|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
BURMA RELATED NEWS - April 25,
2001.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
HEADLINES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- AP - Japan Gives $28.6 Mln In Aid To Myanmar; Reward
For Talks
Reuters - Veterans mark ANZAC day at Thailand's
Hellfire Pass
BBC - Burmese clash with separatist rebels
BBC - Big drugs haul in Thailand
Asia Times - US bull in the Myanmar China shop
The Nation - US troops to avoid
joint operations with task force
The Nation - Drug rebels can expect
free rein
Bkk Post - Cargo halted 'out of pollution
concerns'
Bkk Post - Police hunt Bang Ron
Bkk Post - Rangoon steps up protest over
warehouse
Xinhuanet - Pakistani Leader to Visit
Myanmar
NST - Go ahead for gas pipeline
The Star - Special incentives for
regional feeders
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday April 25, 8:32 PMJapan Gives $28.6 Mln In Aid To Myanmar;
Reward For Talks
BANGKOK (AP)--Japan will give
$28.6 million in aid to Myanmar to reward its military rulers for starting
reconciliation talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the
International Herald Tribune reported Wednesday on its Web site.
The report said the grant is the biggest since the junta took power in 1988
after a bloody crackdown on a massive democracy uprising. It breaks a
long-standing informal ban on bilateral assistance to Myanmar, also known as
Burma.
However, the grant was approved in consultation with the United Nations and
the U.S., said the Paris-based newspaper, which is published jointly by The New
York Times and The Washington Post.
Japanese and Myanmar officials weren't immediately available for comment.
The Tribune report quoted unidentified sources as saying that the Y3.5
billion aid will be used for reconstruction of turbines in a hydropower dam in
eastern Myanmar.
The aid "is intended to serve as a tangible reward to the military
government for having kept open a dialogue" with Suu Kyi, the report said.
It said rehabilitation of the Baluchaung dam was agreed to earlier this
month and quietly announced during a little-publicized visit to Tokyo by Burma's
deputy Foreign Minister, Khin Maung Win.
The agreement hasn't been announced in the Myanmar's state-controlled
press.
The dam was built by Japan in the 1960s as part of World War II
reparations. The Tribune report said Japanese consultants will leave for Myanmar
in the next few weeks to draw up a feasibility study, after which the Japanese
Cabinet will formalize funds that have already been earmarked by the Foreign
Ministry.
Myanmar's military junta started the reconciliation talks in secret with
Suu Kyi last October after mediation by a U.N. special envoy, Razali Ismail, of
Malaysia.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday April 25, 6:00 PM
Veterans mark ANZAC day at Thailand's
Hellfire Pass
By Prapan Chankaew KANCHANABURI, Thailand (Reuters) - Four hundred Australian and New Zealand World War Two veterans and their families held a dawn service in Thailand on Wednesday to remember prisoners of war who died building the infamous "death railway". They came together at Hellfire Pass in Kanchanaburi, 125 km (78 miles) west
of Bangkok, where thousands of allied prisoners of war perished when Japanese
soldiers forced them to hack out a pass from solid rock for the Thai-Burma
railway.
A military bugler sounded the last call as the veterans, many now in their
80s, clutched candles in the steaming tropical darkness, laid wreaths and said
prayers.
Wednesday marks the anniversary of the beginning of the ill-fated Gallipoli
campaign in 1915 when Australian and New Zealand (ANZAC) forces landed at the
Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey to open up a sea route to World War One ally
Russia.
More than 11,000 Australians and New Zealanders were killed on the beaches
of Turkey in a military disaster that had a profound effect on the two
countries.
But it was World War Two that most of those who gathered at Hellfire Pass
remembered on Wednesday.
More than 12,000 allied prisoners and some 100,000 Asian slave labourers
died building the railway linking Japanese-occupied Burma, now Myanmar, and
Thailand.
Hellfire Pass was a particularly difficult section of the track where the
prisoners had to cut through rock faces with primitive hand tools.
LANTERNS TO LIGHT THEIR WORK
The pass got its name from the scene at night when the prisoners and other
labourers, forced to work around the clock, used lanterns to light their work.
Prisoner of war survivor, 74-year-old Erwin Redman travelled from Perth to
Thailand to remember.
"It was very hard work. We had to walk up here barefoot, four km (2.5
miles) down the hill to the cutting," he told Reuters.
"No boots, very little clothes and no water bottles. It went on like that.
"A lot of the camp is overgrown. The railway line is still much the same
except for bomb holes and one thing or another, but one cannot recognise the
country. Now there are farms and tractors and those sorts of things," he said.
Many younger people also came to pay their respects.
Katie Manning from Melbourne, Australia said her visit to Kanchanaburi had
helped her get a sense of what the prisoners of war went through.
"We've got more of an understanding and more appreciation of what they
did," she said.
Thousands of allied dead, mostly British, Australians, New Zealanders and
Dutch, are buried in cemeteries in the nearby town of Kanchanaburi.
Kanchanaburi is also the site of a bridge across the Kwae river, which
allied prisoners also built. The bridge was later bombed by allied forces trying
to disrupt Japanese supply lines and was immortalised in the film "Bridge over
the River Kwai".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Wednesday, 25 April, 2001, 12:12
GMT 13:12 UK
Burmese clash with separatist rebels The Burmese government says six of its troops have been killed in clashes
with the Shan State Army in the northeast of the country.
The Burmese have accused Thai troops of fighting alongside the separatist
rebels during the clashes.
The Thai government has strongly denied the allegations.
Many border posts along the Thai-Burmese border are still closed since the
two countries' forces were involved in sporadic fighting in February.
Burma has accused Thailand of supporting the Shan rebels, while Thai
officials say Burma allows ethnic militias on the two countries' border to
produce drugs.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC -Wednesday, 25 April, 2001, 11:02
GMT 12:02 UK
Big drugs haul in Thailand The Thai military has seized a huge haul of drugs on the country's border
with Burma.
Troops retrieved more than six million methamphetamine tablets and about
four-and-a-half kilos of heroin after a brief clash with gunmen near the town of
Phobphra.
It is the third- largest drug seizure ever made by the Thai authorities.
The Thai military believes the gunmen were probably members of ethnic-Karen
militias which are allies of the Burmese military and suspected of running drug
factories inside Burmese territory.
The authorities estimate that more than seven-hundred million
methamphetamine tablets will be smuggled into Thailand this year. Last week,
more than seven million tablets of the drug were seized in the same area of the
Thai-Burmese border.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asia Times - April 25,
2001.
US bull in the Myanmar China shop
By Boonthan Sakanond CHIANG MAI, Thailand - As countries around the globe ponder the fallout
from the US-China spat over the collision of a US spy plane and a Chinese
fighter jet, none are more apprehensive than Southeast Asian nations close to
the Chinese mainland.
For many of them - such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam -
the reason to worry is obvious. They have territorial disputes with China over
islands in the South China Sea and are afraid that a militarily assertive
Beijing may leave no room for negotiations. For others, the anxiety lies in the
fact that a deterioration in relations between the United States and China is
bound to negatively affect their economies already battered by the 1997 Asian
economic crisis.
But while the world's attention is focused on tensions to the north and
east of China, some analysts in Thailand believe the real theater of any
military action in the near future could be to the southwest, on China's weakest
flank - Myanmar.
"Myanmar is the only true ally that China has in this entire region, apart
from North Korea, and any US move against the military dictatorship in Yangon
will be an easy way of telling Beijing off at its own doorstep," says an Asian
diplomat in Bangkok.
While over the past decade the United States has expended much public
rhetoric against the military dictatorship in Myanmar, it has never considered
any serious action. But this may be changing in the wake of China's new identity
as the biggest challenge to the United States' status as the world's sole
superpower.
The context for a US role already exists with both Thailand and Myanmar,
which in recent weeks have amassed troops along their borders and placed their
armies at the highest state of alert in many decades. In February, shelling
blamed on Myanmese troops in the northern Thai border town of Mae Sai killed
several civilians and prompted the closure of the once-busy border checkpoint
between the two countries.
While the Thais have accused the Myanmese government of actively supporting
the production of methamphetamines across the border and flooding their country
with drugs, the Myanmese allege that the Thai military has been actively helping
ethnic Shan rebels in their battle for independence from Yangon. Despite some
attempts at resolving their conflicts through negotiations, both countries have
currently moved large numbers of troops and armaments to their common border
areas in a tense standoff ready to flare up at any time.
Adding fuel to speculation about a dramatic escalation of this otherwise
routine border war are a number of events that analysts claim show an increased
US presence on the Thai side of the border. Since March, the northern Thai
province of Chiang Rai, bordering Myanmar, has been host to more than 40
American military trainers ostensibly there to acquaint Thai infantry battalions
with "anti-drug" warfare. While the US Drug Enforcement Agency has always been
quite active along the Thai-Myanmar border that forms part of the notorious
Golden Triangle - a traditional area of production of much of the world's heroin
- this is the time first US aid to Thailand for combatting drugs has taken a
purely military turn.
Next month, the number of US troops in the area is expected to rise
drastically when, from May 15-29, 5,000 US troops will join nearly 6,000 Thai
and other regional troops for a simulated drug interdiction action. The event is
part of the annual joint Thai-US military exercise code-named "Cobra Gold". But
because it comes at a time of heightened tensions on the Thai-Myanmar border,
the location of the exercise is clearly meant to send a message to the generals
in Yangon.
Apart from the worsening of US-China relations, the possibility of the US
playing a more aggressive role in relation to Myanmar has increased considerably
because of a confluence of several other factors.
The George W Bush administration in Washington, for example, is seen
worldwide as being far more hawkish than its predecessor and willing to push the
envelope beyond the norms of usual diplomacy. If it can pull off a major
overturn in Myanmar's political establishment, the United States would
re-establish its diminishing military role in Asia and occupy a strategic
position in Myanmar as part of its long-term policy of "encircling" China.
"Upsetting the reigning order in Myanmar - even if it takes some muscle -
would be an easy way of threatening China at its doorstep without risking a
major confrontation," says a Thai defense analyst based in Thailand.
Since the crushing of the Myanmese pro-democracy movement in the late
1980s, the military regime in Yangon has moved closer to China. Beijing has
supplied it with military and material help, but it is doubtful if it would risk
much more to defend Myanmar against a concerted US effort to topple the regime.
Within Thailand itself, there is a strange nexus developing between the
Thai military - deprived of any political role because of changed political
realities for nearly a decade - and clueless businessmen-turned-politicians
trying to steer an economy now in a deep mess. With the flaring up of tensions
along the Thai-Myanmar border, the Thai military senses a way of getting back
onto the center stage of national attention. For the politicians, an
anti-Myanmar campaign is an easy way of diverting attention from their own
domestic failures on the economic front.
Furthermore, within Myanmar itself there is an internecine struggle under
way between "hardliners" led by General Maung Aye and the "moderates" under
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, who is also the Secretary Number One of the
ruling State Peace and Democracy Council (SPDC). Any strong external pressure on
the regime, which is possible only militarily, could even lead to a split in its
top rungs and bring down the dictatorship more easily.
While a section of Myanmese pro-democracy groups are strongly averse to any
foreign intervention in Myanmar to "restore democracy", they admit that if the
ball is set rolling by Thailand and the United States, there will be many in
their own ranks who will join in happily. "Though our own movement is
non-violent, there will be few voices opposing any attempts to overthrow the
Myanmese dictatorship by force," admits a senior member of the Myanmese
opposition in exile.
The justification for international military intervention, he says, has
existed for over a decade, as has the case against the Myanmese military,
responsible for the deaths and displacement of thousands of Myanmese and other
ethnic minority dissidents. In many ways, he points out, there is a much
stronger case against the Myanmese regime than the one the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization had for military action against the former Yugoslav regime of
Slobodan Milosevic over its alleged atrocities in Kosovo.
Myanmar has a history of using outside help to overthrow domestic
dictatorships. Leaders of the Myanmese independence movement, led by General
Aung San in the 1930s, used Japanese help to drive out the British colonialists.
When the tide turned in favor of the Allies in World War II, they invited the
British back to oust the Japanese army.
However, any outside intervention in Myanmar will not be easy due to the
complicated web of relations the military junta has woven with the country's
ethnic minority groups, many of whom have signed ceasefire agreements with the
government despite fighting for independence for years. Any international effort
to "liberate" Myanmar from dictatorship would become bogged down in problems
related to renewed demands that might come from minority groups for
independence. This is an issue still controversial within Myanmese pro-democracy
groups, many of whom support autonomy but not outright secession.
A lot, of course, depends finally on how US-China relations pan out in the
coming months. If they kiss and patch things up, the United States is likely to
back off from any confrontation on the Myanmar front, but if tensions escalate
the chances of a US-led intervention could be very much in the cards.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - April 25,
2001.
US troops to avoid joint
operations with task force
DON PATHAN
US troops will help train Thailand's newly created Task Force 399, created to strengthen security along the northern border, but US forces will not be involved in any joint operations, a US military officer said yesterday. It is against US government policy for US troops to take part in any such
joint operation that could put their lives in jeopardy, said the officer, who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
The US also wants to make sure that it will not disturb the delicate
political relationship between Thailand and Burma, which hit a low point after
troops from both countries were involved in cross-border shelling more than two
months ago.
"We are certain that we're not going to put US troops in areas that will be
provocative," the officer said. "We could inadvertently worsen the security
situation by pissing a lot of people off."
The Americans' role in training the task force is part of an effort to help
modernise the Thai military, as well as to help integrate the country's law
enforcement agencies in strengthening border security, he said. The Thai unit
will be trained to operate in remote areas, at night, and under extreme
conditions, he said.
The US instructors could total as many as 100 at any given time, he said.
According to a senior Third Army officer, the task force will be made up of
troops from Thailand's Special Forces, infantry units and border police.
Besides preventing hostile forces from entering Thailand, the task force
will be looking to curb the flow of drugs from clandestine labs along the
Thai-Burmese border. The 400-strong unit will be based in Chiang Mai. It will be
under the command of the Third Army, the Thai officer said.
Most of the American instructors will be from the First Special Forces
Group and each will have "functional expertise" in areas that will help Thai
troops respond quickly to any border intrusion, the officer said.
The Third Army relies on the Naresuan and the Pha Muang task forces for
security along the northern border. Task Force 399 will help unite the two
forces, as well as the border police, in their efforts to secure the border.
Technology will play a part in the effort but it should not be considered a
solution, the officer said. The idea is to help the troops make the right
decisions, taking into consideration their military capabilities, the officer
said. He added that the financial crisis that struck the country four years ago
has taken its toll on the defence budget.
The task force will be based far enough from the border so that no one will
mistake training for actual operations, he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - April 25,
2001.
Drug rebels can expect free
rein
The government can expect little help from Beijing or Rangoon in stopping
the Wa army's drug trafficking, Don Pathan reports in the last part of a
two-part series.
For years, the Chinese government has vowed to cooperate with Thailand and
Burma to tackle drug trafficking problems.
However, Beijing has yet to say or show in real terms what it means. This
is not to say that the Chinese people are not affected by the problem. In fact,
a great deal of the Wa's heroin is smuggled through Yunnan, while more and more
Chinese people there are becoming addicts at an alarming rate.
But China's low-key approach towards the Wa's illicit activities is
understandable given their historic links. The Communist Party of China was the
main backer of the now-defunct Communist Party of Burma (CPB). The bulk of the
CPB's foot soldiers at the time were made up of troops from the Wa faction. And
when the CPB fractured along ethnic lines, the Wa leadership, who formed the
UWSA shortly afterwards, maintained their strong links with the Communist
Chinese.
Moreover, said one senior Third Army official, the Wa's presence along the
Thai border is growing by the day. Their troop strength in the area has
increased from just over 3,000 to more than 10,000 in the past year. The officer
also confirmed a recent report by Jane's Defence Weekly, stating that the UWSA
had acquired an improved portable surface-to-air missile (SAM) capability from
the Chinese.
"The system marks a significant improvement over the older Soviet-designed
SA-7, which the UWSA had earlier acquired from Cambodian black market sources
through Thailand," Jane's said. Among its other attributes, according to the
report, the recently acquired SAM can engage aircraft head-on.
Besides the historical link, Beijing's passiveness towards the Wa's illicit
activities has more to do with China's quest to become a superpower. As an
emerging superpower, said Panitan Wattanayagorn, a security expert at
Chulalongkorn University, China is not in a position to pick a fight with
countries that can enhance its strategic interest.
Panitan pointed to the massive infrastructure linking southern China to the
Indian Ocean through Burma. And with the country being a "closed" society, he
said, China, unlike Thailand, does not have to contend with the problem of
political support from the general public. "China has over one billion people.
Given its shear size, the Wa's activities do not constitute a national one."
Unlike Thailand, China does not see the Wa's narcotic trafficking as an
international issue, Panitan said.
Thailand's relations with Burma, on the other hand, are largely based on
mistrust fuelled by territorial disputes and accusations of interference. Burma
has accused Thailand of supporting Shan rebels, but Thai officials say Rangoon
has pitted the Wa against the Thais by allowing them to resettled along the Thai
border.
So what is the Thai government to do?
For the time being, Bangkok will continue with its anti-Wa rhetoric and the
push to make Rangoon accountable to the Wa's activities. Though Thaksin has
vowed to bring the issue up with Beijing and the Burmese junta, few believe he
will have much success.
"Thailand is too weak to put pressure on Burma, much less China," Panitan
said. "(The Thai government) will be going to the negotiating table against a
group of warriors, from top to bottom, whose positions are consolidated and
members unified at the top."
Like other authoritarian countries, Burma's national interest is its utmost
important issue when it come to any negotiation, he said.
For the junta, issues pertaining to Rangoon-UWSA ties are a matter of life
and death - literally. Foreign Minister Win Aung has made it quite clear that
his government will not turn back the clock and go back to the day of insurgency
and rebellious ethnic armies roaming Burma's frontier. In other words, Thailand
needs to stop pointing its finger to Rangoon just because too many Thai youths
have a bad habit.
Besides, admitted a number of Thai army officers along the border, Rangoon
is not in the position to pick a fight with the Wa. The implications would be
too high and it would set a bad precedent with other groups who have come under
the country's "legal fold", they said.
For the time being, the concern over narcotics among the leadership in
Rangoon, experts say, will continue to take a backseat to stability and national
reconciliation. Rangoon's policy of negotiating ceasefires with ethnic insurgent
groups has been one of its main success stories, and there is no indication that
the junta would want to change that.
Besides, Rangoon stands to gain tremendously from the Wa's illicit
activities. According to a recent report by the US State Department on
narcotics, "there is reason to believe that money laundering in Burma and the
return of narcotics profits laundered elsewhere are significant factors in the
overall Burmese economy, although the extent is difficult to measure
accurately".
The country's under-regulated banking system and the absence of effective
money laundering legislation, according to the report, have created an
environment conducive to the use of drug-related proceeds in legitimate
commerce.
Given the fact that Thai-Burmese ties are at a low after cross-border
shelling over two months ago between the two armies, any meaningful
counter-narcotic efforts are likely to remain on the back burner for the time
being.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - April 25,
2001.
Cargo halted 'out of pollution
concerns'
Surakiart to raise issue with Rangoon Post Reporters
The army stopped a shipment of Chinese power generators crossing the border
out of environmental concerns, said Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai.
Speaking before his departure for Malaysia, Mr Surakiart said he believed
the Third Army's move last Friday would not escalate into a serious
matter.
Some worried about environmental impacts of the coal-fired power plant
planned for Tachilek in Burma. The matter would be raised on his visit to Burma
next month, Mr Surakiart said.
At this stage he had asked the Thai ambassador to Rangoon to explain the
matter to the Burmese government.
Mr Surakiart declined to comment on suggestions the power plant may have
something to do with the drug-producing Red Wa. Problems concerning ethnic
minorities would be dealt with by Thailand, Burma and China together.
Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of the Senate panel on foreign affairs, said
the shipment had to be stopped. The government should find out whether the
project belonged to the Burmese government or a private firm, whether it was
legal, and details of the plant's engineering system.
Chinese equipment might not be good enough to control air pollution, the
senator said. "I am afraid it would affect Thai people and the environment,
especially air quality. Is it possible to raise the matter for discussion among
Asean members?" he said.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Burma, had set
up a working group on trans-boundary pollutants.
Burmese lignite, which is of poor quality, would emit twice as much sulphur
dioxide as that from plants at Lampang's Mae Moh district, he said.
He also suspected the plant might help the Red Wa meet its target of
churning out 700 million speed pills.
In Chiang Mai, Third Army commander Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong
yesterday met officials from four border provinces-Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae
Hong Son and Tak-to discuss co-operation.
Lt-Gen Wattanachai said he did not allow the trucks carrying power
generator parts to cross simply because the Mae Sai checkpoint had not yet been
fully opened.
"Although we opened the checkpoint on March 12, the opening is only for
people to travel; vehicles are not allowed. So we could not let the trucks
across," he said.
Meanwhile, Mae Sai and Mae Chan residents are debating effects on the
environment and tourism.
Pang Polajai, a villager leader from Mae Sai, said locals could ask the
government to negotiate with Rangoon to have the site moved at least 80km from
the border.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - April 25,
2001.
Police hunt Bang Ron Police are stepping up efforts to track down drug baron Surachai "Bang Ron"
Ngernthongfu, who has given police the slip for more than two years.
Pol Gen Pornsak Durongkhavibul, the national police chief, said forces from
the Special Branch and anti-drug police have been investigating leads about the
drug suspect's whereabouts.
It is believed Surachai has returned to Bangkok from Burma after having
undergone facial surgery in an attempt to elude capture.
Pol Gen Pornsak played down the report of facial surgery, saying it was
nothing to be worried about as there were several ways to prove the suspect's
identity.
He said authorities had failed to track him down so far because the suspect
received assistance from his associates in and outside the country.
Pol Gen Sant Sarutanont, the deputy national police chief, was sceptical
about reports that Surachai had been travelling back and forth across the
Thai-Burmese border.
He said Surachai was under the protection of the United Wa State Army in
Burma since 1998.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - April 25,
2001.
Rangoon steps up protest over
warehouse
Supamart Kasem Burma has accused Thailand of helping the anti-Rangoon Karen National Union
attack a warehouse in Myawaddy on Sunday.
A Thai border official said Burmese officials in Myawaddy sent an
aid-memoire to Mae Sot officials accusing Thailand of allowing the rebels to
launch their attack from Thai soil.
Lt-Col Soe Win, the Thai-Burmese township border committee chairman, signed
the letter and sent it to his Thai counterpart, Col Chainarong Thanaroon, on
Monday.
He said the Karen guerrillas crossed the Moei river from Ban Huay Muang in
Tak, and opened fire on houses and a warehouse south of Myawaddy.
Four Burmese villagers were killed during the attack and five others
injured. The warehouse was destroyed.
Burma demanded an explanation and urged Thailand to take responsibility for
the damage and prevent future attacks.
The source said it was not government policy to allow rebel groups to use
Thai territory as a base to launch attacks against their opponents in
Burma.
The warehouse was under the protection of the pro-Rangoon Democratic
Buddhist Army. It was attacked by the KNU 6th division because it was used to
store speed pills produced by the Wa.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistani Leader to Visit
Myanmar
2001.04.25 21:02:48 YANGON, April 25 (Xinhuanet) --
Pakistani leader General Pervez Musharraf will pay a three-day official
visit to Myanmar beginning May 1, a diplomat of the Pakistani Embassy in Yangon
told Xinhua Wednesday.
Musharraf is Chief Executive of Pakistan and Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff Committee and Army Chief.
This will be the first visit to Myanmar by a Pakistani senior leader
in 16 years.
Meanwhile, a fleet of Pakistani naval vessels, including a submarine,
a tanker and a destroyer, will also call at Yangon Port on Friday for a
three-day visit ahead of Musharraf's arrival.
It will not only be the first time for Pakistani naval vessels to
arrive in Yangon but also the first occasion for foreign warships to enter
Myanmar territorial waters for such official visit since the present
Myanmar military government took power in 1988.
In July last year, First Secretary of the ruling Myanmar State Peace
and Development Council Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt visited Pakistan at
the invitation of Musharraf.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Straits Times - April 25,
2001.
Go ahead for gas
pipeline
Bangkok agrees to speed up RM3b Trans-Thai-Malaysian project By Patvinder Singh and Sarban Singh PUTRAJAYA, Tues. - Thailand has accepted Malaysia's request to expedite the
RM3 billion Trans-Thai-Malaysian gas pipeline project with a commitment to
resolve problems related to it by July.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said it was important that the
project be speeded up as the delay was proving expensive for Petronas which was
funding most of the project.
"To us it is important. The cost is accumulating on a daily basis and the
biggest part of the cost is borne by Petronas," he told reporters on the meeting
between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra.
Syed Hamid said Malaysia had requested that the project be expedited as
landing the gas in south Thailand would, among others, provide the area with
more job and business opportunities.
Thaksin, at a Press conference later, said the Thai Government was waiting
for the EIA reports.
He said this when asked when the project would begin.
He said the Thai Government was also waiting for the understanding of
people residing there.
Thaksin said the delay in the project also lay in making the people
understand that the project was not harmful.
Thaksin, who assumed the post on Feb 9, arrived here this morning on his
first official visit abroad as Prime Minister. He will leave for home tomorrow.
He was accompanied by a high-powered delegation which, among others, included
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Pitak Intrawityanunt and the Foreign Affairs,
Interior, Finance and Commerce Ministers and Deputy Defence Minister General
Yuthasak Sasiprapha.
Dr Mahathir earlier welcomed the delegation at Dataran Perdana.
Also present were several Malaysian Ministers, High Commissioners and
Ambassadors.
The 350km pipeline, which will move gas from the offshore Malaysian-Thai
Joint Development Area, is a joint venture between Petronas and the Petroleum
Authority of Thailand. The project, which includes two gas separation plants in
southern Songkhla province, was to have started on March 1. It was delayed as a
result of yet-to-be-approved EIAs (enviromental impact assessments) by Thai
authorities.
Syed Hamid said Malaysia, on Thailand's request, had agreed to lift the ban
on Thai imported beef. The ban was imposed on Feb 15 to prevent the spread of
the mad cow disease here.
"There was also a request from their side to open our borders for longer
hours. This will now be looked into by the Home Ministry," he said.
Bangkok had proposed that the Bukit Kayu Hitam-Sadao checkpoint be opened
around the clock.
The Thais have also asked that checkpoints which operated from 5am to 9pm
be opened 24 hours while those operating for three hours per day be extended to
between six and seven hours.
Syed Hamid said Thailand had also requested Malaysia to increase rice
imports from the country.
Malaysia, which at one time imported 300,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand
annually, today only imports about 30,000 tonnes.
"Although the reduction is quite hefty, we will have to look at this
because we also buy rice from Myanmar and Vietnam," he said.
Malaysia, said Syed Hamid, had also agreed to grant easier passage for Thai
registered trucks transporting perishable items to Singapore. "Likewise, they
have also agreed to grant a similar privilege to Malaysian registered trucks
transporting goods to Indo-China," he said.
Syed Hamid said Thailand had also pledged to review the quota and import
tariffs imposed on Malaysian palm oil which Malaysia felt was
discriminatory.
"We asked them to review this because there is clear discrimination on
import tariffs for soya oil and palm oil. The tariff on palm oil is very
prohibitive," he said.
Syed Hamid refused to divulge details when asked how much palm oil was
imported by Thailand and the import tariff imposed.
Both sides, he said, also agreed to continue discussions on the
yet-to-be-resolved border demarcation issue. "The only stretch left is near
Jeli. The Foreign Ministry will look into this," he said.
During the meeting, both sides discussed the possibility of re-establishing
the joint Agricultural Committee which was active until 1996. The committee was
formed, among others, to allow both parties to discuss issues relating to
agriculture and fisheries.
Syed Hamid said Dr Mahathir also briefed Thaksin on developments in the
East Asia Study Group, the restructuring of the world financial architecture,
the Asian Monetary Fund, the need for Malaysia and Thailand to regularly
exchange views on matters of mutual interest and developments in Myanmar.
"As members of Asean, both countries discussed ways to help Myanmar to
develop further and adjust to the everchanging surroundings," he said, adding
that a prosperous Myanmar would also benefit Asean.
Syed Hamid said both parties also agreed to co-operate in deep sea fishing
activities for mutual benefit.
"Businessmen from Thailand are interested in deep sea fishing. We agreed to
have a joint venture as the Thais have the capital and expertise.
"The activities would be done within the Exclusive Economic Zone near
Sarawak. By landing the fish at Malaysian ports, we will be able to have more
value-added products," he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Star - April 25,
2001.
Special incentives for regional
feeders
By NICK LEONG
REGIONAL feeders will enjoy special incentives under a new scheme launched
by the Port Klang Authority to develop a good feeder network from the
hinterland.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik said the scheme, divided
into two phases, was exclusive to containers transshipped from principal ports
in the region.
Phase One, which began on Jan 1 this year, was for dedicated feeders plying
between regional ports and Port Klang.
"Besides the rebate given on a box basis by Port Klang Authority, there is
a further rebate on ship call charges given by the respective terminal
operators, which adds up to an attractive incentive scheme,'' Dr Ling said.
The second phase, effective July 1, would be a volume based incentive
scheme. "Rebates are given based on annual throughput, with higher incentives
for higher throughput,'' Dr Ling told a press conference at his ministry in
Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
He said the scheme catered specifically to feeders that call at both PSA
and Port Klang.
The exclusive principal ports are ports in Sabah and Sarawak; Klongtoey and
Laem Chabang in Thailand; Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, Belawan, and Pekan Baru
in Indonesia; Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam; Manila in the Phillipines; and
Calcutta, Madras, and Mumbai in India.
Other ports identified are Sihanoukville, Yangon and Chittagong.
Dr Ling said he hoped the incentives would help Port Klang develop a good
feeder network and make it the preferred regional transshipment hub.
"We do not claim this is the perfect solution, we always value feedback
from all operators. We will keep improving the scheme,'' he said.
Dr Ling said Port Klang had continued to perform very well, judging from
the 1.3 million TEUs in transshipped boxes last year compared with only 10,000
in 1994.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |