Friday, July 21, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Shan General: 2017 Not a ‘Year of Peace’

Posted: 21 Jul 2017 07:57 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – Gen Yawd Serk, chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), has said that 2017 may not be the "year of peace" that State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Htin Kyaw envisioned.

He made the remark at a Friday press conference regarding the military's objection to a meeting by the Committee for Shan State Unity (CSSU), a coalition of Shan political parties, ethnic armed groups and civil society groups, in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

"If the situation continues as it is, it cannot be," the general said, responding to The Irrawaddy's question on the "year of peace."

For the idea to succeed, Yawd Serk said, "first we need to be constructive. Our leaders have to build mutual trust. We must have a common understanding on every agreement we made, whether they are bilateral, Union level or the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA). But we now have none of it."

President U Htin Kyaw said in his New Year speech that they have aimed for 2017 to be a peaceful year, which State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi also stressed in her speech during the second session of the 21st Century Panglong peace conference in May.

But the peace process under President U Htin Kyaw is in limbo and faces deadlock, especially due to the Tatmadaw not following the NCA path, said Gen Yawd Serk. The RCSS is one of eight ethnic armed group signatories to the NCA, which was also signed by the government and the Tatmadaw in October 2015.

Despite signing the ceasefire agreements, Yawd Serk said the RCSS and Myanmar Army troops had experienced clashes. The RCSS complained about the clashes through the Shan State Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee, but there has been no intervention yet, he said.

The chairman also said they had contacted people at the National Reconciliation and Peace Center, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and asked about the objection to the CSSU meeting issued by the military attaché from the Myanmar embassy. He said they were told that the government did not prevent the meeting from being held.

Regarding the case, he said, they would send formal letters to the State Counselor and to the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Army, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing.

The post Shan General: 2017 Not a 'Year of Peace' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Munitions and Drugs Seized From Two Loikaw Homes

Posted: 21 Jul 2017 07:10 AM PDT

MANDALAY – Munitions and drugs were seized in two homes in the Karenni State capital of Loikaw on Thursday, in connection with a large seizure of arms one day earlier in Mandalay Division.

According to the Loikaw police, the bust was related to a case in which 22 guns were seized in Mandalay Division's Tharzi Township on Wednesday.

"The accomplice, U Dah Rae, is on the run. His wife, Daw Oo Sar, was arrested and the case is under police custody," said a duty officer from the Loikaw District police office.

From U Dah Rae's home, police seized ammunition, a car, three grams of opium and 8,900,000 kyats in cash. From the home U Nay Soe Htwe Min—arrested in Mandalay on Wednesday—detonators, grenades, gunpowder and cash worth 140,000,000 kyats were seized.

According to the police, U Dah Rae is believed to have sold arms to the couple arrested for illegal possession of the guns in Mandalay Division, and he is allegedly a member of the Karenni State Liberation Front.

"We are investigating the case in order to take action against everyone who is involved in this illegal arms trade," said the police.

On Wednesday, U Nay Soe Htwe Min and Mya Hsu Hnin—his wife—were arrested in Tharzi Township, Mandalay Division during a routine search of their car at a toll gate. The couple was reportedly driving to Mandalay from Loikaw. According to their statements to the police, the guns were intended to be sold in Kale Township in Sagaing Division, near the Indo-Burma border town of Tamu.

 

The post Munitions and Drugs Seized From Two Loikaw Homes appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Voice Daily’s Editor, Columnist Charged Under Media Law

Posted: 21 Jul 2017 05:42 AM PDT

YANGON — The Voice Daily's chief editor and columnist have been charged under Article 25(b) of the Media Law for publishing a satirical article questioning the country's ongoing peace process.

The pair had previously been charged under controversial Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law over the same story after Lt-Col Lin Tun of the Myanmar Army filed a suit against them at the Bahan Township police station on May 17.

The Burmese language publication's chief editor U Kyaw Min Swe and paper's regular satire columnist Ko Kyaw Zwa Naing, also known by his pen name British Ko Ko Maung, were arrested on June 2. The columnist was acquitted of violating 66(d) on a June 16 court hearing and released, but the chief editor has remained in detention and continues to face charges under Article 66(d).

Columnist Ko Kyaw Zwa Naing was granted 2 million kyats bail under the Media Law charges, but chief editor U Kyaw Min Swe did not appeal for bail during Friday's court hearing. He had been refused bail at least four times since his arrest in June.

Legal adviser U Khin Maung Myint said as the same plaintiff had opened the second suit in the Bahan Township court, the 66(d) case must therefore be closed.

He said he would propose to the regional parliament that they drop the charges against the chief editor under Article 66(d).

"It is the first time that journalists are being sued under the Media Law. We can say the Media Law has come into practice," he added.

The Media Law was enacted in 2014 under ex-president U Thein Sein's government. Despite the law's suggestion that complaints and disputes over publications or broadcasts be settled or negotiated outside of the courts with the Myanmar Press council, very few cases have been resolved in this manner.

Article 25(b) of the Media Law prescribes fines ranging from 300,000 to 1 million kyats for violations of the statute. These can be applied if a journalist's writing style deliberately affects the reputation of a specific person or an organization, if a news outlet publishes others' intellectual property without permission, or if photos or voices are modified in "improper" ways.

Additional reporting by Tun Tun.

The post Voice Daily's Editor, Columnist Charged Under Media Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

More than 2,000 Locals Protest Cement Factory in Mon State

Posted: 21 Jul 2017 04:34 AM PDT

MOULMEIN, Mon State — More than 2,000 locals from villages in Kyaikmayaw and Moulmein townships staged a protest march in Moulmein on Friday against a cement factory's coal-fired power plant.

This is the second protest against the US$400 million, 500-ton cement factory, run by Mawlamyine Cement Limited (MCL) – a joint venture between Thai firm Siam Cement Group (SCG) and Pacific Link Cement Industries.

One of the protest leaders, Nai Ye Zaw, said that locals staged the protest because the President, the Mon State government and Parliament did not respond to their complaints about the cement factory.

"The factory was not built transparently and we haven't received a proper response regarding our complaints, so we are protesting," Nai Ye Zaw announced at the protest.

He said that a petition was sent to the president calling for use of a fuel other than coal at the factory, as well as the conservation of the environment and waterways.

Locals would not have accepted the cement factory project if the company had said openly that it was going to be powered by coal, said Nai Shwe Win, a member of a local community group named after Mt. Pyataung from which raw materials for the cement factory come.

"We only found out when vessels began transporting coal on the Attaran River in 2015," he said. "If we had known earlier, we would have protested then."

According to officials of Mon State's Myanmar Port Authority, nearly 200,000 tons of coal have been shipped from Moulmein Port to the plant along the Attaran River since 2015.

Fisherman U Aung Tin Oo from Kyaikmayaw Township complained that fishing has been largely disrupted due to engine noise and waves created by these coal-carrying ships.

Locals are gravely concerned that coal will have negative health impacts, and many have recently covered water wells in their homes out of fear that rainwater polluted by coal fumes would enter the wells," said Ma Ni Ni Aung from Kun Ngan Village.

The factory started commercial operation in April despite local opposition.

On Feb. 18, about 7,000 locals from seven villages near the factory staged a protest against the coal-fired power plant. In April last year, locals sent a petition with 3,780 signatures to the President's Office, demanding the termination of the project.

Protesters originally planned to stage a march toward the Mon State government and Parliament with up to 10,000 people, but the Mon State government only allowed 3,000 protesters to participate and would not permit the demonstration to take place in front of the divisional government or parliament.

The minister of natural resources and environmental conservation in June instructed the Mon State government to submit monthly environmental impact assessment reports on the MCL cement factory.

Under the agreement with the Myanmar Investment Commission, the factory will operate for 50 years from the start of commercial operations.

The post More than 2,000 Locals Protest Cement Factory in Mon State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

AIDS-related Deaths Decrease Significantly in Myanmar: Report

Posted: 21 Jul 2017 02:21 AM PDT

YANGON — AIDS-related deaths in Myanmar have dropped 52 percent in the past six years, the sharpest decline in Asia and the Pacific, according to a UNAIDS report on the global HIV epidemic released on Thursday.

The report titled "Ending AIDS: Progress towards the 90-90-90 targets" was launched in Paris, France, and highlighted UN progress in the fight against HIV.

The UN report said the number of people living with HIV who were accessing life-saving antiretroviral therapy in Myanmar had increased four-fold since 2010, to 57 percent of an estimated 230,000 people in 2016.

Oussama Tawil, the new country director of UNAIDS Myanmar, said that "a massive scale-up in HIV treatment" and a "decentralization of services" to prevent HIV, even in remote areas through government-run clinics, contributed to a large decline in AIDS-related deaths in the country.

The UN plan, which aims to ensure that 90 percent of key populations have access to HIV prevention services, has also seen progress as annual new HIV infections in Myanmar have fallen by 26 percent since 2010.

Significant efforts have also been made to eliminate new infections among children, the report said, with 88 percent of women affected with HIV accessing services for the prevention of mother to child transmission.

Tawil told The Irrawaddy, "This decline is a strong indicator of the commitment and leadership of the health ministry, development partners and donors. But also, community and nongovernmental organizations have worked together and that has made an important impact."

According to the data from the government's five-year National Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS for 2016-2020, HIV prevalence among key populations – people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, and sex workers – is high, at 28.5 percent, 11.6 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively.

A large burden of the epidemic is shared among big cities including Yangon and Waingmaw, Kachin State. The prevalence among people who inject drugs in Waingmaw is as high as 47 percent.

Tawil said that the incidence of drug use is high in many countries in the region including Myanmar, India, Nepal, Indonesia and Pakistan, adding that it is often the result of economic problems as well as the availability of drugs at low prices.

The UN report highlighted Myanmar's efforts to reduce the spread of HIV through drug use, including the government distribution of more than 300 sterile needles and syringes per person who injects drugs between 2014 and 2016.

"While we are now seeing positive results in the reduction of deaths and new infections, Myanmar momentum must be sustained to achieve its goal of ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat, by 2030," Tawil said.

He added that continued commitment and support from the government, donors, international and national nongovernmental organizations, community networks and HIV support groups is crucial in achieving the country's HIV response targets.

The post AIDS-related Deaths Decrease Significantly in Myanmar: Report appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

New Companies Law Submitted to Parliament

Posted: 21 Jul 2017 02:12 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The Myanmar government submitted a draft of the new Myanmar Companies Law to the Upper House on Thursday.

The draft law combines elements of the Myanmar Companies Act of 1914 and the Special Companies Act of 1950, reworked in hopes of attracting foreign investment, said Deputy Minister for Planning and Finance U Maung Maung Win as he put forward the draft law to the Upper House.

The eight-part draft law includes 478 provisions in 32 sections, designed with input from the attorney general's office, concerned ministries and economic partners, said the deputy minister.

The deputy said the Companies Act needed to be updated to be compliant with the new Myanmar Investment Law – which replaced the Myanmar Citizens Investment Law and the Foreign Investment Law – that was signed into effect by President U Htin Kyaw in October 2016.

Dr. Myat Nyana Soe, secretary of the Upper House Bill Committee, told reporters: "There are a lot of restrictions on business operations under the existing Companies Act, which is why the country has difficulty attracting foreign investment.

"The new law will be very different from the old one. It will easier to set up companies and it will be possible to register them electronically," he added.

U Thein Naing, a Yangon-based businessman, told The Irrawaddy that the registration process used to be cumbersome but that he had heard that steps were being taken to improve it as of late.

The draft law is also expected to promote capital market in the country, and was designed with technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post New Companies Law Submitted to Parliament appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

YBS Workers Protest Against Installation of Fare Boxes

Posted: 21 Jul 2017 12:50 AM PDT

YANGON — Around 400 bus drivers and conductors staged a protest on Thursday in Yangon's Shwepyithar Township against the Yangon Region Transport Authority (YRTA)'s plan to replace bus conductors with fare boxes on Yangon Bus Service (YBS) vehicles.

The protest followed the YRTA's statement on Monday about the installation of fare boxes on all YBS bus lines as of Thursday, which would mean that thousands of bus conductors would lose their jobs.

"[We staged the protest] not because we don't like the fare box system. We welcome this because it is convenient for passengers. But we don't want conductors to lose their jobs because of it," one of the protest leaders and bus driver U Kyaw Zin Htun told reporters.

"We want [authorities] to consider their livelihoods and keep a conductor [on each bus]," he said, adding that some buses currently have two conductors on board.

The Irrawaddy was not able to get a comment from YRTA.

Some 70 drivers and 300 bus conductors from nine bus lines joined the protest march in Shwepyithar Township, said driver Ko Aung Ko, one of the protestors.

"Rather than introducing fare boxes immediately, [authorities] could organize training for bus conductors about their manners, and [bus operators] could recruit those who complete the training, and ban them if they are rude to customers. We would accept this. But this sudden firing disrupts the livelihoods of families," said Ko Aung Ko.

YRTA officials will carry out checks on YBS buses to make sure they are not employing bus conductors. YRTA is also negotiating with bus line operators to move toward a cashless system.

Meanwhile, commuters have differing views about the cash boxes.

"Although the new system seems good, some commuters – like elderly people and pregnant women – need help. I think there is a need to keep qualified conductors on board," said a commuter.

Some commuters expressed concern that the sudden unemployment would contribute to an increase in crime.

YBS was launched in January, and at present, it operates around 80 bus lines.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post YBS Workers Protest Against Installation of Fare Boxes appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

President Presents Nominees for Senior Positions in Central Bank

Posted: 20 Jul 2017 11:09 PM PDT

NAYPYITAW — President U Htin Kyaw has put forward a list of nominees to the Union Parliament on Friday for three vice governor positions and five director positions in the Central Bank of Myanmar, which will soon be vacant when existing terms expire.

The nominees for vice governor are U Soe Min, U Soe Thein, and U Bo Bo Nge. The nominees for director are U Kyaw Min Tun, U Myint Thein Tun, U Soe Paing, Daw Yi Yi Win and Daw Khin Aye Hla, according to Upper House Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Than.

According to the speaker, those wishing to raise an objection to their appointment can do so in line with the Central Bank of Myanmar Law in Union Parliament on Wednesday.

The post President Presents Nominees for Senior Positions in Central Bank appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Amber Hub of Myitkyina

Posted: 20 Jul 2017 07:50 PM PDT

MYITKYINA, Kachin State — Men and women with bags of honey-colored stones in cars and on motorbikes arrive at the Gems and Jewelry Trade Center in Myitkyina, Kachin State at around 7 a.m. This is the place that people searching for and selling amber come to make a deal.

In an open-air building, vendors sit in front of piles of raw amber, pouring water over the stones to make them appear shinier, while buyers rummage through them with small flashlights looking for quality pieces. The center launched four years ago and it has become the hub of the local market.

Forty-year-old Seng Pan, who owns an amber shop in Waingmaw Township, bought a pile of about 30 viss (1 viss equals approximately 1.6 kilograms) of raw Burmite amber worth 7 million kyats (about US$5,000) at the market. He told The Irrawaddy that while the cost of raw amber has increased, the price of fine and polished products has decreased over the last two years.

Recently, there has not been a consistent supply of quality, raw amber since mines in Tanai Township—where amber is primarily extracted in the state—have been closed due to military engagement between the Myanmar Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Seng Pan said.

Since clashes broke out in early June, gold and amber miners have fled the area and sought shelter in Tanai town, Hkamti in Sagaing Division, or their respective hometowns.

Myanmar Army helicopters dropped leaflets over the area in the second week of June, asking people in the mining region to leave by June 15 or be recognized as insurgents supporting the KIA. Military tensions between the two sides persist in the area.

Daw Moe Khine, 40-year-old Mogok native and amber trader, told The Irrawaddy that she used to buy amber from mines around the Tanai area to sell at the China-Myanmar border. Since the mines closed, she has gone to Myitkyina to observe how deals are made between buyers and sellers at the center.

"Trading in amber is a quick and easy way to make money, unlike jade," said Daw Moe Khine, explaining that amber is the less expensive of the two stones.

"Amber has become very popular. Many people believe that it is good for their health if they wear it," she added.

The discovery of a dinosaur tail embedded in a piece of amber by a Chinese paleontologist, which made headlines across the globe late last year, shined a light on the popularity of Myanmar amber, which is considered some of the highest quality in the world.

Traders and sellers at the market said that it was not unusual to find animal parts embedded in the raw Burmite, showing photos of amber with spider legs and other appendages inside, which traded for high prices. They said, however, that it is nearly impossible for ordinary traders to know if the feathers or animal parts inside the amber are fossils or not.

For 24-year-old Ko Zaw Aung, trading in amber is not as risky as jade.

"Even when you lose money from trading amber, it is not as much as with jade, he told The Irrawaddy. "But when you get cheated in trading jade, it is like holding onto a useless piece of rock."

The market in Myitkyina usually finishes around noon but a different building in the same compound continues to sell and trade polished amber rings, bracelets and necklaces throughout the day.

The post The Amber Hub of Myitkyina appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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