The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Burma Anti-Drug Crusaders Uncover $500k Ledger of Payoffs
- Khun Myint Htun: ‘All Political Processes Need Sincerity’
- The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Oct. 24, 2015)
| Burma Anti-Drug Crusaders Uncover $500k Ledger of Payoffs Posted: 24 Oct 2015 05:14 AM PDT  A man walks near a stream in the jade-mining region of Hpakant, in northern Burma's Kachin State. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) HPAKANT, Kachin State — Residents of this town in northern Burma's opium country became their own drug investigators out of frustration with authorities' failure to keep heroin and methamphetamine addiction from consuming their villages. Now they say they have an explanation for officials' poor performance, thanks to a woman charged with drug-dealing who kept careful track of her expenses. When the community-based Kachin Anti-Drug Committee made a citizen's arrest of the suspect, it found two notebooks listing a combined US$500,000 in payoffs to authorities in Kachin State including an army commander, top police officials, anti-drug officers, township officials and others. The committee showed The Associated Press photos of the ledger but did not provide line-item details on payoffs and recipients, saying it is trying to get authorities to improve drug enforcement and is using the notebooks as leverage. The group Global Witness, which campaigns against corruption and for transparency and protection of people's rights in use of mining, logging and other resources, viewed the document and agreed with the committee's description of the contents. "For us, this book is useful for negotiating to try to get the government officials and police involved in our project," Naw Lawn, secretary of the committee, told the AP. "Our society is being destroyed by drugs. We have many young people who are addicts, and this is destroying our future." Officials with the state anti-drug police force failed to respond to repeated requests for comment. Naw Lawn and other community leaders set up their group last year to fight the surge in drug use in Kachin, an ethnically diverse, mostly Christian region where the Kachin Baptist Convention is the most influential local institution. With Burma's government attempting to end a decades-long insurgency by members of the ethnic Kachin minority, authorities have accepted the committee's assistance. Isolated by a lack of paved roads or other modern transport and by fighting between rebel insurgents and government forces, Hpakant is a frontier region marked by huge jade-mining operations that have spoiled the environment and left most local residents destitute, with scant options for jobs or other means of survival. Young people shoot up from dawn to dark near the jade mines surrounding Hpakant, some 600 miles north of Rangoon, Burma's biggest city. Addicts, their arms dotted with constellations of needle marks, squat under makeshift tarp shelters or sometimes just shoot up in open daylight. Overdoses are increasingly common, and crime is a growing problem among addicts desperate for drug money. Committee members say they were attacked by drug dealers in a raid early this year, and now conduct operations only in huge groups of 300 or more, with one or two police officers accompanying them. They say they have also been threatened and harassed by some police who view them as interfering. Committee members say the woman arrested with the ledger in June is among Hpakant's biggest drug dealers. Naw Lawn said the group also confiscated $3 million in cash and a "huge amount" of drugs during the arrest. The suspect is awaiting trial. The financial ties to local officials allegedly revealed in the notebooks tell only part of the story of the Burma drug trade's ties to the powerful. Burma trails only Afghanistan in production of opium, the main ingredient in heroin. Its opium poppies are grown mostly in Kachin and Shan states, where the government has long fought rebel groups seeking more autonomy for their respective ethnic groups. Both the military and rebel groups have used the opium trade to further their causes. The Kachin Women's Association of Thailand said in a 2014 report that Burma's military uses the drug trade as a weapon of war, authorizing border guards and local militias to grow opium and produce heroin and meth. AP reporters have seen opium farms protected by army-controlled militia groups. The government has attempted to stop opium-growing with eradication programs intended to compel farmers to switch to legal crops, but those efforts have fallen well short of expectations. According to an opium poppy survey by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, opium poppy cultivation in Burma increased from 43,600 hectares (107,700 acres) in 2010-11 to 57,600 hectares (142,800 acres) in 2013-14. At the same time, meth production in the region has soared. In Kachin State, drug use is especially common among the young and among migrants who work on the margins of the big mines, hoping for lucky finds of jade. A single shot of heroin goes for 2,000 kyats (about $1.60), or the equivalent of the lowest price of a small piece of jade, Global Witness said in a report on jade released Friday. It said itinerant miners take up to five such shots a day. Naw Lawn says that despite threats and intimidation, the Kachin community in Hpakant is determined to try to fight drug abuse. "We really want the drug addiction and dealing to end soon," he said. "We don't want our society to be broken. That's why we stood up and started doing this on our own." The post Burma Anti-Drug Crusaders Uncover $500k Ledger of Payoffs appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Khun Myint Htun: ‘All Political Processes Need Sincerity’ Posted: 23 Oct 2015 08:34 PM PDT  Khun Myint Htun, chairman of Pa-O National Liberation Organization. (Photo: Myanmar Now) Khun Myint Htun is the chairman of the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO), which signed the recent ceasefire agreement with Burmese government and seven other non-state armed groups on Oct. 15. A former youth leader in the National League for Democracy (NLD), he was elected to parliament in the 1990 election, the results of which were ignored by the then ruling junta. He was held in prison for more than seven years, and on his release he joined the insurgent arm of the Pa-O people. Speaking to Myanmar Now this week, the 52-year-old discussed the reasons the PNLO joined the ceasefire accord, relations between the group and the military, and his views on the 2015 general election. Why did the PNLO decide to sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA)? Our unwavering ideology is to solve political problems through political means. In accordance with the NCA, prior discussion will be needed before making any decision. However, both sides are required to negotiate a political roadmap. Neither side should try to take advantage. So we decided to sign the NCA. What were the fundamental reasons for the PNLO to sign the deal? Our decision was a reflection of the existing political and military situation, as well as our policy and the national interest. We can hold political dialogue during the term of the next government. We can imagine the next administration will be influenced by civilians. It is not certain that the next government will have good relations with the military. So we decided to sign peace deal during the term of present government. We fought against the military under the lead of the Karen National Union (KNU) when the junta made the 2004 roadmap. But the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and northern rebel groups, including the Kokang and SSPP/SSA accepted this roadmap. However, this time we and the KNU signed the peace deal, but the KIO and northern rebel groups are fighting. We expect all-inclusiveness in the roadmap. Those armed groups which have not signed in the deal did not say they would never sign in the deal. They will sign the peace deal at an appropriate juncture. Both the government and the ethnic armed groups need to persuade them to join the NCA. Although they want to sign the deal, political and military situations in their respective areas are blocking them from doing so. Which side has compromised in the NCA—the government or the ethnic armed groups? Both sides have made adjustments. The senior military officers of the government are the same age as us. As the ideology to wipe out all the ethnic rebels has been rooted in their minds for many years, they seemed to regard us as the rebels until now. The government defines 'disarmament, demobilization and reintegration' as abandonment of weapons. We assume the government and the military are on the same side in accordance with NCA. The government side has made these adjustments. All political processes need sincerity. If all stakeholders can implement the points in the agreement, we can reach the final goal. They must guarantee the establishment of a federal union with rights on equality, democracy and self-rule. We all will take responsibility for national security by establishing a single military under a single order. However, we will not accept the formation of militia and border guard forces. Could there be conflicts in the future, as the demarcation lines have not been drawn up for armed groups? We will have more discussions about this issue. But the armed groups outside the NCA cannot discuss it. Do you think the details in the deal could be discussed in the term of next government? President Thein Sein signed the deal as a president of Republic of the Union of Myanmar. The existing government will remain during the first parliamentary session after the elections. The government will have to submit this NCA to the parliament for approval. After it is approved, the deal must be adhered to in favor of the national interest. Has the NCA made political capital for the ruling party? The public doesn't show that much interest in the peace deal. They will vote for the party they believe in. People have the right to choose the party they like. We never considered that any political party would win in the elections on the basis that they signed the peace deal. Do you think clashes will erupt while decisions are made for the drawing of demarcation lines? Clashes will decline, but it cannot be said they will stop entirely. Both the military chief and deputy military chief signed the deal. They are accountable and responsible for their promises. The president, the speaker of parliament and the military chiefs signed the deal. What outside pressures will come up, given that international diplomats also signed as witnesses in the deal? Some diplomats signed the NCA as witnesses. The government of the United States and the United Kingdom commended the peace deal. They have pledged to support the peacemaking process. They are also responsible for their financial and political contributions. What are the building blocks for the establishment of a federal union? We will try to amend the 2008 Constitution. Our political dialogue should not deviate from mainstream politics. While the national (constitutional convention) in 1993 backed by the junta did not take into account existing situations, future dialogue should not ignore it. Is the PNLO enthusiastic about the prospect of merging with the government military? I will not take any military rank or title in front of my name. We have a policy that the military wing of PNLO must be under the management of political wing. I have no plan to take any positions in the future military, but we might take responsibilities for national security. Some candidates have reportedly been threatened by some ethnic armed groups. What is your view on this? We expect a free and fair election. The results of election must be recognized. We never disclose our support for any political party or organization. Our members will have individual ideas. We have never disturbed any candidates as we value the upcoming elections. This interview originally appeared on Myanmar Now. The post Khun Myint Htun: 'All Political Processes Need Sincerity' appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Oct. 24, 2015) Posted: 23 Oct 2015 08:28 PM PDT  Workers from Indian conglomerate Essar Group during construction work on the port in Sittwe. (Photo: Damir Sagolj / Reuters) Indian Government Agrees to Inject More Funds Into Kaladan Project The Indian government has reportedly agreed to increase its funding for an ambitious infrastructure project that will see goods transported through Burma's Arakan and Chin states on their way to India's northeast. The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport project has been in the works for more than a decade, and work on a new port in the Arakan State capital of Sittwe is already nearing completion, at a cost of an estimated US$120 million. Even before both states were ravished by flooding earlier this year, the project was already delayed. Work is still to be done to set up a river link to transport goods from Sittwe to Paletwa, in Chin State, which requires dredging large sections of the Kaladan River and constructing a new river port. The project also includes a further plan to build a 130-kilometer highway on which cargo can be transported on to the Indian border at Zorinpui. The New Delhi-based newspaper Business Standard reported this month that the Indian government's cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved a revised cost estimate for the project. The new cost of the development, to be born by the Indian government, was reported as 2,904 crore rupees, equivalent to $447 million. "The project will provide an alternate access route to the North-Eastern region of India and contribute towards the region's economic development," it said. "Being a key connectivity project, it will promote economic, commercial and strategic links between India and Myanmar." The revision represents a significant increase from previously reported estimates for the cost of the project. Business Standard said the original cost estimate for the project, for which studies were completed in 2005, was just $82.3 million. More recent reports have put the cost of the project at $214 million, still less than half the new price tag reportedly approved by the Indian cabinet. Tech Firms Sign Deals to Offer Payments Through Messaging App Three tech firms are set to establish a service allowing mobile phone users in Burma to make payments through messaging applications. Mobile payments firm MyPAY will team up with Singapore-based Fastacash, which is involved in similar services in India, Indonesia, Russia, Singapore and Vietnam, according to an announcement. MyPAY is connected with London-listed company MySQUAR, which owns Burmese-language messaging app MyChat!, and says it now has a total of 1.5 million subscribers in Burma. A press release this week said that Fastacash has made a "strategic investment" in MyPAY that will see the Singaporean firm's technology platform used in Burma to enable "payments through social." "fastacash [sic] will also support MyPAY's go-to-market activities, including market insights and global partnership management. Through the fastacash platform, anyone using MyPAY will be able to transfer money, and airtime with their social connections, and make payments at retail points." A controlling interest in MyPAY is held by Eric Shaer, who is also CEO of MySQUAR. "Consumers on MySQUAR will easily be able to transact with their connections on the channel and with merchants," the press release said. According to a separate announcement on MySQUAR's website, that company has simultaneously entered into a "service agreement" with MyPAY "for the integration of MyPAY's mobile payment services as a feature of MyCHAT, MySQUAR's free to use, mobile messaging and social networking application." "Under the 5-year agreement with MyPAY, MySQUAR will receive US$500,000 in software platform integration fees from MyPAY and then an ongoing 50 percent share of net fees collected from MyCHAT users who make transactions through the mobile payment features integrated in MyCHAT." Trade, Production Statistics Available on New Government Data Site The Burmese government this week launched a new website making available for the first time a raft of data sets containing some of the country's vital statistics on international trade, domestic production and finance. The Myanmar Statistical Information Service (MMSIS) database has been developed by the Central Statistics Organization in collaboration with the South Korean aid agency, KOICA. It contains a range of data drawn from various government departments: from the total number of seats in Burma's cinemas (16,999) to the number of working elephants being used in the timber trade (815 in Sagaing Division alone). At a launch event to mark International Statistics Day in Naypyidaw, Minister for National Planning and Economic Development Dr. Kan Zaw admitted that quantitative data was at present in "short supply" in Burma, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar "He added that collecting data about what Myanmar's society may look like in 2020 will prove extremely useful in planning for the future," the state-run newspaper reported. Local and international businesses will likely be most interested in the details provided about the economic conditions in the country. Detailed information on the amount of timber processed in the country is available, as are figures for the volume of specific minerals extracted in Burma. Useful trade statistics are also provided in some detail, including the quantities of imports and exports cross the country's borders. Data from Burma's Customs Department, for example, sheds some light on the recent surge in exports in the garment sector following the dropping or suspension of trade sanctions by the West. Exports of "textiles and textile articles" totaled $1.046 billion last year, according to the data, up from just $701.25 million in 2012. However, some key data on the site appears a little out of date. While a "summary of the Union Budget" is available in the database, that information is only available up to 2010. American Engineering Firm Joins Magwe Solar Project US-based engineers Black & Veatch have been hired to work on a major solar power development in central Burma, Energy Business Review reports. Work on a 220-megawatt solar power plant in Minbu, Magwe Division, is set to begin early next year, with Green Earth Power (Thailand) the lead developer of the project. Energy Business Review said that Black & Veatch, which opened an office in Yangon recently, had been contracted by Green Earth Power to "provide design and consultancy services" on the project. The company, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, has reported annual revenues of some $3.6 billion, and specializes in infrastructure development projects. The report quoted Black & Veatch's general manager in Burma, Pitak Wangvarangkoon, saying that the project would help toward the Burmese government's goal of building 30,000 megawatts of power generation capacity by 2030. "Drawing on our deep experience in renewable energy, power generation, water and oil & gas, we are well positioned to support the goal and bring in the full depth and breadth of our regional expertise," the manager was quoted saying. Korean Cable Firm Wins Power Ministry Contract South Korean manufacturer LS Cable & System has won a $13 million contract to supply transmission cables to Burma's Ministry of Electric Power, according to a Korea Times report. The outlet reported that the deal represented half of the ministry's annual cable purchases, and was the largest contract to supply cables ever awarded in Burma. The South Korean firm's Vietnamese subsidiary signed will sign a deal with the Burmese government, it said. Citing a statement from the company, the Korea Times said the company won the contract ahead of bidders from China and Indonesia, as well as Burmese competitors. "We could become the sole contractor as we have been highly rated in technology as well as in price competitiveness, which was secured through the Vietnamese subsidiary," the company reportedly said. "In the past, Myanmar’s Ministry of Electric Power used to split its orders among three or four cable makers." The post The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Oct. 24, 2015) appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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