AllSBNews: The Irrawaddy Magazine

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Minister: Golden Rock to Remain a Protected Zone Due to Strict Regulations
Calling Media ‘Crows’ is Insulting
Kachin Men Charged Under Peaceful Assembly Law
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Says UN Probe Would Increase Rakhine Tensions
UN Changes Top Myanmar Official
Lower House Speaker Urges Govt to Return Inactive Land to Rightful Owners
Surviving in Chin State’s ‘New City’
Ten Things to do in Yangon This Week (June 12 – June 18)

Minister: Golden Rock to Remain a Protected Zone Due to Strict Regulations

Posted: 13 Jun 2017 05:52 AM PDT

MAWLAMYINE, Mon State—Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, a sacred Buddhist pilgrimage site and a major tourist destination in Mon State's Kyaikto Township also known as Golden Rock, will remain a protected zone and won't be designated a cultural heritage zone in the near future due to culture ministry regulations.

The Ministry of Culture, since the country's military regime, has designated areas as cultural heritage zones to conserve national heritage by introducing regulations such as restricting construction in the area.

It would be difficult for the pagoda board of trustees, locals, and business people to follow those regulations, said Mon State social affairs minister Dr. Htein Lin.

"If the pagoda is designated as a cultural heritage zone, then gold foils are not allowed to be affixed to the pagoda, and repairs can't be made [without the approval of the culture ministry]," said Dr. Htein Lin.

The pagoda board of trustees carries out general maintenance works including complete gilding of the pagoda every three years. But, according to cultural heritage zone regulations, repairs of ancient pagodas need culture ministry approval.

There are a total of 22 heritage zone regulations, including a restriction on expansion of residential areas and a ban on buildings for other purposes in the zone, with penalties imposed for breaches.

"There are penalties for violations of those regulations. So, it is better to apply when we are in a position to abide to those regulations, otherwise we will be frequently penalized," he said.

"It is easy to be designated as a cultural heritage zone, but it is difficult to follow the regulations," he added, saying that the pagoda is currently designated as a protected zone.

U Sein Myint, a trustee of the pagoda, said it is more appropriate to conserve the pagoda as a protected zone as Kyaiktiyo Pagoda is the only ancient monument left on Mt. Kyaiktiyo.

"My personal view is that so many restrictions is not acceptable. Currently there is only one ancient monument left here, Kyaiktiyo Pagoda. Others have all been ruined. The old ordination hall was ruined, there is nothing ancient now," said the trustee.

He suggested focusing on protecting Kyaiktiyo forest reserve rather than designating the rock as a cultural heritage zone.

Dubbed Golden Rock by the international community, Kyaiktiyo Pagoda lies in Kyaiktiyo forest reserve, which covers 38,606 acres of land managed by Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation.

Of the forest reserve, 6,692 acres are designated as a religious area, on which there are 16 pagodas and stupas, 33 monasteries, 41 departmental and administrative buildings plus around 1,000 monasteries and guesthouses, residential houses, and shops within the pagoda premises, according to records of the pagoda board of trustees.

The Ministry of Culture designated the pagoda as protected zone on Oct. 11, 1999.

Though the Mon State government wants to designate the pagoda as a cultural heritage zone, it will take time, said Dr. Htein Lin.

The post Minister: Golden Rock to Remain a Protected Zone Due to Strict Regulations appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Calling Media ‘Crows’ is Insulting

Posted: 13 Jun 2017 05:40 AM PDT

YANGON — Last week was a time of mixed feelings for local journalists. They were saddened by the news of a military plane crash with 122 people on board, and both insulted and bemused by comments made by members of the country's ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

Let's start with the comedy.

During a Q&A session at a three-hour press conference at the Yangon Division government office, Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein lectured reporters and took credit for freedom of the press as it stands today (doubtful!) instead of answering questions about reforms his government has undertaken in the city. To the amusement of the reporters, he said:

"You journalists should not project your anger. We are the ones who went prison to make way for the strong press you enjoy today. At that time, no paper dared to write about politics. We paid a big price for the current situation," referring to his 14 years as a political prisoner.

As far as I know, the chief minister is the first person, among the hundreds of political prisoners across the country, who publicly took credit for his sacrifice. Even the late veteran journalist Hanthawaddy U Win Tin, who spent 19 years in prison for his political activism, never uttered a word about his jail time contributing to media freedom in the country. I wonder what Uncle Win Tin's reaction would have been if he were alive today.

Nobody can deny the fact that the changes seen in Myanmar today are a result of collective popular movements since 1988. But those involved in the activities have not come out to say: "We did this." It was a labor of love and the participants had no need for self-praise.

Even Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said she felt embarrassed to say that she had sacrificed [for the country] when choosing what she wanted to do.

What journalists found even more entertaining was that U Phyo Min Thein's comments came while the controversial Article 66(d) of the country's Telecommunications Law threatens Myanmar's media. Ironically, as the chief minister praised his sacrifices, the editor and a contributor to The Voice Daily were both in detention after the military filed a lawsuit against them for a satirical piece it claimed was defamatory.

On the same day, Myanmar's media industry was insulted by the NLD's spokesperson.

NLD spokesman U Win Htein called journalists "crows" when asked for why the party refused to allow a party lawmaker to question the government over Article 66(d) in Parliament last week.

"This issue is not big enough to damage the country. Don't have a crow mentality," the party's spokesperson said, seemingly teasing the reporters about flocking to campaign against 66(d) now that the law had affected journalists.

But this wasn't a joke. It was the third attempt by U Win Htein to verbally abuse journalists in two consecutive years. The first and second attacks were toward individuals, while this one was directed at the entire media industry.

Since the arrest of The Voice Daily's editor and columnist, journalists across the country have embarked on a campaign condemning the government and military for using Article 66(d) to sue the media when they are not happy with its reports. The journalists went to U Win Htein to do their job – to ask questions – which the party blocked.

But the solidarity of the journalists seems to upset U Win Htein. In his eyes, they are "crows," campaigning against 66(d) because their colleagues are in distress. He lectured reporters about the failings of this mentality without commenting on the rise of politically motivated cases filed under 66(d).

It was an insult to call local journalists crows. It was the local media that followed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the then-NLD leader, throughout her campaigns in the 2012 by-election and the 2015 general election. They stood by the NLD to the extent that onlookers wondered whether they would have the guts to criticize the party when it came to power.

It is okay that U Win Htein does not acknowledge the journalists' long-standing party support. But he does not have the right to call them crows, comparing them to animals. Even the former junta did not insult journalists in this way. It is shameful for the NLD and its government that the party's spokesperson fails to respect the media and in turn, the democratic norms that the party champions.

At the same time, it is also disappointing to see Myanmar's ruling party spokesperson behave like a man on the street. Last month, he recklessly commented that some military organizations might be behind spreading rumors of President U Htin Kyaw's resignation. When the military condemned this, he retreated by saying it was just 'a slip of tongue.' Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should either temper him or replace him for the sake of the party's reputation. Either action could save her from future embarrassment.

The post Calling Media 'Crows' is Insulting appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Kachin Men Charged Under Peaceful Assembly Law

Posted: 13 Jun 2017 04:34 AM PDT

The Myitkyina Township court charged three Kachin men on Tuesday under Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly Law for leading a commemoration of the six-year anniversary of renewed Kachin conflict last Friday.

The three defendants—Hkawn Zau Jat, Labang Gam Awng, and Khun Seng—were each fined 30,000 kyats, according to Labang Gam Awng, after being question by police on Monday evening.

"We chose to pay a fine of 30,000 kyats rather than a prison sentence of 15 days," Labang Gam Awng said. Myitkyina Police Station No. 1 acted as plaintiff in the case, according to the defendants.

Last Friday, more than 7,000 residents and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Myitkyina and Maingmaw townships attended a prayer ceremony to mark the anniversary from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Manau Park.

Hkawn Zau Jat said to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday morning: "We were told that the IDPs from Waingmaw and Myitkyina walked to Manau Park without permission."

"But we had lots of people participating and we didn't have enough funds for vehicles from the IDP camps," he said.

"The people walked to the park and it looked like they were marching, so were charged with Article 19 [of the Peaceful Assembly Act]," said Labang Gam Awng.

Police also accused them of using slogans not pre-approved by authorities, including one asking Myanmar military to immediately stop offensives.

"This [the commemoration] is the voices of IDPs [calling for the end of the war], as the Myanmar Tatmadaw made offensives in the region and they have been displaced," said Hkawn Zau Jat.

Organizers said they informed Myitkyina Township administrative officials by letter of their intention to pray for the end of the war, but did not specifically seek the approval from the township police as they believed security forces were under the local administration.

In October last year, Lungjung Tu Raw was charged under the peaceful assembly law for using slogans which were not pre-approved during a protest calling for an end to Tatmadaw offensives in Kachin State.

More than 100,000 people have been displaced due to war in Kachin State, which resumed in June 2011 after a 17-year ceasefire between the Tatmadaw and the ethnic Kachin Independence Army.

In the first two weeks of this month, several thousand Kachin fled their homes in Tanai Township.

The post Kachin Men Charged Under Peaceful Assembly Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Says UN Probe Would Increase Rakhine Tensions

Posted: 13 Jun 2017 01:47 AM PDT

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — A UN probe into alleged human rights abuses by Myanmar's military against the minority Rohingya people last year would inflame ethnic tensions, the country's de-facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said on Monday.

Last month, the UN appointed experts to lead a fact-finding mission to investigate widespread allegations of killings, rape and torture by security forces against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority who have faced discrimination in largely Buddhist Myanmar for generations.

Myanmar has rejected the mission.

"It would have created greater hostility between the different communities," Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told reporters in Stockholm after a meeting with Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.

"We did not feel it was in keeping with the needs of the region in which we are trying to establish harmony and understanding, and to remove the fears that have kept the two communities apart for so long."

The 71-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has said she would only accept recommendations from a separate advisory commission led by former UN chief Kofi Annan.

"I think we should really give the commission a chance to show whether or not they have done their work properly instead of condemning from the beginning," she said.

A UN report in February said Myanmar's security forces had committed mass killings and gang rapes in a campaign that "very likely" amounted to crimes against humanity and possibly ethnic cleansing.

The report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was based on extensive interviews with Rohingya survivors in Bangladesh.

About 75,000 Rohingya fled from Myanmar's Rakhine State to Bangladesh to escape a military crackdown last year launched after nine policemen were killed in attacks that Myanmar blamed on Rohingya militants.

More than 200,000 Rohingya had already fled to Bangladesh, many living in official and makeshift camps, straining resources in one of Asia's poorest regions

The post Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Says UN Probe Would Increase Rakhine Tensions appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

UN Changes Top Myanmar Official

Posted: 13 Jun 2017 01:40 AM PDT

YANGON — The UN confirmed on Tuesday that its top official in Myanmar, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Renata Lok-Dessallien, would be leaving the post.

"The position has been advertised," information officer U Aye Win told The Irrawaddy, though he refused to comment on the reason behind Lok-Dessallien's departure.

She will be ending the role a year and a half before the usual term of five years, had been criticized for not doing enough regarding human rights abuses in Myanmar.

Internal UN documents prepared for the new UN Secretary General described the Myanmar office as "glaringly dysfunctional" with "strong tensions" between different parts of the UN system, BBC News reported on Tuesday.

Lok-Dessallien faced criticism in November last year for forbidding journalists from recording a press conference held after the UN and foreign ambassadors visited Rakhine State amid accusations of human rights abuses by government security forces.

The Canadian citizen began the job in January 2014 and was the first woman to take up the role. She previously worked as resident and humanitarian coordinator in Bhutan, Bangladesh, and China.

The post UN Changes Top Myanmar Official appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Lower House Speaker Urges Govt to Return Inactive Land to Rightful Owners

Posted: 13 Jun 2017 01:08 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Lower House Speaker U Win Myint has urged the government to return inactive land grabbed for projects across the country to the original owners.

After deputy minister for agriculture, livestock and irrigation U Hla Kyaw responded to a question from lawmaker U Thant Zin Htun about land grabbed for a mango plantation near Naypyitaw's Dekkhinathiri Township on Monday, the speaker said confiscated lands must be returned to rightful owners if proposed projects have not been implemented.

The land in question was confiscated under the previous government and leased to private businessmen to establish mango plantations for exports.

"Don't say the project will be implemented later. Land must be returned if there is not an ongoing project. I'd like to know if the ministry has a plan to return inactive lands. Please answer me," the speaker asked the deputy minister.

The deputy minister said the central committee for the management of vacant, fallow and virgin lands at its recent meeting decided to revoke licenses of companies that failed to start their agricultural projects four years after receiving them.

"If there is no project, the land must be returned. That is the policy," said U Win Myint.

He also asked lawmakers to ensure they were involved with the land confiscation review committees at different levels – which are mainly composed of administrative authorities.

"I ask this to demand fairness and justice for those who had their lands confiscated unfairly.

"Lawmakers need to do their jobs. If they don't know how to, they can ask and if they are not allowed to join [land confiscation review committees], they can complain," said the speaker.

U Thant Zin Htun, a lawmaker from Dekkhinathiri Township, said although he is a member of his township land confiscation review committee, he was unable to participate in the review process.

"When I asked the committee to present me with copies of its findings, it replied that it was handling it. So, I have lost my rights as a committee member," he told The Irrawaddy.

Speaker U Win Myint said lawmakers must join in the process because members of the review committees are the same people who were involved in the land confiscation under the previous government.

Lewe Township lawmaker U Myo Zaw Aung said he had requested that the land confiscation review committees undertake reviews on days when Parliament is not in session so that lawmakers could attend.

The Central Review Committee on Confiscated Farm Lands headed by Vice President Henry Van Thio has received a total of 3,980 complaints through March 30, 2017, and has only settled 212 cases, according to a committee meeting in Naypyitaw on March 30.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Lower House Speaker Urges Govt to Return Inactive Land to Rightful Owners appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Surviving in Chin State’s ‘New City’

Posted: 12 Jun 2017 11:06 PM PDT

Extensive flooding in remote western Chin State, one of the poorest areas in Myanmar, caused massive landslides in 2015. In capital city Hakha, the landslides displaced thousands, wiping out half of the city's farmland.

Around six months after the disaster struck, the state government started providing homes to victims in a new neighborhood called "Hakha Thar" in Hakha dialect, or "New Hakha" in English. It is informally referred to as New City, located several kilometers from the city center.

But, more than a year after the resettlement, residents only just received power and still do not have running water. They are left to rely on collecting rainwater and deliveries from local aid groups.

Sang Vel's home was located in the landslide zone. She and her family were evacuated to a relief camp where they lived for eight months. It was a tough time; she explained how they needed to procure their own blankets to ward off the frigid temperatures during the winter months. They were relieved to move out of the camp and into a new home. But after living in New City for a year without basic amenities, the family is growing increasingly frustrated.

Overlooking Hakha, New City is located on several of the highest mountains in town. Most houses are identical: small, square structures slapped together quickly with wood and aluminum siding. The roads connecting them are still unpaved. The frequent wind that blows through Hakha creates dust storms in New City.

Like most residents, Sang Vel and her husband Dan Tlang Ti Phul are unemployed. Before the landslides they sold vegetables to local merchants. But the money they made before is too little to consider commuting by bus into the city. Instead, they rely on their son, who stays permanently in downtown Hakha with relatives, to deliver goods with the family's three-wheeler.

During a public town meeting late last year, the Chin State government promised that funds from the 2017 budget would be used to complete unfinished public works in New City. There are signs this is starting to happen. Residents recently received electricity, a large water storage tank is finished and roadwork is underway.

No livelihood initiatives for residents have been announced, however. Most of the landslide victims worked in agriculture before the landslides, but much of the farmland has been buried.

After facing difficulties securing stable jobs in the city center—work was already scarce before the floods—those whose land wasn't destroyed have returned to their farms, at least for part of the week. Yet the area remains at risk of landslides during this year’s monsoon season.

The post Surviving in Chin State's 'New City' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to do in Yangon This Week (June 12 – June 18)

Posted: 12 Jun 2017 07:37 PM PDT

Myanmar Music Festival | June 18

This concert will premiere seven new compositions, written for this tour by composers from the United States, Peru, Taiwan, and Myanmar. These pieces explore both traditional Myanmar and Western instruments in the most exciting new combinations.

June 18. 7 pm. National Theater, Myoma Kyaung St. Free admission.

Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival | June 14-19

The fifth edition of Human Rights Human Dignity International Festival will feature 15 international films and 54 local films.

June 14-19. Waziya and Junction City cinemas. Free admission.

Yangon Employment Fair | June 18

Over 500 positions are up for grabs in various industries at this recruitment event. Details at 09-31349834

June 18. 9 am-4 pm. Rose Garden Hotel, Upper Pansodan Street.

First Myanmar Entrepreneurs Festival | June 16-18

This event is dedicated to young entrepreneurs and will provide networking opportunities for start-ups and small and medium enterprises. It will also feature talks and intensive training on entrepreneurship.

June 16-18. Tatmadaw Hall, U Wisara Road.

Eainmat Sone Yar Season 5 Grand Finale | June 17

The grand finale of one of Myanmar's most popular singing contests will be held on June 7 with performance judges Zaw Paing and L Sai Zi.

June 17. 7 pm. Myanmar Event Park, Mayangon Tsp. Tickets are 5,000 kyats at 4-TV showrooms.

Let My Voice Be Heard: Photography Exhibition | June 9-18

This photo exhibition showcases a selection of photographs produced through a participatory photography project with young people displaced by conflict in Kachin State.

June 9-18, 10 am-5 pm. Myanmar Deitta, 3rd floor, No. 49, 44^th St.