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The Nation (9-12-99)



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<font size=3D5><b>Burma students brace for campus reopening<br>
<br>
</font></b><font size=3D3>RANGOON </font><font size=3D1>
</font><font size=3D3>Hundreds of thousands of Burmese students are
anxiously preparing to return to their books for the first time since the
military closed campuses amid unrest three years ago.<br>
Some classes are set to resume from mid-December after the ruling State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) indicated this week that the closed
institutions would soon be reopened.<br>
=93I should have been a university third-year student by now,=94 said Ma
Khaing who passed his university entrance in 1996.<br>
Maung Maung was a second-year student when classes were suspended at the
Yangon Institute of Technology (YIT), once a hotbed of unrest in the
capital.<br>
=93We are just longing to pursue our studies at the regular classes
suspended three years ago,=94 Maung Mating said.<br>
Some third-year and fourth-year YIT students said they had been told to
contact the institute to join classes expected to reopen in mid-December.
But they added that they had been told they could no longer attend
classes at the campus in Rangoon.<br>
They will have to go instead to three satellite towns on Rangoon=92s
outskirts where campuses have been relocated, diplomats say, to get
potentially restive student groups out of the capital.<br>
=93I don=92t mind where it will be as long as I can pursue my studies
peacefully without further interruption,=94 said a student.<br>
In December 1996, students unleashed pent-up anger against the
authorities at some campuses and on the streets of Rangoon.<br>
The military; unnerved by the spread of the unrest to other cities in the
worst protests since a bloody student-led pro-democracy uprising in 1988,
promptly closed over 30 institutions a few days before final
examinations.<br>
Over 100,000 students were affected in a move which drew howls of
disapproval from the opposition National League for Democracy led by
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.<br>
Meanwhile, a senior member of of the military regime has told a news
magazine that the government regards Suu Kyi as a =93little sister=94 and
said she should stop confronting authorities.<br>
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt was quoted in the Dec 17 issue of <i>Asiaweek
</i>magazine as citing unspecified =93terrorist threats=94 for the reason th=
e
regime refuses to let Suu Kyi leave Rangoon.<br>
Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, lives under tight
restrictions in her homeland, and was twice stopped for days on a road
outside the capital last year when she tried to visit supporters
upcountry.<br>
=93We regard Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a younger sister,=94 Khin Nyunt was
quoted as telling <i>Asiaweek. </i>Extracts of the interview were sent to
news organisations yesterday. Daw is an honorific.<br>
=93I have no personal animosity toward her and it is my earnest hope that
she will change her totally negative and confrontational attitude against
us, which is also negatively affecting the entire nation,=94 Khin Nyunt was
quoted as saying.<br>
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</font><font size=3D5><b>PTT seeks to delay Burma gas delivery<br>
</font></b><font face=3D"arial" size=3D3>CITING the economic crisis, the
Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) has asked the Industry Ministry to
negotiate with the developer of Burma's Yetakun gas field to postpone the
delivery of 140 million cubic feet (mcf) of gas per day as scheduled in
the second phase. <br>
In the first phase, the PTT will accept 200 mcf per day from July 1, 2000
and raise it to 260 mcf per day after a month. <br>
According to the contract, delivery will gradually increase to 400 mcf
per day in 2003. <br>
In order to avoid problems in the second phase, the PTT wants the
Industry Ministry to postpone acceptance of delivery so that it is not
subject to the ''take-or-pay'' clause in the contract. <br>
Informed sources said PTT is likely to face constraints in buying gas for
the next four to five years due to the economic crisis, which has
significantly affected demand projections. <br>
Yesterday, Steve Lowden of Premier Oil, Ismail Omar of Petronas, and T
Konishi of Nippon Oil, who are shareholders of the Yetakun project,
discussed with Industry Minister Suwat Lipatapanlop PTT's readiness to
take delivery of the gas. <br>
UK-registered Premier Oil holds 26.6 per cent in the Yetakun project;
Nippon Oil 14.2 per cent; PTTEPI, a unit of PTT Exploration and
Production 14.2 per cent; MOGE of Burma 15 per cent; and Petronas 30 per
cent. <br>
Suwat said the officials are worried because the Ratchaburi power plant
is not yet operational and there could be problems similar to the Yadana
gas field in Burma, when PTT was unable to accept deliveries and was
subject to the take-or-pay clause in the contract. <br>
Although the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, the developer
of the Ratchaburi power plant, was asked to speed up the signing of a gas
purchase contract with PTT in August, there has been no progress so far,
according to Suwat. <br>
Arnon Sirisaengthaksin, a senior official of PTT responsible for natural
gas business, said the Yetakun field will be able to deliver gas
according to the contract, especially after reserves estimates were upped
from 1.1 trillion cubic feet to 2.92 trillion cubic feet in January this
year. <br>
He said the PTT will have no problem accepting gas from July 1, provided
the Ratchaburi power plant's thermal and gas turbine units are completed
by then. <br>
In addition to 200 mcf of gas from Yetakun, the PTT has to take delivery
of 500 mcf of gas from the Yadana field from July onwards. The gas will
then be delivered to the Ratchaburi and Tri Energy power plants via the
Ratchaburi-Wang Noi pipeline. <br>
''If things proceed as scheduled, gas delivery from Yetakun during the
first phase will pose no problem,'' he said. <br>
BY WATCHARAPONG THONGRUNG <br>
The Nation<br>
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<font size=3D5><b>Thai officials to visit Burma on fishing row<br>
</font></b><font size=3D3>THAI authorities plan to send a delegation to
Burma later this month to seek a compromise after Burma revoked fishing
licences issued to Thai fishermen in October, Foreign Ministry spokesman
Don Pramudwinai said yesterday<br>
The team, to be headed by Fisheries Department deputy director general
Sompong Hiranwat, is scheduled to leave on Dec 20 and is awaiting
confirmation from Rangoon.<br>
=91The team=92s agenda is to solve the remaining fishery problems we have
with Burma,=94 Don said. =91They are expected to discuss the possibility of
rescinding the cancellation order,=94 he added.<br>
Burma revoked all fishing licences in retaliation for Thailand=92s release
of five Burmese students who seized the Burmese embassy in Bangkok in
October, in exchange for dozens of hostages.<br>
Burma also reacted by sealing off all border checkpoints with Thailand.
The Burmese leadership later relented and reopened the checkpoints after
Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan visited<br>
Rangoon to discuss the matter in November.<br>
But the fishery problems remain unsolved.<br>
Don said that Sompong=92s mission would be followed later by a more
high-powered delegation, to be led possibly by Agriculture and
Cooperatives Minister Pongpol Adireksarn, if the negotiations are
fruitful.<br>
During Surin=92s November visit to Rangoon, Burma=92s secretary-general Gen
Khin Nyunt said that his country did not resist Thailand=92s repatriation
of Burmese illegal immigrants as was reported by the Thai media.<br>
Khin Nyunt was reported as saying that Burma=92s agricultural sector was
short of workers, enabling the Burmese repatriated from Thailand to fill
the void.<br>
Thailand deported tens of thousands of illegal Burmese workers, but Khin
Nyunt also claimed that the repatriated workers had returned to
Thailand.<br>
There are also plans to send a mission to Rangoon to discuss the
possibility of Burmese nationals working in Thailand legally. At present,
Burmese </font><font size=3D1>&nbsp; </font><font size=3D3>authorities allow
skilled workers to work in Singapore and Malaysia.<br>
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