BURMA NEWS INTERNATIONAL
WEEKLY NEWS PACKAGE
May 10, 2004
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ON THE BORDER
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ON THE BORDER
Bangladesh Chamber Urge Revision of Account Trade Deal with Burma
Chittagong, May 3 KALADAN NEWS: Bangladesh
Chamber leaders have urged the government to revise the account trade agreement
with Burma, saying the deal is not helpful to augment bilateral trade,
according to the Daily Star of Bangladesh.
At a joint meeting held recently at the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the
Chamber leaders urged the government to involve the private sector in making
such a deal to ensure proper implementation and achieve the goal.
Abdul Awal Mintoo,
President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(FBCCI), said the limit should be increased to at least $5 lakh
(US$ 500 thousand) and the reconciliation time should be brought down to two
months.
Amir Humayun Mahmud Chowdhury, the President
of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce & Industry
(CCCI), proposed revision of the account trade agreement.
The CCCI president stressed the need for constructing a bridge over the river Karnaphuli and observed that without the development of
internal communication it would be useless to develop road links with
Implementation of the agreement was slow because the private sector was not
involved in the official talks when terms of references of the agreement were
finalized, said Rashed Maksud
Khan, Chairman of Bangladesh-Burma Business Promotion Council.
Presiding over the meeting, Mr. Khan said many flaws had been detected in the
deal in the implementation process. "Therefore, there should be private
sector involvement in preparing such agreements," he recommended.
He also said the limit of $1 lakh
(US$100 thousand) only and reconciliation period of six months in case of
letters of credit against account trade would be totally unworkable. "The
volume of trade would be so low that it would not be feasible to do business
profitably."
Referring to the market and population of
The FBCCI would take up the issues of account trade with the government and
expedite the road link development projects, he added.
Fazle RM Hasan, President
of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), said
Concerning
According to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
signed in March 2003, account trade will be settled every six months.
*** **** ****
Pesticides Usage leading to extinction of shell animals
Akyab, May 4 Narinjara
News: Arakanese people throughout the state are
“stealing” fish by using pesticides, since it is not possible to catch the fish
legally from the rivers and lakes, according to our correspondent.
The use of pesticide is threatening the existence of crustaceans, such as prawn
and crab. Though pesticides are not killing the large fish species, young and
small fish species are suffering, and the shellfish
are affected the worst.
Shwe Marlar and Shwe Ciper
brands of pesticide are intended for agriculture, but they have been widely
used for the quick killing of fish in the waters of Mrauk
Oo, Kyauk Taw, Min Bya,
Pauk Taw and
People are turning to such drastic measures because ordinary citizens are not
allowed to take fish, prawn or anything from the rivers, creeks and lakes.
These fishing rights were contracted out to businessmen who have large amounts
of cash. This privatisation of natural resources has
hit hard the daily life of ordinary fishermen whose family lives depend upon
the daily catch.
If such ordinary people want to catch fish, they have to pay 500 to 1000 kyats,
depending upon the size of the net, to the private operators of the waterways.
The pesticides are put in streams in the upper parts of the rivers’ catchment areas. This leads to the death of shell animals
and small fishes lower down the river, where they wash up so that they can be
picked out of the water.
The use of pesticide may cause severe health problems to the people and grave
environmental degradation.
*** *** *** ***
University student condemns SPDC’s education
system
Akyab, May 5 Narinjara
News: The ruling State Peace and Development Council’s (SPDC) international
claim that it is focussing on the educational
development of students living in the border areas is a lie, said a newly
exiled Arakanese student in Bangladesh.
He fled to
There are less than a thousand students in Sittwe (Akyab) University, and there are no more than five Master
students. “Graduating five Master students in a year is not development, but
regression,” he claimed.
In government newspapers and on state television the SPDC is claming that there
is a high standard of education, and that there are
computers at universities and courses in computer-related subjects. However, at
Akyab Universtiy,
computer-related subjects are rote learned from books, and no computers can be
used except by Computer Science students. In addition, Computer Science
students can use computers for no more than two days a week, and no more than
two hours on each of those days.
Though it has been open for a while,
An academic year lasts only about four months, and most students have to take
private tuition from the teachers. Fees for tuition are about 15,000 kyats a
month, and the teachers guarantee to pass every student who take up the
tuition, says Saw Bhone Tun.
Since the SPDC’s education system is in such
disarray, most students do not have faith in it. People have the view that
working is better than studying, therefore parents are
not encouraging their children’s education.
*** *** *** ***
Arakan People Welcome US Congress Renewal
of Sanctions on Burma
Chittagong, May 04 Kaladan
News: Arakan people have welcomed the decision by US
congressional leaders to renew sanctions on Burma placed on Burma’s military
regime in July of last year, said a NLD member inside Arakan,
who declined to mention his name.
The resolution was led by Powerful Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in the Senate. The top Democrat on the
International Relations Committee, Tom Lantos (D-CA), and Peter King (R-NY) in
the House of Representatives, proposed to maintain a ban on all imports from
the southeast Asian country.
Last year, the US House of Representatives imposed sanctions on 28th July, one
month after the senate approved the move. It voted 418-2 to ban imports from
Burma, where pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Su Kyi has been detained by the
Burmese military ruling regime since the Depeyin
massacre of May 30, 2003.
The law froze assets of the Burmese military regime in the
The push by Congress follows the European Union’s renewal of its sanctions on
A prominent Rohingya leader said, "
The US move is tremendous for all the people of the country."
The military leaders of
When asked about the situation, a schoolteacher said, "
We will face some difficulties because of the sanctions, but the SPDC
will face many more problems in running the country."
Recently, the junta released two opposition leaders amid speculation that it
might also free pro-democracy leader Aung San Su Kyi from house arrest.
Under intense international pressure after the attack, in August of 2003, the
military regime proposed a "road map to democracy", in which it
pledged to re-convene a "National Convention" and bring about genuine
change. However, international observers have called the convention a sham,
since the regime’s handpicked delegates represent military interests and the
convention includes rules to prohibit public debate.
According to the US State Department and some NGOs, the SPDC has imprisoned
over 1,500 political prisoners. They also use rape as a weapon of War.
*** **** *** ***
Diarrhea kills 3 in Teknaf Camp; many fighting for
Life
Teknaf, May 6 KALADAN NEWS: Diarrhea has claimed 3
lives and attacked at least 50 others in the Teknaf
makeshift camp of Burmese Rohingya refugees (an
unofficial refugee camp), sources in Teknaf said.
On 4 May 2004, three Rohingya refugee children -
namely Hossain Ahmad, 7, son of Kala
Mia, Deen Mohammad, 5, and other one in the makeshift
camp of Teknaf - diedof
diarrhea on the same day and many other children and old people have been
suffering from this disease. They are fighting for their lives, and there is no
assistance from any quarter.
Since the beginning of May 2004, temperatures have risen so sharply that the Rohingya refugees can not maintain hygienic and sanitary
standards in their camp. Also, they do not have enough fresh drinking water
from tube wells, which were donated by some local NGOs a few months ago on
humanitarian grounds, a refugee named Jalal said.
For the last 2 months, the Rohingya refugees have not
been getting enough fresh drinking water from the tube wells, so they have to
fetch water from nearby local ponds, which are contaminated. This led to the
sudden outbreak of diarrhea in the camp.
On
One refugee said, “ There are clinics operated by MSF
and Concern NGOs in official refugee camps, but we have none. So, we face death
without any treatment, since we have no oral and intravenous saline in our
camp. Now, we urgently need saline to prevent these diarrhea attacks.
The refugees asked our reporter to send their plea for help to the UN, NGOs,
international human rights organizations, and any individuals who sympathize
with their cause.
*** *** ***
No more foreign tourists in Arakan
Akyab,
May 7 Narinjara News: Even though there has been an
increase in the number of foreign tourists to
The reason is partly due to transport problems and partly because tourists are
not allowed to use the roads that cross the mountain ranges dividing
To get a flight to Arakan is not an easy task either,
as tickets are hard to get. At
Despite governmental propaganda portraying Mrauk-Oo
and Nagapli as places for tourists, no provisions
have been made to enable tourists to get there.
“There is a big difference between Pagan and Mrauk-Oo
in terms of infrastructure for tourism. The State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) used so much money to make Pagan tourist friendly, that there is almost
nothing left to spend on Mrauk-Oo,” said a Mrauk-Oo local.
According to the Department of Tourism, 37,627 foreign tourists visited
*** *** ***
Bangladeshi medicine enjoys high demand in
Last year
It is expected that this year
Bangladeshi medicines have often been smuggled into
Burmese people have to depend for medicine on neighboring countries like
*** *** ***
Army Operations will not Cross into
However, more preparations are required to combat the growing militancy along
the Indo-Burma border, said Brigadier GS Malhi in
Manipur.
"We need help from all corners to flush out the militants along the
Indo-Burma border," he said.
Recently the Indian Army, in association with the Royal Bhutan army, launched a
joint operation in various areas of
Immediately after that the Indian Army chief NC Biz disclosed that a similar
operation was on the cards to dismantle the camps of the Indian ultras.
*** *** ***
Nasaka Handed 48 Prisoners over to BDR
after Flag Meeting
Teknaf, May 7 Kaladan
News: Nasaka (the Burmese border security
force) handed 48 prisoners over to the Bangladeshi Rifles (BDR) after flag
meeting between Nasaka and BDR at
A delegation led by BDR Rifles Battalion No.23 Commander Major A.B.M. Khaled Hider from the Bangladeshi side and a delegation led
by Nasaka Sector No.5 Commander from the Burmese side
participated in the meeting held on 27 April 2004 in Maungdaw
Town.
In the flag meeting they discussed border trade (both legal and illegal), Rohingya refugee repatriation and other issues related to
both countries.
During the 27 April meeting, 48 Bangladeshi prisoners from
The prisoners were mostly fishermen arrested by Nasaka
while they were fishing in the
One prisoner freed from
*** *** ***
Sino-Burma friendship festival: a big success
The friendship festival, usually held at the time of the "Thingyan" (Burmese New Year) water festival, was
delayed for the first time at the request of the Burmese military until 3-5
May, and was solely sponsored by the Chinese authorities.
Though there was no water throwing as in previous years, it was the grandest
festival ever held, said a local resident.
As well as a boat race, cow show, beauty contest and fashion show, the festival
included traditional folk dances and music concerts. Kabya
Bwae Mhuu and Sai Seng Maw, two prominent
singers from
With Chinese authorities inviting indigenous people from across the country,
tourism in the Ruili area got an extra boost during
the festival. Hotels and restaurants were packed with visitors from all over
the country.
While the festival symbolizes the unity and solidarity of the Chinese people,
the people of
**** End****
Burma News International is a network of seven
exiled media groups such as Mizzima News, Khonumthung News Group, Narinjara
News, Kaladan Press Network, Independent Mon News
Agency, Karenni Information Network Group and Network Media Group.
For more information, contact duty editor of BNI at:
Phone: +66 1 530 2837
E-mail: [email protected]