[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

The BurmaNet News: March 19, 1999



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: March 19, 1999
Issue #1231

HEADLINES:
==========
ABSDF: MILITARY BACKED PARTY BEGINS CAMPAIGNING 
BURMA ISSUES: CIVIL SERVANTS AND CEMETARIES 
MIC: INFORMATION SHEET NO. A-0839 (I) 
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE: PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT 
SHAN STATES ARMY: STATEMENT 
REUTERS: ASEAN-EU TIES TESTED BY MYANMAR 
LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR: THE GUARDIAN ANGELS OF TOTAL 
AFP: BURMA COMES BACK 
****************************************************************

ABSDF: MILITARY BACKED PARTY BEGINS CAMPAIGNING IN ABSENCE OF NLD
17 March, 1999 

Media Release - 17/99

The political party supported by Burma's military junta has commenced
election campaigning.

In early March 1999 the National Unity Party (NUP), formerly the Burma
Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), commenced its campaign in the wake of
forced resignations and detention of numerous National League for Democracy
(NLD) Members of Parliament by the junta.

According to sources a former colonel and executive of the NUP, Saw Kyaw
Khin Win, met with NUP supporters in Kawkareik, Karen State on March 4. He
told the small gathering that the NLD had become very weak following the
mass resignations and that the NUP must begin preparations for the next
election, should there be one. He also mentioned that party members should
assist the military regime, as considerable progress had been made during
its rule.

The BSPP was dismantled during the mass demonstrations in 1988 and a new
political known as the NUP was established in its place. As the state
party, the BSPP's assets were the property of the state.  However, contrary
to the existing laws, the Burmese military handed over BSPP finances,
buildings and other important materials to the NUP.  Despite the junta's
26-year period of socialist rule and the NUP's backing from the military,
however, the party won only 10 seats in the parliamentary elections in
1990, while the NLD gained 392 seats.

The NUP contested and lost all 14 constituencies in Karen State. Saw Khin
Kyaw Win, who was an NUP candidate and former Chairman of the Karen State
BSPP, was defeated by an NLD candidate by a large margin. The NLD
candidate, Saw Chit Than, was forced to resign from Parliament in early 1992.

****************************************************************

BURMA ISSUES: IN RANGOON: CIVIL SERVANTS AND CEMETERIES
February, 1999 Vol.9 Number 2

The Following information was received in February from a Burma Issues
associate who was recently in Rangoon. This associate previously reported
on general conditions there, ["The Inside Perspective ", BI, January 1997].
By this most recent account all sectors of Burma's ailing social
infrastructure have continued to deteriorate since then.

Civil Service 

A relative of mine is working as a government clerk. He earns 1000 Kyats
per month [about U.S.$3], but currently only works a couple of days per
week, as his division was closed and consolidated into another, so at
present there are no specific tasks for him. Although he works less, he
gets the same wage. It costs him 30 Kyats to travel to and from work per
day (by bus) so his net salary is 760 Kyats. At his old work site he used
to have to take three different buses, which cost 90 Kyats per day. He is
staying on at work as he has only a few more years until he receives his
pension. The pension is set at half the regular wage, so will probably be
500 Kyats. On his spare days he does subsistence labor work if available,
such as sanding and polishing new furniture, for which he can earn up to
300 Kyats per day. Since he moved location about 6 months ago, he hasn't
received his rice subsidy. He was told that as his new site was going to be
"temporary" he wouldn't receive it until new specific duties are assigned
him. Now, however, his new site has been made "permanent", so he has been
told that he should receive it in a month or so. He receives about 14 pyi
[approximately 8 1/2 gallons] at a discounted rate [usually about half the
market price].


Although he is one who has been exempted from going to work 3 days a week,
most civil service employees don't turn up for work regularly anyway. Many
do things on the side, such as acting as real estate agents and brokers for
deals involving some kind of government bureaucracy and documentation. The
division heads are happy not to have their employees turning up, as their
own corrupt activities are not scrutinized. Under the tender system the
government operates, if a division head opens a tender for materials
purchases to traders, he'll receive a lot of bribes from those trying to
get the tender. Also, when absent employees return from whatever other
activities they've been doing, they'll have presents for him. Anyway, the
heads understand that their subordinates aren't able to survive on the
civil service wages and have to look for other income like this. So at the
moment, it's not uncommon to see only the heads of divisions in otherwise
empty offices.

Land Values 

The price of land in and around Rangoon is rising continually. My relatives
were forced from a residence they had lived in since after nationalization
[post-1962] and in spite of attempts through the courts to receive
compensation, got only a few thousand Kyats. They bought a place near a
road in a new satellite town north of Rangoon for 130,000 Kyats a little
over a year ago. This year, someone offered 700,000 for it. The person who
bought the land [when the town was opened up] in 1994 paid 10,000 Kyats.

There is a big Christian cemetery at Sawbwakyigone, a little north of
Rangoon, that has been under threat from developers. In early 1997, the
area was going to be bought, so people said, by Khun Sa. Orders were given
for people to get permits to go and dig up their relatives and relocate
them before the bulldozers were to move in. Some began doing this. But
Buddhists believe that the spirits also need to be physically relocated,
and so there is a standard practice in Burma when moving a graveyard to
bring along the spirits too. A passenger car is driven to the site and all
the spirits are called to climb aboard and be taken to the new gravesites.
People who have seen this procedure say that although the car is apparently
empty it gets heavier and heavier until, when full with spirits, it is
driven to the new location. Sometimes two or three trips are required. If
the spirits seem reluctant to come, the car driver encourages them about
the new site, such as saying that they've got video there. But at
Sawbwakyigone the car didn't get heavier, it seems that the spirits were
very obstinate about staying put. For that reason, Khun Sa, among others,
didn't buy the land.

However, in 1998 the land was bought by a Korean company. People were again
sent orders to relocate their dead. But it appears the Koreans didn't know
about the land they had bought [or their agents didn't inform them],
because when they came to inspect the site, they were shocked to discover
it to be a cemetery, and they cancelled their development plans. They said
that the community could continue to use the land as a cemetery. I don't
know whether or not they transferred the title deeds though.


Conclusion 

In my opinion, civil servants are being denied their right to an adequate
wage. The salary they receive is not sufficient to meet their expenses,
therefore they usually have to find other sources of income. Those who are
clever can make quite a lot of money in other ways, but those who are not
have a lot of problems. Although they can do the work required of them
competently, their lives do not have stability. They lack financial
security and must live from day to day.

Growing consolidation of land among the wealthy means that the "have-nots"
have less and less. The "haves" are increasingly greedy and as the
"have-nots" suffer so much oppression they just feel satisfied with
whatever little they are able to accumulate. For the landowners, land is
just investment, but for all the people who have lost their land and have
no money this attitude is creating great problems. Agents in land
transactions also take their share of the proceeds without any regard for
whatever problems people might be having. That is the condition of our
society these days.


****************************************************************

MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE: INFORMATION SHEET NO. A-0839 (I) 
18 March, 1999 


[Information Sheets issued under the email addresses MYANPERSP@xxxxxxx and
OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx match those issued by the Directorate of Defence
Services Intelligence (DDSI) in Rangoon, and can be assumed to reflect
official SPDC opinion.]

Government of Myanmar Offers Assistance to Aung San Su Kyi to Join Dying
Husband

The Government of Myanmar has learned with great sadness of the illness of
Dr. Michael Aris, the husband of Aung San Suu Kyi, Secretary General of the
National League for Democracy. 

Dr. Aris has requested a visa to Myanmar to see his wife which the
government is currently reviewing. 

Dr. Aris' medical condition is extremely grave, however, and Government
health authorities are surprised that he would request such a difficult
trip at this time. Dr Aris has been hopitalized with prostate cancer which
has spread to his spine and lungs, and according to a published report,
would be unlikely to survive the trip. 

To undertake a trip to Myanmar under such conditions, therefore, would
appear to be both irresponsible and inhumane, and the Government is
reluctant to encourage or endorse such an action. 

As a more sensible alternative, the Government of Myanmar suggests that Ms.
Suu Kyi who is in perfect health travel to England to respond to her
husband's dying wish to see her. She has so far refused to go. 

The Government will provide Ms. Su Kyi with all possible assistance in
joining her husband, if she decides to go.

****************************************************************

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
11, March 1999 

Office of the Spokesman

Thailand

For security reasons, the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok has advised all U.S.
Government employees and their family members not to travel for any purpose
to certain parts of two northern provinces in Thailand. This restriction on
personal and official travel by U.S. Government personnel and their
families is due to a kidnapping threat that has been made against Drug
Enforcement Administration and other U.S. Government officials by drug
traffickers. The travel restriction applies to the area of Chiang Mai
Province north of the town of Fang and the area of Chiang Rai Province
north of the city of Chiang Rai.


American citizens traveling to or residing in these provinces of northern
Thailand are urged to review their personal security in light of the above.
American citizens may also obtain additional information about travel in
Thailand on the U.S. Embassy's web site at http://www.usa.or.th or by
contacting the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok (tel: 66-2-205-4000) or the U.S.
Consulate General in Chiang Mai (tel: 66-53-252-629).

For further information on travel to Thailand, please consult the Consular
Information Sheet for Thailand which is available on the Internet at
http://travel.state.gov, or as recorded information by calling the
Department of State in Washington, DC at (202) 647-5225 from a touch-tone
telephone or by telefax by dialing (202) 647-3000 from your fax machine.

This Public Announcement expires on April 30, 1999

****************************************************************

SHAN STATES ARMY: STATEMENT
18 March, 1999

Shan States Army
Office of Central Command

We have received news that the United States Embassy has issued a warning
to its citizens not to travel in the Fang and Chiang Rai area as there is
supposed to be danger of being kidnapped by the Shans. We want to hereby
state that we have no such intentions whatsoever and it is a lie put out by
the Burmese regime. The American people are not our enemies; in fact we are
willing to co-operate with the international community. This is a trick by
the Burmese military to destroy our image. Our struggle is only against the
Burmese dictatorship.

****************************************************************

REUTERS: ASEAN-EU TIES TESTED BY MYANMAR
17 March, 1999 By Nick Edwards

SINGAPORE, March 17 (Reuters) - Myanmar may have emerged as a major test of
relations between the European Union (EU) and Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) but the issue will cause no long term damage, experts
said on Tuesday.

The scheduled March 30 meeting in Berlin of foreign ministers from the two
blocs looks certain to be scrapped because of a row over Myanmar's
participation, but the frantic efforts to save it underline the importance
both sides place on the relationship.

``We feel very strongly that this is an important meeting and we want it to
go ahead and find a way around this. The meeting is a very important forum
to exchange ideas. To lose that would be very unfortunate,'' an Asia-based
European diplomat told Reuters.

The fate of the meeting appeared to have been sealed on Tuesday when ASEAN
secretary general, Rodolfo Severino said foreign ministers from the
nine-member group would not meet EU counterparts without Myanmar's foreign
minister Win Aung.


EU nations will not grant entry visas to high-ranking Myanmar officials
because of the country's human rights record and would prevent his
attendance at the meeting.

The issue has been a sticking point since Yangon joined ASEAN 18 months ago
and diplomats have searched in vain for a solution.

``There are hardline opinions on both sides. ASEAN will not compromise on
Myanmar's participation and the EU will not compromise its stance on human
rights. It's a stalemate,'' said John Avila, political economist at
Manila's Centre for Research and Communications.


Western diplomats had hoped the answer had been found with a deal they
proposed for an EU troika, representing all 15 members, to meet a
delegation from ASEAN representing its nine members on the sidelines of a
separate meeting of European and Asian ministers.

It would facilitate high level negotiations on behalf of both blocs but
sidestep the conflict.

Severino said that view had not been accepted by ASEAN.

``I don't think that was the ASEAN interpretation of a troika meeting with
some ASEAN foreign ministers,'' Severino said. ``I guess it's a diplomatic
device but it's not the ASEAN-EU ministerial meeting -- it can't be.''

Analysts doubted that failure to find a compromise would harm relations in
the long term.

``Things will just go on as normal. Trade and investments will not be
affected by this,'' Singapore-based political scientist Lee Lai To said.
``But the meetings are important because the signals and symbolism they
send out expedite progress and cooperation.''

Avila said other mechanisms such as the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) -- set
to take place immediately prior to the jeopardised ASEAN-EU meeting -- and
the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum offered alternative,
high level meeting grounds.

``If you look at things that way, then this is no problem at all,'' he
said, adding that most diplomatic preparation efforts had shifted to ASEM
which embraces China, Japan and South Korea.

The change in diplomatic emphasis might indicate that the ASEAN-EU dialogue
-- ASEAN's oldest dialogue partnership and essentially an economic one --
may be less relevant as economic globalisation gathers pace.

``APEC and ASEM are at a much higher level and there's more chance of
substantive progress there,'' Avila said, adding that it would be a shame
to see an end of independent ASEAN-EU talks.

Both sides would be reluctant to see the dialogue lost.

``It's a relationship that has endured for many, many years and it's very
sad to see it being dragged through the doldrums because of this issue,''
the diplomat said.

But his expecation of the Berlin meeting happening was low.

``It's hard to see any solution which is going to reconcile what appear to
be irreconcible views on either side,'' he said.

Severino was pragmatic in his outlook: ``We'll continue to have relations
with the EU in whatever form it is possible to take. We'll have to work on
it, although I don't know about it being the low point. We will have to see
where we go from here.''

****************************************************************

LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR: THE GUARDIAN ANGELS OF TOTAL CORPORATION
18- 24 March, 1999 by Guillaume Leger

>From our special reporter in Burma

While a mission of French MPs* is inquiring on the French oil companies in
Burma, testimonies collected in the area are presently confirming that
Total does maintain odd relations with the army of the Burmese dictators.

* Marie-Helene AUBERT (Green), Roland BLUM (Democracy liberal) and Pierre
BRANA (Socialist).

Three greenish mountain peaks are overhanging a sea of clouds under which
the Burmese forest is spreading to the Martaban Gulf. In the early morning
light, the pipeline site of Total corporation, close to the Thai-Burmese
border, is deserving his name: Yadana - jewel, in Burmese. "From here, I
can see everything" says Win Thein with a large smile. This 37 years old
Burmese, native from Rangoon, is wearing a cap with MMSG initials on it -
Myanmar Multi Services Group- a security firm sub-contractor of Total. A
little lower, dressed with a kaki tee-shirt, Bruno, a French with a
straight hair cut, actually the security chief officer of the site, is
doing his jogging.


A few weeks ago, Win Thien was still in charge of the security of a
luxurious hotel in Rangoon, held by a French and frequently visited by the
personnel of the French embassy. He has been recruited there by the
director - a French too - of MMSG to guard the Total work site where the
pipeline is crossing the Thai-Burmese border.

"Thanks to the new road, it does not take more than one hour and half,
today, to join Kanbauk, the base of Total," as Win Thien explains, pointing
his walkie-talkie towards the layout which curves in the valley. "We meet
no villager. Only Total's employees or Tatmadaw [the Burmese army 's
soldiers]."  Two steps away from Win Thien's sentry-box, a head with
feverish eyes is emerging from a bunker dug on the hillside. The man, in a
threadbare olive-green uniform, approaches. It is a Burmese soldier who,
like tens of others scattered in numerous bunkers, cohabits with the
security agents of the oil company. Their wages: 650 kyats ($ 2 per month).

This strategic border area was taken away from the Karen guerrilla in

1991, after a flash offensive intended to ground "cleaning", before the
opening of the pipeline work site. "The Burmese have deployed enormous
means to take Ban I Tong. They wanted this sector at all costs, as Robert
Zan, a Karen officer responsible for the area, remembers it. "Today, it is
a "black zone", where the soldiers are authorized to shot at will because
of the sabotage threats. Total workers cannot ignore that along the
construction site there has been destroyed villages, displaced populations,
village women forced into prostitution by soldiers. Two former French
legionnaires, who worked on the site and who perhaps had some remorse,
provided me with cards and other pieces of information about the work site.
I know that there has been as much as 35 Western mercenaries there,
including five former officers of the French Army. Today, they are no more
than five or six left and the construction is finished. It is clear for me
that in this site, Total and the Burmese army have worked together."

A Thai police officer, working in the border areas, is even more precise.
According to him, Total corp., the "Yadana Project" operator, and its US
partner Unocal, paid, since August 1998, a monthly amount of 5 millions
kyats (nearly $ 15 000) to each commanders of the eight Burmese battalions
stationed in the protection zone. This sum should be used to cover various
expenses, including  porters wages (400 kyats per day and per people). In
fact, according to the police officer, the money is never redistributed.
This piece of information is confirmed by a Burmese native of Tavoy, who
works on the border for the Thai authorities: " the Burmese army frequently
patrols on Kanbauk road, in new cars lent by the oil companies. In December
1998, new cars and one year fuel reserves were offered to the commanders of
the two battalions deployed in the sector of the Total HQ close to Ban I
Tong. The idea was to motivate the Burmese army before the dry season
offensive against the guerilla. In 1997, as he recalls, this offensive had
led to the fall of the local Karen bastion and caused the exodus in
Thailand of at least 20 000 civilians".


This collusion between the oil company and the Burmese soldiers is of
course strongly denied by the partners. Total is denouncing a "plot against
the French interests in Burma", while the authority of Rangoon are evoking
" some bad jokes invented by some anti-governmental elements". But an ex
French soldier, familiar of regional networks of soldiers of fortune,
asserts that "OGS, a security company which worked for Total and which has
been replaced by the Abac company for 1997, has even sent, as soon as 1993,
ex Western officers who did plannings, land surveys and local recognition
for the Burmese army". " This zone is the worst for us, entrusts sergeant
Gya Tun, a Burmese soldier who has just defected to the Karen guerilla with
his weapon - a fact which exposes him to the capital punishment in its
country. Our reputation is so bad that when we arrive near a village, its
inhabitants are fleeing". The Burmese adventure of the French oil company,
which have somewhat tarnished its international reputation, does not seem
to embarrass the company collaborators and subcontractors on the field.
"Anyway, says one of them, whatever the Burmese army may do, it is not our
problem."

****************************************************************

AFP: BURMA COMES BACK
18 March, 1999 

Rangoon - Burma has reopened its embassy in Phnom Penh after a break of 20
years and expects Cambodia to follow suit with its mission in Rangoon,
officials said yesterday.

Officials said Burma was eager to reestablish ties with all countries in
the region, especially with Cambodia as it is expected to soon become the
10th member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
****************************************************************