such projects promise little for the millions in the unauthorized slums where no pipelines are planned. India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi, came to power promising to bring efficiency to the country's chaotic public services, including water. Expectations that the new government would prioritize basic necessities were high. But three months after his election, his government has yet to set a target date to bring piped water to all New Delhi's citizens. "Just 10 kilometers from his office there is the area that has no piped network. In the capital city of India!" says Sanjay Sharma, the water engineer. "Where is the commitment?" The post Water Shortages Lead to 'Tanker Mafia' in India appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
