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BurmaNet News: March 18, 2001
- Subject: BurmaNet News: March 18, 2001
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 11:30:00
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
March 18, 2001 Issue # 1758
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
INSIDE BURMA _______
*DVB: Rangoon mum about 15 Mar bomb explosion at Kemmendine railway
station
*DVB : Laid off workers stage protest at tyre factory in southeast Burma
*Mizzima: Burma starts using GSM phones
*DVB: Karen rebels free over 900 labourers in attack on Burmese
government camp
*The Nation: A New Burmese Election Without Aung San Suu Kyi?
*Muslim Information Centre of Burma : Mosque Imam killed by junta in
Burma
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*The Nation: Speed pills from Burma seized
*The Nation: PM Lauded for Taking on Burma
ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*KNU Mergui-Tavoy District Information Department: SPDC's Oil Palm
Plantation
OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*The Nation: Burma up to its Old Trick of Niggling Thais
OTHER______
*CFOB: Ottawa Event of Student Rights in Burma
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
DVB: Rangoon mum about 15 Mar bomb explosion at Kemmendine railway
station
March 18, 2001
Democratic Voice of Burma [DVB] has learned that there was a bomb
explosion at Kemmendine railway station in Rangoon at 2130 on 15 March.
According to local people from Kemmendine Township, the bomb explosion
was very strong and the extent of the damage is still not known. DVB has
also learned that the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] has not
issued any official report regarding the bomb explosion.
___________________________________________________
DVB : Laid off workers stage protest at tyre factory in southeast Burma
Laid off workers stage protest at tyre factory in southeast Burma
Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 16 March
DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] has learned that there was a protest at
the Kanthayar Motorcar Tyre Factory in Thaton Township, Mon State. The
protest was staged by a group of redundant workers seeking compensation.
DVB correspondent Myint Maung Maung filed this report.
[Myint Maung Maung] A motorcar tyre factory with a capacity to produce
500 assorted sizes of tyres daily was opened in 1996 by the Ministry of
Industry-2 at Kanthayar Village in Thaton Township. The factory was
unable to perform its routine manufacturing tasks in 1999 due to
shortage of fuel oil and raw materials. Daily wagers, who are unskilled
workers, were retrenched on 18 February 2000 while 120 grade-5, grade-4,
and grade-3 skilled workers were cut back on 27 May 2000. The remaining
30 grade-2 and grade-1 skilled workers were retained and ordered to sell
the manufactured tyres.
The Ministry of industry-2 issued an announcement on 25 February 2001
that 19 grade-2 skilled workers were discharged of their duties. The
announcement also said that the laid off workers who are interested in
other clerical positions within the ministry will be accepted for
transfer. But, those workers who were cut back earlier and the current
laid off workers did not receive any compensation.
It was learned that old workers from Thaton together with the
recently-retrenched workers staged a peaceful protest in front of the
factory from 1100 to 1600 [local time] on 13 March seeking severance pay
or compensation pay. Thaton District authorities and No 5 Military
Intelligence Unit arrived at the factory and told the protesters that
they can submit a petition to the Ministry of Industry-2 and another to
the Ministry of Labour. According to workers from Thaton Township, the
authorities urged them to stop the protest which could affect regional
security and asked the protesters to disperse.
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt 16 Mar 01
___________________________________________________
Mizzima: Burma starts using GSM phones
Rangoon, March 18, 2001
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)
Burma has started using the Global System of Mobile Communications (GSM)
phones in major cities of the country although it still circles around
the top businesspersons and military officials. Last year, Sky-Link
Communications of the Virgin Islands was commissioned by the Burmese
government to supply 135,000 GSM phones.
The government announced in March last year that it intended to launch
GSM network in the country, starting Rangoon and Mandalay in two months
and a further six towns to be covered by the end of 2000.
However, it was delayed till last month then only the government started
launching the GSM phones.
It has sanctioned to have 70,000 lines and 30,000 lines respectively
available in Rangoon and Mandalay, the two major cities of Burma.
Some other major cities including Myitkyina, Moulmein, Bhamo, Taunggyi,
Sittwe and Prome have access to GSM network as well.
A GSM phone in Burma officially costs Burmese Kyat 5 lakhs (US $ one
thousand). However, it costs around Kyat 7 lakhs in black market. At
present only a few people
are using the GSM phones.
Apart from the GSM, Burma has been using cell phones, connected to CDMA
(Code Dialing Multiple Access).
___________________________________________________
DVB: Karen rebels free over 900 labourers in attack on Burmese
government camp
Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 15 March
About 50 members of the Karen National Union, KNU, 6th Brigade attacked
the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] No 4 Central Training
Camp at Wegali near Thanbyuzayat. Three SPDC soldiers including one
captain were killed in the 30-minute battle while the remaining SPDC
soldiers fled the camp. Democratic Voice of Burma, DVB, contacted KNU
Secretary Phado Mahn Shar and inquired about the attack.
[Phado Mahn Shar] A company from the 16th Battalion of the KNU 6th
Brigade attacked No 4 Central Training Camp at Wegali, southeast of
Thanbyuzayat. It is very close to Thanbyuzayat, I think it is about
three or four miles. The camp is also responsible for the security of
the Wegali Dam construction project nearby. When we attacked the camp in
the early hours of the morning on 6 [March], we captured U Tint Lwin,
deputy chief engineer of Public Works, together with three bodies of
SPDC soldiers including one captain. We seized 120 barrels of diesel
oil. Other things which we seized included 11 big bulldozers, seven
[?McCall] bulldozers, six loader trucks, three scraper trucks, five
roller trucks, one earth levelling truck, three blower trucks, seven
dumpers, four water trucks, two [?paving] trucks, two army trucks, and
95 other small cars. We destroyed over 40 trucks and cars. We also
destroyed all 120 barrels of diesel oil. Our troops freed over 900
workers whom the SPDC has forcibly recruited from all over the country.
We let them return home.
[DVB correspondent] Do you have plans to release the deputy chief
engineer and all?
[Phado Mahn Shar] Yes. They are well looked after. They will be released
when the time comes. We have a prisoner of war policy. Anyone captured
on the battleground will be released.
[DVB correspondent] Now that you have released all the civilians from
all parts of the country, how did they all go back?
[Phado Mahn Shar] Well, the civilians went back to their respective
homes by their own means, helping each other. We can only liberate them,
we cannot send them back directly to their homes. But the people
themselves have pity and consideration for each other and they help one
another. We believe they will all reach their homes safely.
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt 15 Mar 01
___________________________________________________
The Nation: a New Burmese Election Without Aung San Suu Kyi?
Sunday, March 18, 2001
Ko Ko Thett
>From what has leaked out about the discreet talks between the Burmese
military junta and the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, it's now
more obvious that the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Suu Kyi
has been subjected by arm-twisting by the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC). Both parties, having been engaged in a political
deadlock for more than a decade, and watched by an international
audience, are now like two exhausted and wounded roosters at the
beginning of the end of a Burmese cockfight.
First, that the military has to "be provided with immunity from
prosecution for past abuses" so as to establish an interim government
with Suu Kyi's NLD is rather demanding on the part of the junta which
has ruthlessly practised atrocities against its own people since 1962.
The military turned a deaf ear when, in 1998, marking the 10th
anniversary of the 1988 Burmese peoples' uprising, the exiled opposition
leaders, echoing Suu Kyi, said they were ready to consider a "blanket
amnesty" for the generals who should be sent to international tribunals.
Why not then? And why now?
Even bystanders in Asean have now lost confidence in the military
administration and they are showing a willingness to help the junta pave
the way to democracy. The junta has given in because they just couldn't
resist. There remains a question: Will the people of Burma who, unlike
serene politicians, have suffered most from the junta, easily forgive
and forget the past abuses inflicted upon them?
Another military condition is also quite demanding, that "Suu Kyi give
up any personal ambition and not take a direct role in any civilian
government".
"Whether or not Suu Kyi takes a seat in future civilian government is
her personal matter. But do you see anyone else who could reconcile the
ethnic minorities, the junta and the opposition groups?" asks Thar Swe,
an exiled student.
The last condition, as far as we've learned, is the most demanding and
could be the most dangerous. This is to drop the "NLD's insistence that
its landslide victory in the 1990 election be honoured".
Than Shwe, head of the SPDC, in a meeting with Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohammed of Malaysia in January, hinted that there would be no new
election in the next two years.
There was not a single day in which Myanmar (Burma) Radio and Television
from 1998 to the end of 2000 did not air the forced resignations and
forced denouncements of NLD members.
The SPDC's hidden agenda is getting clearer now. When ready and
confident again, they will sponsor another election in which their own
party will contend with the NLD without the charismatic Suu Kyi.
___________________________________________________
Muslim Information Centre of Burma : Mosque Imam killed by junta in
Burma
March 2001
On December, 15, 2000, junta?s military officers shot the Imam of mosque
in the head, killing him. The shooting occurred in the compound of
mosque in Karen state of Burma. The military officers led by Captain Soe
Hla of Light Infantry Battalion No.28 came to the Kyauk Taung village
mosque and asked the Imam, U Sulaiman ( about 37 years old) to go as
porter. The Imam of the mosque requested the authorities to spare him
from portering, as it was the month of Ramadan, Islam fasting month.
However, the military officers shot him dead. Kyauk Taung village is in
Pa-an township, Karen state.
Troops from the regime affiliated Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA)
also shoot a Muslim for refusing porter duties during Ramadan On
November, 15, 2000, the DKBA shot a Burmese Muslim in the compound of a
mosque in southern Karen State for refusing to work as a porter. When
this 45 years old Imam asked to be spared from forced labor, he was shot
in the head by seven DKBA soldiers and left dead in the mosque compound.
According to a Karen merchant, the DKBA soldiers were led by Major Maung
Than Nu who shot the Imam. The Imam, U De Ta was cleaning the Lat
Padan village mosque as well as its compound, when DKBA soldiers came to
the mosque.Lat Padan village is in Pa-an township, Karen State. DKBA is
a militant group supported by the military junta.
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
The Nation: Speed pills from Burma seized
Filed at 12 : 17 pm (THLD time)
MAE SAI, March 16 (The Nation) -- Army troops this morning arrested a
village headman and seized 1.2 million of speed pills which the suspect
and two other accomplices had smuggled into the northern province of
Chiang Rai from Burma's Thachilek province.
The village headman, identified as Anan Techaweesak of Tambon Sri Don
Moon in Chiang Rai's Chiang Saen district, was charged with possession
of illicit drug with intent to sell.
Soldiers intercepted the pickup truck in which the suspect and two
others were travelling in Mae Sai district near the Burmese border. Two
other suspects managed to escape.
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
The Nation: PM Lauded for Taking on Burma
Sunday, March 18, 2001
SOPON ONKGARA
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, trying to fulfil his campaign
promises, works hard to be perceived truly as a fast-action man who
expects prompt results under his policy directives. After taking office
less than a month ago, he has been steering his national agenda towards
achievement with a series of crisis meetings, though solid results have
yet to be appreciated by the public.
He faces tough tasks, of course, and many challenges on vital fronts
look threatening. His impressive track record and success in business,
making him the wealthiest man in the country, don't seem to count for
much when it comes to the burden of managing affairs of state.
Thaksin knows that he has to live up to expectations. At least, a
certain degree of public sentiment is in his favour. He has gained a lot
of sympathy following the explosion on a Thai International aircraft. It
looked as if somebody wanted him dead, though that has yet to be proved
through investigation. Well, there is nothing wrong if he intends to
make the most out of the incident and the yet inconclusive probe.
The way he has managed to wrap up key issues with speed certainly has
raised many eyebrows. The plan on a national assets management
corporation was sealed in about a week, followed by fast action with
strategic meetings on drug suppression and low farm commodity prices.
Then he will move on to tackle the village revolving fund, the debt
suspension programme, health care and other issues.
His management style is utterly impressive, compared with his dithering
and slow-moving predecessor Chuan Leekpai.
Supporters tend to give him a big thumbs-up. The picture looks good.
Well, actual results might take more time, like the wartime motto of the
American Sea Bees - the impossible just takes a little longer.
Well, if he can produce results within a reasonable period of time, then
a lot of people would see a stark difference between Thaksin and other
run-of-the-mill politicians. On the contrary, if the success remains
just media hype with no solid and tangible results, then he is likely to
be asked: "Where is the meat?"
Some are inclined to think, with growing concern, that Thaksin is biting
off much more than he can chew within a short period. That could lead to
a rearrangement of priorities and reallocation of resources.
Local problems aside - such as his warning over an impending second
economic crisis, which requires serious efforts to handle with limited
resources - he has also taken on the long-standing problem of the
relationship with Burma. From testy exchanges of tough words, people are
seeing a limited scale of armed confrontation, including a Burmese
patrol boat shooting at a Thai fishing trawler on the high seas.
The conflict with Burma is the first test of Thaksin's diplomatic
skills. His tough talk and sabre rattling are quite in contrast with his
nature as a businessman, who instinctively prefers a solution through
negotiations and horse-trading.
His tough talk, based on anger over the spreading sales of amphetamine
tablets, known locally as "the mad drug", struck a responsive chord
among the public. Thaksin got a lot of support for his stance that
Thailand should take no more nonsense from Rangoon, considering the size
of the drug-producing region, with Mong Yawn as the key town.
The aerial pictures of Mong Yawn, which has been expanding rapidly in
the past few years, should give any viewer a shock. Most of the capital
spent on the enlargement of residential areas and basic infrastructure
came from Thailand, the major market for the mad drug and the conduit
for it to reach world markets. This year, the Red Wa in a satellite
enclave just immediately inside the Burmese border are expected to
produce 500-600 million pills, worth up to Bt50 billion at street
prices.
Well, maybe Thaksin should be given public support in his campaign
against the Red Wa. The country's overall stability depends much on the
extent of the flow of narcotics from Burma, which has been turning a
blind eye to what has been going on in its drug-producing regions. But
he must make sure that his brash style does not upset military strategy
and plans to cope with a large-scale armed confrontation, if not actual
clashes, in the future if bilateral negotiations fail to improve the
situation.
Burma's position in the world is quite odd. The country is among the 10
Asean members, but it is more or less portrayed as a pariah state in the
international community, due to its human rights abuses and a military
junta with blood-soaked hands. It stands out like a sore thumb among
Asean members, even when compared with Cambodia.
As of now, Thaksin seems to understand Thailand's position, and where he
intends the country to be in a soured relationship with Burma. He stands
to win loud applause if his efforts eventually become successful in
ending or minimising the drug traffic from Burma. It does not matter how
he achieves it, through negotiations or armed confrontation, if he
produces desirable results.
He won the general election with a crafty campaign strategy. The public
expects him to apply the same skills in his campaign against the mad
drug produced by the Red Wa who have received tacit, if not blatant,
support from the junta in Rangoon.
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
KNU Mergui-Tavoy District Information Department: SPDC's Oil Palm
Plantation
Karen National Union
17 March, 2001
02#01
FORCED LABOUR
16.2.2001
Since in the month of January SPDC have started it's oil palm plantation
plan in Tanawthiri township (Taninthayi) in Mergui district, Tenasserim
division. The planned area to clear are in the surroundings of
Thaboleik, Leikpu, Htihpo-awmay, Kabawplaw villages in the east of
Taninthayi town and the villagers from those related villages were
ordered to clear the plantation site. The area of plantation was not
known yet. SPDC authorities are working for 'Yan Naing Myint Co.' and at
the work site Oo Sann Myint and Oo Kyi Yan are leading the work as
managers. For security SPDC had ordered their Pyi Thu Sit (local
militia) to take responsible and Oo Kyaw Naing is leading those
military. SPDC had ordered all the local village tracts nearby to plant
the oil palm sapling when the site was ready. Every household must go
and plant the sapling from the beginning to the end.
_______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________
The Nation: Burma up to its Old Trick of Niggling Thais
Saturday, March 17, 2001
Editorial
The Burmese junta leaders' decision to close down a temporary crossing
opposite Kanchanaburi's Sangkla Buri District, ostensibly as retaliation
for the Thaksin administration's crackdown on drug trafficking, will not
be the last. Even though it was reopened yesterday, there's nothing to
say that it could be closed down again at any time upon the whim of the
generals. This trend will continue until Thailand's decision-makers give
way under pressure. Why? Because the generals want to play games with
the Thaksin government and its policies.
For years, this has been the pattern of Thai-Burmese relations,
especially since 1988 when there was more interaction between the two
countries. The crossing in Sangkla Buri is one of 12 temporary border
checkpoints that dot the 2,401 kilometre-long frontier.
These border passes are mainly meant to help people living along the
border to undertake trade and other things. It would be an interesting
development were Burma in the future to completely seal off the three
international checkpoints, one of which the junta has already refused to
open.
Burma is trying to blackmail Thailand, especially those gullible
businessmen and provincial officials with vested interests. Every time
Burma closes one checkpoint, there is an immediate outcry from this
group. In the past, it would rattle the decision makers.
But this time around it remains to be seen whether it will be the Thais
or the Burmese who break first. Though this action of sealing off a
border crossing can hurt the locals reliant upon daily trade and
people-to-people contacts, ultimately it can only affect the Burmese
more. Of late, Burma's ties with India and Bangladesh have improved and
the junta therefore can utilise more of these types of crossings with
its western neighbours.
However, most of the essentials that the Burmese need are to be found in
Thailand.
These efforts to create economic strangulation will not work if the Thai
authorities carefully consider the junta's tactics. The shooting
incident involving a Thai trawler on Wednesday was nothing new either,
as this sort of thing happens quite frequently, whether there are border
incidents elsewhere or not. Sometimes, Burmese fishermen working on the
Thai trawlers are the victims of the junta's aggression.
The border situation seems tense as both sides are manoeuvring
themselves into a corner. Thailand has long declared war on drugs, but
this latest move is possibly the hardest strike yet at Burma's
intransigence and its refusal to cooperate on narcotics suppression.
With the junta raising the stakes, Deputy Prime Minister General
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who is also the defence minister, apparently is
preparing for a visit to Burma. He foolishly believes that he alone can
ease the tension and solve demarcation problems. He must be out his mind
to think that the Burmese leaders, who are facing mounting economic
trouble, will respond to his personal diplomacy.
The junta knows that Chavalit wants to prove to his fellow countrymen
that he has been right all along. Yes, it is quite possible that he will
have some success because he and the Burmese military leaders are old
chums. But it is impossible to expect, given the intransigence of the
junta, that he will achieve anything but short-term, band-aid solutions.
Making things that much more difficult between Thailand and Burma have
been certain statements emanating from Rangoon's embassy in Bangkok,
which went a bit too far in criticising the Armed Forces and the Thai
government. The criticisms were a breach of protocol under international
standards.
The junta has resorted to these niggling tactics time and again because
they have proven to work against successive prevaricating
administrations. Will it be the same this time?
Far too often we have seen the unity and solidarity of Thai authorities
put to the test by the wily junta. If the new government is serious
about combating the drug menace, then it will have to hang tough as the
Burmese generals try once again to play their little games of
brinkmanship.
______________________OTHER______________________
CFOB: Ottawa Event of Student Rights in Burma
Canadian Friends of Burma
STUDENT RIGHTS IN BURMA
Come and learn more about the repression of students in Burma ¡ and
raise your voice to release Min Ko Naing and other student political
prisoners! Then join the caravan, which will leave after the speakers'
presentations from the University to deliver the signed postcards to the
Burmese Embassy at 85 Range Road.
Refreshments will be served.
When: March 21 at 12: 00pm
Where: University of Ottawa, Agora Lounge, Jock-Turcot University Center
----------------------
Speakers:
Ken Wiwa, Nigerian journalist and human rights activist, author of æIn
the Shadow of a Saint', has traveled to Burma and met Aung San Suu Kyi
Warren Allmand, President of Rights & Democracy, has met with
pro-democracy groups on the Thai-Burmese border
Tin Maung Htoo, student activist and former political prisoner colleague
of Min Ko Naing
Jean-Michel Archambault-Cyr, a Canadian student who risked arrest to
participate in an education forum in Burma organised by Aung San Suu Kyi
's National League for Democracy
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