|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
BURMA RELATED NEWS
- January 26, 2003.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
HEADLINES
-------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Price rises bite into
impoverished Myanmar
AFP - Road accidents take heavy toll
on Southeast Asian economies
AFP - EU hopes to close
Myanmar-blotted chapter in ASEAN story
AFP - UN official praises Myanmar
anti-AIDS campaign: report
AP - Thai police arrested
for drug trafficking ahead of crackdown
AP - EU, ASEAN to
sign anti-terrorism deal; assess troubled economic
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Price rises bite into impoverished Myanmar YANGON, Jan 26 (AFP) - Condemned by western governments for its poor human rights record, shunned by foreign investors and international financial institutions, military-ruled Myanmar and its impoverished people are suffering from spiralling inflation. Rice, the all-important staple, has nearly doubled in price in a year, palm oil has risen 25 percent since late 2002, and the price of public bus tickets has doubled as well while the devastated currency, the kyat, plummets to new lows and civil servant salaries remain stagnant. Determined to go it alone, the junta known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has concocted various schemes, including a crackdown on "greedy" traders, aimed at solving a volatile economic crisis. But analysts, experts and the everyman in the bustling but ramshackle capital Yangon say the official action, highlighted by the government's doubling of the vehicle fuel quota earlier this month, will do little to ease the plight. "Many factors besides international censure have contributed to the poor economic showing of the past 15 years under military rule," one local expert told AFP. "Mismanagement in general" was the key factor, he posed. "Hastily thought out ad hoc measures which usually come up short of expectations are a prime example of the this mismanagement." Myanmar, formerly Burma, has suffered under decades of failed socialist policies and government control of the economy, but international sanctions also struck the nation hard following the bloody repression of 1988 pro-democracy protests and 1990 elections the junta refused to recognise. "It's very difficult to make ends meet especially if you have a family," said Daw Ma Ma, a primary school teacher in Yangon who survives in large part by discreetly offering private tutoring lessons. Her state monthly wage is pegged at around 5,000 kyats, less than five US dollars at the prevailing open-market rate of 1,100 kyat to the greenback. Low-level civil servants are paid 7,500 to 10,000 kyat per month, barely enough to scratch out a living even with government subsidies for low-grade rice and other necessities. As a result, Yangon residents say privately, small-scale corruption commonly called "tea money" here is pervasive in virtually every government office. Recent rumours of what was to be the first government pay raise in years have so far proved unfounded, though they have led to further increases in prices of consumer goods. The price for the standard 46-pound (21-kilo) bag of rice topped 6,000 kyat recently, compared to 3,500 kyat less than a year ago. Subsistence families are known to sell part of their monthly food rations subsidized by the central government, such as sugar soap and toothpaste, for higher prices on the open market. The government's latest bid to stabilize skyrocketing commodity prices, mainly through its January 6 decision to double the fuel quota to four gallons per day, will be ineffective, the expert said. Some Yangon residents such as taxi drivers and car owners applauded the quota move, saying fuel prices on the open market plunged by 25 percent this month. But the measures themselves have been offset by official announcements of huge increases in fares for public transport, including domestic air, rail and bus travel. "Some bus lines in the city are already charging 20 kyats instead of the regular 10 kyats for short trips," said Win Sein, who commutes from a Yangon satellite town into the city suburbs for her caddying job at a golf club. On January 1, the junta, citing sharp rises in fuel costs, announced stiff price hikes for railways and the domestic carrier Myanmar Airways. Flights from the capital to the northern city of Mandalay have quadrupled in price, while rail travel on the same route has tripled. The SPDC insists it is taking adequate measures towards economic viability, but in his Independence Day message to the nation January 4, SPDC chairman Senior General Than Shwe issued a blunt reminder to Myanmar citizens that "frugality" was a national responsibility. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Road accidents take heavy toll
on Southeast Asian economies
MANILA, Jan 26 (AFP) - Saddled with the world's worst road safety records, Southeast Asia is losing a whopping 11 billion dollars annually from motor vehicle accidents, and experts are warning of even greater losses unless governments take swift action. A key reason for the road crashes is the increasing number of motor vehicles, especially motorcycles, catering to the rapid growth in the resource-rich region, the experts from the Asian Developmnent Bank (ADB) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) said. Losses caused by road deaths and injuries as well as damage to vehicles were inhibiting economic and social development and worsening poverty in Southeast Asia. "Road crashes impose costs on countries of around two percent of their annual gross domestic product (GDP) and, on this basis, the cost to the ASEAN countries is estimated at over 11 billion dollars annually," said Charles Melhuish, a transport specialist with the Manila-based ADB. "The situation will likely deteriorate even further unless urgent and effective action is taken to help" member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) "make its roads safer," he warned. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, Melhuish said road accidents in the region caused "recurring economic losses" which "undoubtedly inhibited economic and social development." Statistics show that road crashes in ASEAN disproportionately harm low-income groups because pedestrians and bicycle- and motorcycle-riders are the "most frequent casualties," Melhuish said. "When a household head is killed or disabled, poverty is significantly perpetuated or even increased." According to the ADB, although governments in the ASEAN region had developed action plans on road safety, their recommendations "had in general gone unimplemented" due to ineffective coordination mechanisms and inadequate budgets and technical resources, among other reasons. Following a request by ASEAN, the ADB has approved a technical assistance grant of 500,000 dollars to identify obstacles to road safety faced by each country and devise a regional strategy to tackle the problem, bank official said. The ADB estimates that in 2000, ASEAN states suffered 72,800 traffic accident deaths and over 1.8 million injuries, many serious or resulting in permanent disability. But the statistics belie the true picture in the region, analysts say. In Thailand alone, 12,936 people were killed and more than two million people suffered road injuries in 2001, 80 percent of them motorcycle riders or passengers not wearing crash helmets, according to the country's health ministry. Precise figures on road accidents are difficult to come by because many cases go unreported, said Ian Scott, a technical officer in injury prevention at the Manila-based WHO Western Pacific office. According to the WHO, sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia have the world's worst road safety records. It also warns that that road crashes will jump from the ninth to third most important health problem by 2020. Scott said that mechanisms adopted in developed nations, some of which have slashed the rate of deaths and injuries from road accidents by half-to-two-thirds, are not "immediately transferable" to developing nations. He cited the increasing use of child restraints in cars in the developed world which has drastically cut down the road accident casualty rate there. "But if you wave the magic wand and have child restraints in, for example, every car in Vietnam, you will still not be able to drastically cut the injury or death rate of children because only five percent of that country's motorised vehicle fleet are cars," Scott said. There is a very proportion of two or three wheeled motorcycles in ASEAN's vehicle fleet. Some 95 percent of vehicles in Vietnam are motorcycles. "The fact that most recent vehicle growth has been in motorcycles exacerbates an already dangerous traffic environment," said ADB's Melhuish. For example, when the number of motorcycles in Vietnam increased by 29 percent in 2001, road deaths surged by 37 percent that year, he said. ADB will present the ASEAN road safety plan for endorsement to the group's transport ministers in September next year. The bank wanted such high-level commitment for the plan's smooth implementation, officials said. --------------------------------------------------------------------
EU hopes to close
Myanmar-blotted chapter in ASEAN story
BRUSSELS, Jan 26 (AFP) - The European Union aims to forge new ground in its lucrative relations with Southeast Asia this week by seeking to put acrimony over military-run Myanmar in the shade. The EU is temporarily lifting a visa ban against junta leaders to allow Myanmar's deputy foreign minister, Khin Maung Win, to attend a Brussels gathering of EU and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers. Hailing his attendance as a "big breakthrough", ASEAN is hoping that the meeting on Monday and Tuesday will turn a page on the bitter recriminations that have dogged past talks with the EU because of the Myanmar issue. The EU had previously refused to hold high-level talks in Europe with ASEAN following military-run Myanmar's admittance to the Southeast Asian club in 1997. The 15-nation EU, while unhappy about the military's refusal to relinquish power in the former British colony, shares the desire to look ahead and reinforce trade relations as well as a joint battle against terrorism. The 10-member ASEAN, for its part, is keen to see European investment return to its shores after being diverted to China in recent years. "We remain as concerned as ever about the situation in Burma. There is no improvement," said an EU official. "Our concerns about human rights and the need for a rapid return to democracy mean that many years ago, we imposed sanctions on Burma and we see no justification for reversing that," she said on condition of anonymity. But the EU does not want Myanmar to distract from more pressing concerns, the official added, "because we are keen to reinvigorate that relationship". The European Commission -- the EU's executive arm -- is formulating a new strategy towards Southeast Asia due for release in the spring, to update a relationship that is based on a bilateral accord signed in 1980. Since then, both the EU and ASEAN have been transformed through the addition of new members and the development of a broader remit beyond their traditional economic concerns. "There are a lot of things we could be doing together. We are not fully exploiting the potential of the relationship," the official said. In 2001, the EU was ASEAN's second-largest export market and third-largest trading partner after the United States and Japan. ASEAN exports to the EU were estimated at 65.7 billion euros (70 billion dollars), while the region's imports from the EU were valued at 42.2 billion euros, according to European Commission figures. Those figures would have been higher but for a shift in European companies' interest to other parts of Asia, principally to China, according to ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong. "I think a dialogue between the ministers of the EU and ASEAN will foster a more positive climate to encourage more people to look at ASEAN," he said. The "more positive climate" should extend to Myanmar, Ong said. "Many of these impressions of something happening in Myanmar are based on certain information, so now you have the Myanmar minister there and European ministers there, let's have an adult exchange of views," he said. Both sides will find themselves on safer ground in pledging anew to combat terrorism in the wake of the devastating bombing of a nightclub on the Indonesian island of Bali and a spate of attacks in the Philippines. The EU and ASEAN are set Tuesday to issue a joint declaration pledging to crack down on sources of funding for terror such as drugs trafficking, money laundering and weapons smuggling. They will also "reject the association between terrorism and any religion, race or nationality", according to a draft document seen by AFP. --------------------------------------------------------------------
UN official praises Myanmar
anti-AIDS campaign: report
YANGON, Jan 26 (AFP) - A senior United Nations official has praised Myanmar's progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS but urged concerted action to avoid a "terrible epidemic", according to a media report here. Kathleen Cravero, the deputy executive director of the UNAIDS agency who visited the country this month, said there had been a "dynamic change" in the campaign since her previous visit 15 months ago, the Myanmar Times said in its edition to be published Monday. "I was really impressed by the commitment shown by senior divisional and state level officials," Cravero told the semi-official weekly, adding that leaders were willing to talk frankly about the problems. She said local townships had shown commitment to tackling the crisis but stressed the need for a broader nationwide program so that "every citizen of Myanmar understands what AIDS is and has the resources and information to prevent infection." "The people of Myanmar need to take the problem seriously and to take concerted action if they want to avoid a terrible epidemic in the future," she said. Commitments by national leaders and the work of groups involved in combatting the health crisis had left her "very optimistic" that the goals of the two-year-old UN-Myanmar joint plan on HIV/AIDS would be realised. UNAIDS estimates that up to 400,000 people among a population of 48 million are infected with HIV, while independent experts working in Yangon say the incidence could be twice as high. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Thai police arrested for drug
trafficking ahead of crackdown
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Police in Thailand have arrested two of their fellow officers for alleged drug trafficking in a campaign to ``clean house'' before a nationwide crackdown on the illicit trade due to begin next week. Police Maj. Thawee Samrerng, 53, was arrested Saturday while allegedly delivering methamphetamine pills to his nephew, Satra A-sakul, 35, in Lopburi province, 115 kilometers (71 miles) north of Bangkok, said Col. Paisal Chaina. Thawee, an anti-narcotics officer, allegedly confessed to having given methamphetamine tablets to his nephew on seven occasions. On Friday, police arrested Satra and seized 8,000 speed pills, which he claimed to have obtained from Thawee, according to police. Separately, Bangkok police said they arrested another officer, Sgt. Maj. Nat Chitsa-nguan, on Saturday for suspected drug trafficking after they found two ecstasy pills and other drugs in his car. The police officers face a maximum penalty of death if they are found guilty. With hundreds of millions of methamphetamines flooding the country from laboratories along the Myanmar border, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has announced a major crackdown on drug trafficking starting Feb. 1. National police chief Gen. Sant Sarutanond has said police would cease to allow the families of suspected traffickers to keep laundered money and assets obtained through the drug trade. ``We will not sympathize with their families and relatives anymore. We will take back from them every baht (cent) and every object bought with drug money. We will do that even if they will be left with nothing,'' Sant said. The three-month campaign, which Thaksin hopes will yield significant results, will also involve volunteers, community leaders and government officials, who will act as informants. --------------------------------------------------------------------
EU, ASEAN to sign
anti-terrorism deal; assess troubled economic
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) _ Foreign ministers from the 15 European Union and 10 Southeast Asian nations are set to sign an anti-terrorism deal and assess troubled economic ties. The foreign ministers are to open a two-day meeting here Monday to sign an anti-terrorism agreement _ similar to a deal ASEAN signed with the United States last August _ and issue a statement reiterating their determination to combat terrorist activities. Unhappy about ASEAN efforts to narrow the yawning rich-poor gap in its ranks, the EU is reconsidering the relationship that is based on a 1980 cooperation accord. The EU will unveil this year a new policy for Southeast Asia focusing more on individual nations lagging behind economically and stressing improved cooperation in illegal immigration and drugs trafficking. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar _ the former Burma which is subject to EU sanctions for human rights violations. The EU granted an exemption to its visa ban to enable a Myanmar delegation come to Brussels for the first time. It banned trade with Myanmar after its military leaders refused to recognize the 1990 general election win of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party. ``We remain as concerned as ever about the situation in Burma,'' said an EU official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. ``We are concerned about the human rights situation there and want to see a rapid return to democracy.'' Ahead of the meeting, ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said his group wanted to discuss trade and investments. ASEAN worries European investors are increasingly going to China. ``A dialogue between the ministers of the EU and ASEAN will foster a more positive climate to encourage more people to look at ASEAN and opportunities here,'' Ong said. The EU-ASEAN relationship is on the ropes partly because the West Europeans are centering efforts on bringing their eastern neighbors into the EU. Also, the 1997 financial crisis has eroded the reputation of Asia's ``Tiger'' economies in Western Europe, and the EU has been trying in vain to give human rights a primary place in trade relations. Crucially, EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten speaks of a ``nagging unhappiness'' about ASEAN's inability to sufficiently spread economic benefits across its member states, which range from wealthy Singapore to Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, four of the world's poorest nations. ``We need a more results-oriented approach ... We should try to modernize the contractual basis for our relations,'' he said in a recent speech. ``If that is not at once possible with ASEAN as a grouping, we should look at what might be done on a bilateral basis through new co-operation agreements with ASEAN's members,'' Patten said. The EU is resisting ASEAN's pressure for a free trade deal, arguing the group must increase trade among its members more. In 2001, the EU was ASEAN's second largest export market and third largest trade partner after the United States and Japan. EU exports to ASEAN totaled 42.2 billion euros (US$ 45.8 billion) and its imports 65.7 billion euros (US$ 71.3 billion), making for a two-way trade total of 107.9 billion euros (US$ 117.1 billion). --------------------------------------------------------------------
|