Wednesday, June 6, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Suspect in Malaysia’s Record Meth Haul Arrested in Mandalay

Posted: 06 Jun 2018 08:24 AM PDT

YANGON – Anti-narcotics police on Wednesday arrested a suspected drug dealer in Mandalay division's Pyin Oo Lwin Township in connection with a record drug haul in Malaysia last month, the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

The suspect, Haj Yassin, 44, also known as Maung Maung, is a resident of Yangon's Tarmwe Township, police said.

According to Reuters, Malaysian police on May 28 announced their largest ever seizure of crystal methamphetamine, finding nearly 1.2 tons of the drug disguised as tea in a shipment from Myanmar. A quantity of heroin was also seized. The haul had an estimated worth of about USD18 million on the regional market. Three Myanmar nationals and a number of Malaysians were arrested. Malaysian authorities said the drug syndicate responsible is based in Myanmar.

According to a statement issued yesterday, police obtained prior information that Haj Yassin was traveling to Mandalay from Pyin Oo Lwin Township in a van belonging to a private automobile association. Police searched the car at the 16-mile checkpoint on the road between the towns at around 12 a.m. on June 5. Police from Pathein Gyi Township and members of the anti-narcotics police unit brought the suspect to Yangon in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Based on information from Malaysian police, Myanmar authorities learned that the drugs were shipped in container log No. FSCU 9911521, belonging to Yangon-based trading company Nice Guy Clearance Service Agency. Customs servicing company U Kaung Trading told police that the container was listed as containing exported foodstuffs. Police said they arrested another suspect on June 2, but Haj Yassin had evaded arrest, traveling to various places in the country in a Toyota Lexus since May 30. The statement did not provide the names of all the suspects or the employees of the customs servicing company who were involved.

The container ship Pathein Star is seen on marine traffic website. (Screengrab / The Irrawaddy)

The authorities opened a case under Anti-narcotics Law Section 20 (a) (b) and Section 21 against Haj Yassin. Section 22 stipulates that whoever produces, distributes, sells, exports or imports stimulant pills shall be punished by a minimum 15-year jail term, and may also face an unlimited period of imprisonment or the death penalty.

The Home Affairs Ministry said other suspects testified that Haj Yassin stored the meth pills at the Nice Guy purified drinking water factory, located in Hlegu Township. The suspect allegedly transported the drugs by car to a store in lower Pazundaung Township and then loaded them, disguised as packaged tea goods, at the port. The statement did not elaborate on how the suspect successfully passed the items through an X-ray machine at Myanmar Industrial Port (MIP), where customs officers and government officials usually check every single cargo shipment.

Police confiscated about 25 million kyats worth of gold and jewelry, a Toyota Lexus found parked under the Tarmwe flyover, a premium book and purchasing contract as well as receipts for jewelry from the suspect's house in Tarmwe Township. Police seized 2.8 billion kyats from two private banks and have temporarily frozen bank accounts belonging to Haj Yassin. Servicing agents unrelated companies explained to The Irrawaddy that trading companies need an export declaration as well as an X-ray exam clearance for all shipments. Even after those two steps are successfully completed, each cargo shipment still needs approval from the Customs Department. It's unclear whether the authorities intend to take action against Customs officers or not. The Irrawaddy phoned Anti-Narcotics Police officer Colonel Shwe Nyan Maung for comment on Tuesday but without success. Other high-ranking officers declined to answer specific questions.

According to some marine tracking websites, container Log. No. FSCU 9911521 was leased to Sinokor, based in Mayalaysia's Penang port. The Home Affairs Ministry's statement did not elaborate on the name of the shipping line or the port of loading in Yangon. The Irrawaddy has learned that container ship Pathein Star V.017S, owned by Pathein Star PTE Ltd, was the only one that entered Myanmar Industrial Port during the Myanmar Water Festival period. It departed on April 16 and arrived at the Klang Multi-Terminal on April 19. The vessel normally operates between Yangon, Penang, Port Kelang and Singapore.

On June 2, Bangladeshi media outlet the Dhaka Tribune reported that the country was facing a huge narcotics problem in the wake of the arrival of nearly 700,000 Rohingya in Cox's Bazar district following the Myanmar military's clearance operations aimed at wiping out the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army after the latter attacked about 30 border outposts in late 2017. Army and other security forces were accused of human rights violations including extrajudicial killings and gang rapes by international rights groups, and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) urged the government to accept a credible investigation team to look into alleged right abuses right after a visit in May.

Based on information from Bangladeshi intelligence and narcotics police as well as testimony from Rohingya refugees, the report stated that 37 drug factories exist in Shan State, most of them in areas controlled by ethnic armed organizations, and some being protected by militia groups backed by the Myanmar Army. The report said the factories largely produce meth pills, which are smuggled to neighboring countries Thailand, Laos, Bangladesh and China. About 14 groups are behind the factories, it said. They reportedly smuggle the drugs to Yangon and then to northern Rakhine State, and finally into Bangladesh's Cox Bazar. It said more than 500 Rohingya drug dealers and 1,000 drug "mules" had entered Bangladesh since the Army crackdown on ARSA began last year.

Swedish journalist Bertil Lintner, an expert on issues related to Myanmar's ethnic armed organizations, recently reported on Bangladesh authorities' brutal crackdown on drugs for the Asia Times. The report compared the anti-narcotics crackdown to the Philippines' ongoing war on drugs, saying at least 110 drug suspects have been gunned down by police since the campaign began on May 14. Authorities have arrested about 9,000 suspects in the space of a few weeks.

On June 2, Thai authorities seized nearly 15 million meth pills from a truck in northern Chiang Rai province, worth an estimated Bt3 billion on the street. Thai police believe the illicit stimulants were produced by the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in a remote area of Myanmar under its control. The UWSA is the strongest armed organization among Myanmar's rebel groups.

The post Suspect in Malaysia's Record Meth Haul Arrested in Mandalay appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Roller Skaters to Display Skills at ASEAN Championships

Posted: 06 Jun 2018 06:47 AM PDT

YANGON — Five skaters from the Myanmar Skate Association (MSA) will participate in the 5th ASEAN Inline Skating Championship in Vung Tau City, Vietnam later this month.

They will leave for Vietnam on June 20.

"This is the second time we have been involved in this championship. We also participated in the 3rd ASEAN Inline Skating Championship in Malaysia," said MSA founder Ko Lwin Latt.

This year, the Myanmar skaters will compete in the Artistic Roller Skating category. In this event, the participants dance on skates, competing for points from the judges.

Skaters compete in a roller skating competition.(Photos supplied)

"Competitors can wear anything, including traditional dress. We will have a Thu Nge Taw [Traditional Boys' Dance] theme. The kids are still practicing with a teacher at Yangon University of Art and Culture," Ko Lwin Latt said.

Including Ko Lwin Latt, the Myanmar team delegation will comprise six people. The competition runs for four days from June 21-24.

"We will do the best we can. Last time, we were the ASEAN fourth runner up and had a chance to go to the World Championship."

Despite qualifying, the squad was unable to go to the World Championships due to a lack of sponsors and other financial support.

"The MSA is not an official government association. All of the trips we have made to participate in championships and competitions were funded with our own money. Occasionally, a few third-party companies have provided some sponsorship," Ko Lwin Latt said.

A skater leaps over a small obstacle during a competitive roller skating event.(Photos supplied)

"We are still trying to get approval from the government. We have submitted all the necessary forms to the Ministry of Sport aiming to win recognition for roller skating as a sport and to win accreditation as the Myanmar Roller Sports Federation."

The group's application has been rejected four times, each time for a different reason, Ko Lwin Latt said.

"The first two times we were missing certain documents, but the last two times I prepared everything on the list but they still rejected us. I have no idea why. They said in their rejection letter that [roller] skating is not practiced in all countries and that [recognition] would require skating to be practiced in more places," he said.

They received the most recent rejection letter from the Ministry of Sport in April.

Myanmar Skate Association members and a group of kids taking part in a skating event.(Photos supplied)

The MSA was founded in May 2013 by Ko Lwin Latt and a few other skaters from various regions. Their main objectives are to build standardized skating rinks, to develop the sport in the country, to hold a national skating competition once a year, to send talented local skaters to international competitions and to improve street kids' lives through skating.

MSA teams have participated in 14 international skate competitions and even won two gold medals at the ASEAN Inline Roller Cross Series 2017 in Malaysia.

The lack of official recognition for the MSA — despite its having qualified for the ASEAN and World Cup Skating competitions — has cost Myanmar skaters the opportunity to enter Olympic skating competitions.

"Roller skates need to be adjusted depending on the rink. So we need to carry tools and screws with us. We always have to explain to airport staff that we are skaters and are there for the competition. If we were an official federation, we wouldn't need to bother with that, as international airports make allowances for accredited athletes. This would give us more time to train. We always face problems at the airport," Ko Lwin Latt said.

A friend of MSA founder Ko Lwin Latt demonstrates roller skating moves at the Nescafe Urban Movement Skate Competition.(Photos supplied)

According to Ko Lwin Latt, Myanmar has about 400 roller skaters from different cities such as Yangon; Bago; Baik and Dawei from Tanintharyi Region; Pathein and Chaung Thar from Ayeyarwaddy Region; Pyin Oo Lwin and Meiktila from Mandalay Region; Bagan, Nyaung Oo, Magway, Loikaw from Kayah State; and Taunggyi Division. Myanmar has a total of 35 skating rinks, most of them being D.I.Y skate parks.

"Most of the skaters are poor; they are street kids including former drug addicts, but they have changed their lives through skating. The truth is, skaters find happiness in their teams and don't want to go back to their old lives. That's why I can't give up trying to gain recognition from the government. If we were considered an official local sport, we could do even more activities and more street kids would become interested in it," Ko Lwin Latt said.

While he has no intention of giving up, he worries that youth in Myanmar will give up on roller skating if they don't get enough support.

"I will try again to get approval from the government; if they reject us again, I'm thinking of turning the MSA into a non-government organization. That's our plan B," he said.

For now, though, he is focused on coaching the top skaters to win medals in Vietnam and, on weekends, going to local skate parks to train more street kids.

The post Myanmar Roller Skaters to Display Skills at ASEAN Championships appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Military Orders Tycoon to Rebuild Yangon Heritage Building

Posted: 06 Jun 2018 06:39 AM PDT

YANGON — The Myanmar military has ordered a prominent businessman to rebuild a heritage building demolished to make way for his $500-million high-rise project in Yangon’s Bahan Township “in its original style.”

The Office of the Quartermaster-General sent a letter to U Khin Shwe last week to complain about his decision to tear down the Mayor's Residence, a British colonial-era building on the Yangon City Heritage List.

The letter came after The Irrawaddy broke the story in April.

The building, located inside a 13-acre compound owned by the military that includes the defunct Myayeik Nyo Hotel, was demolished in February by the Zaykabar Company. With the China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd as contractor, the company plans to fill the site with 12 buildings ranging in height from 382 to 412 feet.

Company chairman U Khin Shwe confirmed the letter to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

"They told me to rebuild the building. I have to do what they asked," he said.

As its name suggests, the Mayor's Residence was once home to Yangon's mayors. Its last resident was U Aung Thein Lin in the early 2000s.

The Mayor's Residence as it appeared in the early 2000s. / YCDC

In 1996 the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) began surveying the city’s old buildings to draw up a list of those with heritage value. As of 2001 the list included 188 structures, mostly religious and British colonial-era buildings. To make the cut they had to be architecturally significant, more than 50 years old and not under private ownership.

The demolished residence was on the list along with the Mayor's Guest House, another British colonial-era building in the same compound.

According to Yangon Heritage Trust, an NGO that promotes heritage protection, the project area was known as Mount Pleasant during British rule. Many mansions of high-ranking officials including the Mayor's Residence, the Mayor's Guest House and the residence of the manager of Chartered Bank were located there. Judging by their design, the trust estimates that the Mayor’s Residence and Guest House were built before 1920.

But U Khin Shwe has repeatedly insisted that the residence was no longer a heritage building because it had been through several major renovations.

"The roof and floor were replaced in the early 2000s. It was heavily damaged during Cyclone Nargis in 2008. So we renovated the entire building. That's why it is no longer a heritage building," he said.

Apart from the complaint about the building, the project has come under criticism from neighborhood residents who fear that construction could damages the 92-year-old water reservoir nearby. If it fails, the low-lying Kokkine Avenue area would be flooded and many townships would suffer water shortages.

To prevent damage to the reservoir, the YCDC has instructed the developer to carry out certain safety measures.

The post Military Orders Tycoon to Rebuild Yangon Heritage Building appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

National Security Adviser Named New Head of Govt Investment Body

Posted: 06 Jun 2018 05:23 AM PDT

MANDALAY — Government Office Minister and national security adviser U Thaung Tun has been appointed chairman of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA).

Wednesday’s announcement of the appointment by DICA followed last month’s resignation of Planning and Finance Minister U Kyaw Win, who also chaired the investment body and is under investigation for bribery by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

DICA, a government agency under the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, manages company registration for both local and foreign businesses. As secretary to the Myanmar Investment Commission, it also processes investment applications.

U Thaung Tun, its new chairman, served as ambassador to the Philippines, Belgium, the Netherlands and the EU and as director-general for political affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the former military regime.

During that time, he was widely criticized by the opposition for warning Daw Aung San Suu Kyi — then under house arrest — that she “must not rock the boat” after she said she would boycott the military regime’s controversial constitution convention at a 2006 press conference in Manila.

In 2016 he worked as a government relations adviser for Shell Myanmar Energy PTE.

He was appointed national security adviser in January 2017 and government office minister that November. The appointments were criticized by former lawmaker U Soe Thane, who was president’s office minister under President U Thein Sein.

U Soe Thane reportedly said that U Thaung Tun had failed to disclose his previous work for the George Soros Foundation. He said U Thaung Tun had been a consultant for the foundation and that his appointment as national security adviser could hurt Myanmar’s relations with China.

The former lawmaker also reportedly said that George Soros approached him to secure a ministerial appointment for U Thaung Tun, but U Thein Sein rejected the idea because George Soros was American.

On Saturday, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, U Thaung Tun said Myanmar was willing to take back all the refugees who fled last year’s violence in Rakhine for Bangladesh who volunteered.

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Amendments to Expand Authority of Anti-Corruption Commission in the Works

Posted: 06 Jun 2018 05:17 AM PDT

YANGON — Myanmar's Lower House of Parliament approved a bill amending the Anti-Corruption Law on Wednesday with minor changes to the legislation passed by the Upper House.

The Upper House approved the amendments of the law on May 23 and sent them back to the Lower House.

The Lower House Bill Committee has presented a proposed 19 changes to the legislation approved by the Upper House, with most just rephrasing the wording.

It included amending Article 43(b), which allows lawmakers to report anyone who abuses power or acts corruptly, to allow the right to report only those who hold political posts as opposed to "anyone."

The amendments were approved with no opposition during the parliamentary session on Wednesday.

The Anti-Corruption Law was enacted in 2013 under the previous military-backed government. It was amended on three previous occasions—in 2014, 2016 and 2017—but the changes were not significant.

The amendments submitted by the Anti-Corruption Commission in March seek more authority in combating bribery.

The most significant change under the amendments is that the commission will be allowed to investigate at its own will any civil servants who are seen to be unusually wealthy. Until now, it could only probe allegations of corruption in response to formal complaints filed with strong supporting evidence.

The bill also reduced the maximum punishment for those found to have made a false complaint in order to defame a person from five years to three years—as a move to encourage more public complaints.

The amendments also expand the country's anti-graft body, with commission branches opening in additional states and divisions, and plans to educate the public about combating corruption starting in primary schools.

"There won't be public trust in the government as long as there is deep-rooted corruption and abuse of power among civil servants," Lower House lawmaker U Tin Htwe said.

He said he hopes that under the new law, the Anti-Corruption Commission will effectively combat corruption, as it will be granted more authority.

The bill will now be sent to Union Joint Bill Committee, where Upper House and Lower House lawmakers will discuss the changes, U Tin Htwe said.

If there are no objections, it will be sent to President U Win Myint to be signed into law.

The post Amendments to Expand Authority of Anti-Corruption Commission in the Works appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thousands of Seized Logs Smuggled to China, Lawmaker Says

Posted: 06 Jun 2018 03:59 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Up to 2,000 logs cut from champac and pine trees weighing over 1,300 tons seized by authorities in Kachin State's Chipwi and Tsawlaw townships have been smuggled to China since late May, according to a Union lawmaker.

"We don't know if all the logs have been smuggled yet. Locals have taken photos of trucks that carried logs. Those logs were last seen in Kangfang, in Chipwi Township, on the Myanmar-China border," said lawmaker U Lamalei, a member of the Lisu National Development Party who represents Tsawlaw in the Union Lower House.

The unclaimed logs were found and seized by the Tsawlaw Township Forestry Department and police in December.

On May 15, the Kachin State government issued a notice assigning the state’s Forestry Department to sell the logs to authorities of Kachin State Special Region 1 and lawmakers in Tsawlaw for use in regional development projects.

On May 21, however, smugglers started moving the logs by truck to China. The next day, Tsawlaw lawmakers sent a letter to the President's Office asking it to stop the smugglers, but there was no official reply, said U Lamalei.

The area where the alleged smuggling occurred is under the control of ethnic armed groups and beyond the reach of Myanmar’s civilian government, the lawmaker said. But the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, is deployed there along with local militias and border guard forces, and trucks in the area headed to and from China have to pass through their inspection gates.

"Locals have informed me of the whereabouts of those logs. I asked them to take photos so that I could present them to the president. I telephoned the Tatmadaw troops, the Kachin State government and Forestry Department," said U Lamalei.

He said the theft showed a complete disregard for the government, lawmakers and Tatmadaw.

U Lamalei urged the President's Office to identify and take harsh action against the smugglers as well as the people and organizations that assisted them.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Peace Process Entirely in Military’s Hands, Karen Group Says

Posted: 06 Jun 2018 03:57 AM PDT

YANGON — The civilian government has no power over the peace process, and all decisions affecting security in the country continue to depend entirely on the Myanmar military, a situation that undermines any efforts to end conflict, according to a group of Karen community leaders affiliated with the Karen National Union (KNU).

In its latest, four-page analysis of the peace process published at the end of May, the KNU Concerned Group highlights what it sees as the military (or Tatmadaw)'s control of the peace process, and asserts that State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her government do not have the power to work with ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to achieve peace.

The group comprises current and former Karen National Union leaders but is not considered part of the organization. Led by former KNU general secretary Naw Zipporah Sein, it analyzes the peace process in Myanmar from the perspective of the KNU and its policies.

According to the analysis, the army's tight control over the peace process has allowed it to block progress and restrict political space in order to head off any challenges to its grip on power.

At the 13th Union-level Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (JMC-U) meeting in Naypyitaw in November 2017, the army told the EAOs to disarm and form political parties in order to participate in elections so that they could fight for their ethnic rights in Parliament.

But more than two years after many of them signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, according to the KNU Concerned Group, the army has placed restrictions on the EAOs. All of their activities require approval from their state chief minister and border security minister. As time passes, the restrictions multiply, it asserts.

The KNU often receives letters from the army prohibiting activities such as meetings, training sessions and workshops, and the EAO foresees more restrictions in the future.

According to the analysis, the KNU supports the government's promotion of the rule of law and hopes the approach can be used to create a democratic system of administration. But as applied by the government and the army, the KNU Concerned Group says, the principle is not leading the country toward justice.

Instead of recognizing the EAOs' call for dialogue and meaningful political reform, both the government and army resort to authoritarian and repressive colonial laws such as the Unlawful Association Act to block the EAOs' legitimate calls for reform and label the groups as illegal organizations, the KNU Concerned Group alleges in the report.

It adds that international donors, NGOs and state media have shown a limited understanding of the substance of the peace process and accuses them of failing to criticize the government and army.

The group further claims that the NLD government has no power to steer the peace process despite Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's promise to work for peace during her election campaign in 2015. It accuses her of keeping silent when the Myanmar Army recently launched renewed military offensives in Kachin and other parts of the country. It points out that the army's recent actions, particularly the forced clearance of more than 700,000 Rohingya from Rakhine State, have drawn accusations of war crimes amid strong international criticism.

If the army has the will to engage in political reform, the group asserts, it must genuinely commit to the peace process. The army does not recognize the struggle of EAOs for equal rights, freedom and democracy in order to establish a "Federal Democratic Union," it adds.

The army has deployed many troops in areas controlled by the Karen National Liberation Army's 5th Brigade without prior agreement from the KNU. It has also seized territory with the objective of expanding and upgrading a road deemed to be of tactical significance to the military. Based on the army's movements, the KNU Concerned Group concludes in its analysis that the army will continue expanding and upgrading bases, and has shown no signs of withdrawing its troops from the area. The group expects the army to launch more offensives, predicting that many more civilians will suffer, just as Karen villagers have for many decades.

According to the KNU Concerned Group, the army's current actions threaten to derail the NCA, further destabilize the faltering peace process, and trigger a new cycle of conflict and destruction in Karen State.

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Rakhine Lawmakers Criticize State Govt’s Proposed Budget

Posted: 06 Jun 2018 02:43 AM PDT

SITTWE, Rakhine State — Rakhine State lawmakers called for a review of projects proposed by the state government in the 2018-19 fiscal year budget.

Lawmakers during an emergency meeting on Monday criticized the state government for asking for a budget three years in a row for an ongoing bridge construction project.

According to Sittwe Township lawmaker U Aye Thein, the state government asked for a total of four billion kyats (US$3 million) in the previous two fiscal years and again asked for 2.8 more billion kyats in the 2018-19 fiscal year for the construction of the Sat Yoe Kya Bridge in Sittwe.

However, the government has not provided a timeframe for the completion of the bridge or explained the total projected costs, he said.

"We don't know when it will be complete or how much progress has been made in construction. [The state government] calculated the estimated costs, asked for money, spent it, and asked again, saying that it was not enough. This is a waste of public funds," Sittwe Township lawmaker U Aye Thein told The Irrawaddy.

Lawmakers also criticized the large amount asked for by the Rakhine State General Administration Department (GAD), as the department asked for more than two billion kyats for construction and repairs to its staff quarters.

"The general administration department is not working alone for the country. Other departments are as well. Only the GAD asked for such a large amount of money while other departments did not," said U Aye Thein.

He called for sharing the budget among other departments so that different projects can benefit the people. Lawmaker U Oo Than Naing of Rathedaung Township seconded his view.

"The GAD asked for a lot of money, for furniture and such. Are only GAD staff entitled to staff quarters? What about staff of other departments such as teachers?" asked the lawmaker.

He also criticized that the state government asked for one billion kyats for an economic zone in Maungdaw, saying that there has been almost no progress in building the zone.

"We inspected the zone on May 5 and found almost no preparation work although half of a billion kyats was asked for in the last (fiscal) year. If we allocate another billion kyats, that money will be wasted," said the lawmaker.

Lawmakers also criticized the proposed budget for the resumption of river-water pumping projects in Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U, as those projects proved to be unsuccessful in previous years.

They also disapproved of asking for a budget to supply water to the Ngapali Hotel Zone and some wards in Thandwe, as a water supply system funded by locals on a self-reliant basis is already in place. A construction budget was also asked for and included some roads that had already been built.

"We were criticized last week for slashing the budget. But we have to do so for the interests of Rakhine people, and to display our loyalty and gratitude to them," U Nai Aye Kyue told the state Parliament.

Rakhine State minister for planning and finance U Kyaw Aye Thein defended that the budget was drafted in coordination with concerned ministries and departments.

"It is not that I prepared the budget alone but together with other ministers and departments. Lawmakers wrongly think that the budget is prepared by the planning and finance ministry. We don't know the detailed requirements of other departments. We only handle figures. Now, there is a misunderstanding, and I received the blame," the minister told The Irrawaddy.

A budget should only be requested for the implementation of agriculture and livestock breeding projects, as well as other projects that will directly benefit the people, suggested the lawmakers.

The Rakhine State government has proposed a total of more than 110 billion kyats for the 2018-19 fiscal year budget.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Southeast Asia’s Plastic ‘Addiction’ Blights World’s Oceans

Posted: 05 Jun 2018 11:48 PM PDT

BANGKOK — On her lunch break, Bangkok office worker Chinapa Payakha emerges from a 7-Eleven store with two plastic bags.

One holds a Big Gulp soft drink. The other carries her lunch, with a banana in its own plastic wrapper.

“For office life, plastic bags are necessary,” said Chinapa, 34, whose shopping habits illustrate the challenges facing anti-plastic campaigners in Thailand, where plastic bags are handed out in abundance on any visit to a shop or market.

Following World Environment Day on Tuesday and the United Nations’ call for the “biggest-ever worldwide cleanup” of plastic pollution, experts are focused on Southeast Asia, home to four of the world’s top marine plastic polluters.

From major cities like Bangkok and Jakarta to beach resorts in the Philippines and Vietnam, plastic bags and bottles are the ubiquitous face of pollution in the region.

Globally, some 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean every year, killing marine life and entering the human food chain, according to the UN Environment Program.

Five Asian countries — China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand — accounted for up to 60 percent of the plastic waste leaking into the ocean, according to a 2015 report by the environmental campaigner Ocean Conservancy and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment.

The five economies have “generated exploding demand for consumer products,” the report said, but lacked the waste management infrastructure to cope with the surge in plastic garbage.

Three years on, a “trash emergency” on the Indonesian island of Bali and the Philippines’ decision to close the tourist island of Boracay showed governments are recognizing the impact of plastic waste, said Susan Ruffo, Ocean Conservancy’s managing director for international initiatives.

“But this is not just a government responsibility — corporations, civil society and citizens all have a part to play,” she said, adding that engagement was improving.

Plastic Addiction

In Thailand, where 2 million tons of plastic waste is produced a year, plastic is an “addiction,” said Geoff Baker, an anti-plastic campaigner with Grin Green International.

“Everywhere you go they just throw plastic at you,” said Baker, who caused a stir on social media in April when he covered himself in 700 plastic bags, walked into a 7-Eleven and stared disapprovingly at people buying plastic-wrapped bananas.

The recent death of a pilot whale in Thailand with 80 pieces of plastic rubbish in its stomach garnered headlines locally, but drew more attention outside the country.

Still, some Bangkok residents say companies are not doing enough to address the problem of plastic pollution.

Watcharapon Prabsangob, a 28-year-old engineer, emerged from a store with a small bag carrying a coffee drink and straw. He said he tried to refuse the bag but the clerk moved too fast.

He said that businesses should do more to stop customers from taking plastic bags.

CP All, which has over 10,000 7-Eleven stores across the country, said it would launch a campaign on Tuesday to reduce plastic bags in some outlets in the southern province of Satun as part of a green tourism campaign.

It made no mention of the other 76 provinces including Bangkok, where 10 million residents use 80 million plastic bags a day, the capital’s administration says.

The food retailer Tesco Lotus said it would offer redeemable points from Tuesday to customers who do not take a plastic bag at checkout. But the scheme runs out at the end of June.

Months after the military seized power in a 2014 coup, the junta made waste management a priority and set goals for 2021.

They included cutting the use of plastic bags and bottles in government agencies and businesses, and plastic bans in tourist destinations. A tax on plastic bags was also mentioned, along with a target to recycle up to 60 percent of plastic by 2021.

Baker said he has “yet to see any real change coming from these promises.”

But a spokesman from the government said it was committed to minimizing plastic use. “We have been trying to raise awareness. People are so used to the convenience of plastic that they don’t think about the consequences,” said the spokesman, Weerachon Sukhonpatipak.

Wake-up Call

Other governments have set ambitious goals too.

Indonesia, ranked second behind China in the 2015 study of mismanaged plastic waste from populations living near coastal areas in 192 countries, has pledged $1 billion a year to reduce marine plastic debris by 70 percent by 2025.

There have been several attempts to impose taxes on plastic packaging to help address the waste problem. Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto has opposed the tax measures, saying in January it would hurt the local food and drink industry.

In the Philippines, the threat to marine life should be a “wake-up call” for people to cut their use of plastic, said Jonas Leones, a senior official in the environmental department.

The Philippines, like its regional neighbors, has not imposed a nationwide ban on plastic bags, but some local authorities regulate their use. Some shopping malls have also replaced plastic with paper bags and encouraged reusable bags.

In Malaysia, the new housing and local government minister, Zuraida Kamaruddin, said in an interview with the local news website Malaysiakini that she wants to introduce a nationwide ban on plastic bags within a year.

Anchalee Pipattanawattanakul, an ocean campaigner with Greenpeace in Southeast Asia, said the region needs a coordinated strategy on plastic waste.

“ASEAN says the problem needs to be addressed,” she said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. “But there is no action plan that will actually decrease the use of plastic.”

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Singapore Launches ‘World Peace’ Medallion to Mark Trump-Kim Summit

Posted: 05 Jun 2018 09:59 PM PDT

SINGAPORE — Singapore on Tuesday unveiled a commemorative medallion ahead of next week’s summit between the US and North Korean leaders in the wealthy city-state, carrying the inscription “World Peace” in large letters on one side.

The words on the medallion, featured on the online shop of the Singapore Mint, are accompanied by the dove and olive branch motif, a biblical symbol of peace, as well as a rose and a magnolia, the national flowers of the two countries.

The other side of the souvenir, which costs more than $1,000 for the version in gold, depicts two hands clasped in a handshake in front of both nations’ flags and the June 12 event date.

The meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un will be the first ever between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. After a war of words that lasted months, it aims to start a discussion on ending the North’s nuclear weapons program in return for diplomatic and economic incentives.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the standoff.

Last month, the White House also unveiled commemorative coins for the summit, making for an awkward juxtaposition when Trump canceled the event on May 24, citing Pyongyang’s “open hostility,” although he subsequently revived the talks.

A small Southeast Asian nation with good ties to countries both East and West, Singapore tends toward neutrality, projecting itself as the region’s answer to Switzerland.

In 2015, Singapore hosted a historic meeting of the leaders of Taiwan and China, the first since victory in a civil war for the Communists in 1949 confined their Nationalist foes to the island.

The exact venue of the Trump-Kim summit has yet to be confirmed, although Singapore has declared a special event zone including its foreign ministry, the US Embassy, and several large hotels, such as the Shangri-La.

Singapore retailers are also banking on the summit, with pubs offering themed drinks to lure some of the thousands of journalists and delegates expected to visit.

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Defense Says Myanmar Police Withheld Evidence from Reuters Reporters’ Phones

Posted: 05 Jun 2018 09:41 PM PDT

YANGON — Data that could support the defense of two Reuters reporters accused of possessing secret documents in Myanmar was missing from police phone evidence submitted to a court by prosecutors, their lawyers said on Monday.

Defense lawyer Than Zaw Aung said some key files, including communications records from the reporters’ phones before their arrests on Dec. 12, were not included in a report of the data police say they found on the devices that was accepted as evidence by the court last month.

He requested the court to direct the prosecution to submit further details, arguing the additional files would help reveal “truth and justice."

Judge Ye Lwin rejected the defense request, saying further details were not necessary because a police IT expert has previously demonstrated how the files were extracted “systematically” from the reporters’ phones.

In what has become a landmark press freedom case, the court in Yangon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung told the court the phones’ call logs were not relevant to the documents that police say they found on the devices. He did not elaborate. Those documents included allegedly confidential government letters and plans for the development of an island off Myanmar’s west coast for tourism.

A second defense lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told Reuters after Monday’s proceedings that the defense believed “evidence which is beneficial to the defense has not been fully disclosed by the prosecution."

Kyaw Min Aung declined to comment.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately available for comment. Previously, he has declined to discuss details of the proceedings or the police investigation, saying Myanmar’s courts were independent and the case would be conducted according to the law.

The next hearing in the case was scheduled for Tuesday.

Phone Records

At the time of their arrest, the reporters had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State. The killings took place during a military crackdown that United Nations agencies say sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

The reporters have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Yangon by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.

Whether Wa Lone was called by police to set up a meeting or rang them himself in the hours before the reporters were arrested has been a contested point at previous hearings.

Defense lawyers have previously said phone records show one of the police officers, Naing Lin, called Wa Lone three times on the day the pair were arrested.

Prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung told the court on Monday that Naing Lin had insisted during his testimony that he did not call Wa Lone on Dec. 12, but that the reporter had called him to initiate a meeting. “It’s the defense’s responsibility to prove otherwise,” he said.

Last month, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing testified that a senior officer had ordered Naing Lin to arrange a meeting with Wa Lone and give him secret documents on to “trap” the reporter. Naing Lin denied that when he testified last month.

After his court appearance, Moe Yan Naing was sentenced to a year in jail for violating police discipline and his family was evicted from police housing. Police have said the eviction and his sentencing were not related to his testimony.

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Facebook Confirms Data Sharing with Chinese Companies

Posted: 05 Jun 2018 09:37 PM PDT

WASHINGTON — Facebook Inc said Tuesday it has data sharing partnerships with at least four Chinese companies including Huawei, the world’s third largest smartphone maker, which has come under scrutiny from US intelligence agencies on security concerns.

The social media company said Huawei, computer maker Lenovo Group, and smartphone makers OPPO and TCL Corp were among about 60 companies worldwide that received access to some user data after they signed contracts to re-create Facebook-like experiences for their users.

Members of Congress raised concerns after The New York Times reported on the practice on Sunday, saying that data of users’ friends could have been accessed without their explicit consent. Facebook denied that and said the data access was to allow its users to access account features on mobile devices.

More than half of the partnerships have already been wound down, Facebook said. It said on Tuesday it would end the Huawei agreement later this week. It is ending the other three partnerships with Chinese firms as well.

Chinese telecommunications companies have come under scrutiny from US intelligence officials who argue they provide an opportunity for foreign espionage and threaten critical US infrastructure, something the Chinese have consistently denied.

Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, who asked Facebook if Huawei was among the companies that received user data, said in a statement that the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee had raised concerns about Huawei dating back in 2012.

“The news that Facebook provided privileged access to Facebook's API to Chinese device makers like Huawei and TCL raises legitimate concerns, and I look forward to learning more about how Facebook ensured that information about their users was not sent to Chinese servers,” Warner said.

API, or application program interface, essentially specifies how software components should interact.

A Facebook executive said the company had carefully managed the access it gave to the Chinese companies.

“Facebook along with many other US tech companies have worked with them and other Chinese manufacturers to integrate their services onto these phones,” Francisco Varela, vice president of mobile partnerships for Facebook, said in a statement. “Facebook’s integrations with Huawei, Lenovo, OPPO and TCL were controlled from the get-go — and we approved the Facebook experiences these companies built.”

Varela added that “given the interest from Congress, we wanted to make clear that all the information from these integrations with Huawei was stored on the device, not on Huawei’s servers.”

Response Demanded from Zuckerberg

Earlier on Tuesday, the Senate Commerce Committee demanded that Facebook’s chief executive officer, Mark Zuckerberg, respond to a report that user data was shared with at least 60 device manufacturers, weeks after the social media company said it would change its practices after a political firm got access to data from millions of users.

Senators John Thune, the committee’s Republican chairman, and Bill Nelson, the ranking Democrat, on Tuesday wrote to Zuckerberg after The New York Times reported that manufacturers were able to access data of users’ friends even if the friends denied permission to share the information with third parties.

In April, the Federal Communications Commission proposed new rules that would bar purchases by government programs from companies that it says pose a security threat to US telecoms networks, a move aimed at Huawei and ZTE Corp, China's No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker. The Pentagon in May ordered retail outlets on US military bases to stop selling Huawei and ZTE phones, citing potential security risks.

ZTE was not among the firms that received access to Facebook data, but it has been the subject of US national security concerns.

The letter asks if Facebook audited partnerships with the device manufacturers under a 2011 consent order with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It also asked if Zuckerberg wanted to revise his testimony before the Senate in April.

Facebook said it looks forward to addressing any questions the Commerce Committee has.

Facebook still has not answered hundreds of written questions submitted from members of Congress after Zuckerberg’s testimony in April, according to congressional staff.

The data sharing mentioned in the Times story was used over the last decade by about 60 companies, including Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc, Blackberry Ltd, HTC Corp , Microsoft Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Ime Archibong, Facebook vice president of product partnerships, wrote in a blog post on June 3.

The FTC confirmed in March that it was investigating Facebook’s privacy practices.

Facebook allowed Apple and other device makers to have “deep” access to users’ personal data without their consent, according to the Times.

The Times said Facebook allowed companies access to the data of users’ friends without their explicit consent, even after it had declared it would no longer share the information with outsiders.

Archibong said the data was only shared with device makers in order to improve Facebook users’ access to the information. “These partners signed agreements that prevented people's Facebook information from being used for any other purpose than to recreate Facebook-like experiences.”

Regulators and authorities in several countries have increased scrutiny of Facebook after it failed to protect the data of some 87 million users that was shared with now-defunct political data firm Cambridge Analytica.

Two Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee, Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal, on Monday also wrote to Zuckerberg.

Archibong said the cases were “very different” from the use of data by third-party developers in the Cambridge row.

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said on Monday the “data-sharing partnerships with other corporations” is part of the ongoing investigation into the reported misuse of Facebook user data by Cambridge Analytica.

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