APRIL 2001 – JUNE 2001, VOL. 11.
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Contents:
1.
2.
3.
4. $29M GRANT HINTS
5.
BUSH URGED TO MAINTAIN SANCTIONS. WILLIAM BARNES,
6.
INTERVIEW WITH SENIOR OFFICER OF THE KARENNI ARMY ON THE SUBJECT OF JAPANESE
PLANS TO GRANT FUNDS TO THE SPDC TO REPAIR THE BALUCHAUNG II POWER PLANT.
7.
INTERVIEW WITH A KARENNI WOMAN DISPLACED FROM THE BALUCHAUNG HYDROPOWER PLANT
AREA. Interview conducted in Karenni Refugee Camp #3 by Images Asia, 2001.
8.
DAM MISINFORMATION AND THE PARADIGM SHIFT. Tyson R. Roberts,
9.
A REGION AT RISK:
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Aid
Linked to Junta's Talks With Opposition
Thomas
Crampton International Herald Tribune
.
The move, which breaks a long-standing de facto ban on
bilateral international assistance to
.
Sources familiar with the progress of the United
Nations-brokered talks in Rangoon said the grant, which sets aside ¥3.5 billion
($28.6 million) for reconstruction of turbines in a hydropower dam, was
intended to serve as a tangible reward to the military government for having
kept open a dialogue with the opposition leader and Nobel laureate Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi.
"You can do positive re-enforcement for the
discussions with a pat on the back, kind words or a dam," said a person
familiar with the deal. "The Japanese decided to do it with this
dam."
Rehabilitation of the Baluchaung dam was agreed to
earlier this month and quietly announced during a little-publicized visit to
The agreement was not announced in
The reconciliation talks started last October at the
prompting of a new UN special envoy, Razali Ismail.
"This is a very significant move by
The talks remain secret, but some of the government's
more virulent propaganda against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has eased. In another
hint of progress, the Burmese government earlier this month let in an envoy
from the UN human rights office for the first time in five years.
Nonetheless, many diplomats and observers fear that
"This is a risky step for
Japanese officials declined to say whether Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi approved of the grant but confirmed that consultations took place on
all sides.
For
Last year the
Mr. Razali failed in another attempt to rally support
when he visited the World Bank earlier this year to request an opening of
low-level engagement with
In 1998 the Burmese government rejected a billion-dollar
offer of aid from the World Bank and the United Nations in exchange for political
reforms. At the time, government leaders expressed outrage at foreign criticism
of
Mr. Razali's approach, according to a Rangoon-based
source, "doesn't impose conditions, but acts more like an orchestra
conductor. Each government and institution is like an instrument that he tries
to put in harmony with the others." Public disclosure of the grant,
however, may raise criticism of
Another point of contention may be
According to some estimates, however, up to one-third of
the electricity generated by the dam is used by the country's military.
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2.
AFP, Tokyo printed in
The Nation: May 18, 2001
JAPAN
HAS offered almost US$ 30 million (Bt 1.35 billion) in grant aid to
"We
do not think
US
Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday sharply criticised
But
Powell made it clear that the
"The
Japanese are making an investment in a hydroelectric plant that we have
suggested to them is not a proper investment to be making at this time with
this regime", Powell told the Senate appropriations sub-committee on
foreign operations.
The
Japanese official said
Another
foreign minister official said
"We
do not know when the aid will be approved. Before the approval by the cabinet,
we will send a team of researchers to assess the dam", the official said.
Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy won an overwhelming election victory in
1990 but the result was not recognised by the military government.
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AP - Sunday April 29,
BANGKOK (AP)--
"Any form of aid and relaxation of international pressure at this time can
only do more harm than good to the fragile state of the talks in Burma,"
Sein Win, prime minister of the National Coalition Government of the Union of
Burma, was quoted as saying. The organization is a self-declared
government-in-exile.
Earlier this month,
The Japanese aid would represent the most significant foreign grant to
A final decision on the aid is expected by the end of the year, after a team of
Japanese experts have evaluated the extent of repairs needed at the 40-year old
plant that supplies the capital
The Washington-based coalition - formed in 1990 by exiles of Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy - said in a statement received in
"The SPDC has had ample opportunity to inform the people of
"Aid at this time could reinforce the generals' belief that they can ease
international pressure by pretending to talk without making a real
commitment."
The talks are seen as the most significant dialogue in a decade of political
deadlock since Suu Kyi's party swept general elections and was barred from
taking power. Since then, many of its elected representatives have been jailed
or gone into exile.
Suu Kyi and her two top lieutenants have been under house detention since Sept.
23 for defying travel restrictions. A handful of top diplomats who have seen
the democracy leader since then say that, like the government, she has declined
to comment on the talks.
Last week, ethnic Karenni opponents who fight a resistance war against the
regime also urged
They said that indigenous Karenni people have never received electricity from
the power plant in northeastern
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4. $29M GRANT HINTS
From: Myanmar Times /
April 30 - May 6,2001/ Volume 3, No.61
MYANMAR’S
continuing warm ties with Japan has resulted in a US$28.6 million assistance
package to revamp a hydro power station in Eastern Kayah
State, about 400kms from the capital Yangon.International
media reports painted the assistance as a change of stance by Japan, but both
Myanmar and Japanese officials were quick to point out the grants came under
the auspices of technical assistance and cooperation, something Japan has been
doing in a low key manner for some years now.
The
spokesman, quoted by Agence France Presse, said a team of consultants would soon arrive in
“We
wanted to give some sort of encouragement to the parties concerned that they
will engage more with each other to bring about some positive results,” he told
AFP.The embassy official said that although talks at
the highest level between Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt on behalf of the SPDC
and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remain shrouded in secrecy, he was optimistic they
would yield results.“Cautious
optimism is everyone’s attitude and there’s no sign that we should see the
situation in a less positive manner,” he said.
A
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5.
BUSH URGED TO MAINTAIN SANCTIONS
WILLIAM BARNES,
More than 30
There was surprise this week when it appeared
The deafening silence from the meetings that started last October has convinced
many observers that their primary purpose was to polish up the junta's image at
a time of unprecedented international pressure. Ms Aung San Suu Kyi and most of
her senior leadership remain either under house arrest or in jail and the
regime has worried some Burma-watchers by not boasting about what are purported
to be positive talks at any recent international
gatherings, including the
Debbie Stothard, the co-ordinator
of a pressure group, the Alternative Asean Network on
Sources have told the International Herald Tribune
A Japanese source in
Even Japanese officials who describe both projects as "humanitarian"
admit the dam project is more overtly economic, but point out that the station
was originally built with Japanese money provided as part of war reparations in
1960 and that the country suffers frequent power blackouts.
A Western diplomat in
Increasingly observers think the International Labour Organisation's
unprecedented call last November for sanctions against Burma, combined with
fears the US might impose an import ban, persuaded the regime to talk to a
woman they have frequently castigated in the state-controlled media as a
dangerous and malevolent force.
Burma was slammed for its "continuing pattern of gross and systematic
violations of human rights" by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in
Geneva last week and labour rights groups complain that even now, forced labour
remains widespread.
Meanwhile, the toning down of attacks on Ms Aung San Suu Kyi in the state press
and the release of some political prisoners has been widely reported in hopeful
terms. Yet several new political arrests have been made in recent months.
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“If
the power plant gives the Karenni people benefits we wouldn’t want to do
anything to it - but now the Karennis
get no benefit, the SPDC expels the people from their lands around it, they are
driven from their homes and then the SPDC put down landmines all around. The
people also have to take responsibility for the security of the power lines
that go into the
"If
they repair Baluchaung Power Plant the Karenni get nothing – the benefits are
only for big factories and their own people in
Before
they built Lawpita they promised the Karenni would get electricity from the
project, but even all these years later they still get nothing.
“If
the project starts the Karenni youth inside will look on the Japanese and any
tourists with a bad eye.”
Starting
in 1997 the SPDC made more operations against the KNPP. However after ILO
resolution they seem to be wanting to show that they are not using porters so
much, so they maintain their positions rather than attacking. Normally in
Karenni there are only LIB’s 72, 54, 261, 127, 428, 429, 430, 337, 530 and 531.
Under Da Ka Sa (which is more responsible for defensive rather than offensive
duties) there were normally 8 battalions. Near the border the camps are under
Da Ka Sa. Half stay near the border, half manage security around villagers,
relocation camps, bases, etc.
In
1997 an additional 10 battalions were brought in for special operations. They
were LIB’s 102, 427, 250, 261, 421, 423, 424,
425, 426, 336, under Special Operational Commander Gen Maung Bo. Now he has
been promoted to Eastern Commander. Now the Special Operations Command (SOC) is
under Brig. Gen. (Bo Hmu Choke) Kyaw Win.
The
SOC, as usual, are still always on the move. They haven't withdrawn - but they
don't want to engage, don't want to die. They just avoid (us). The soldiers are
hungry, afraid - they may know we are there but they act like they don't know.
They are not the same as they were in 1997 – there now seems to be conflict in
Burmese Army – maybe they lost morale due to corruption. The soldiers are now
not well trained, such as the one we captured in Daw Kaw. It is no policy
change - more like the army captains have weakness.
The
KNPLF and Da Ka Sa are moving in to take out the logs (from the areas close to
the border). KNPLF has 100 troops for security of logging operations. The
Burmese have 4 battalions
“There
are however 2 tanks at Lawpita. The 54th LIB at Loikaw also has 2 tanks. 72 LIB
and 530 LIB are based at Lawpita. 72 LIB Commander is Lt. Col. Maung Maung Soe.
530 LIB commander is Lt. Col. Tha Oo. The responsibility of 72 LIB is security
immediately in and around the power plant. 530 LIB is responsible for security
around the outer perimeter of the area. Col. Hla Thaung Myint is Da Ka Sa is
the regional commander with responsibility for them.
“…..The youth group told
us that the KNPP is very slow and not strong, and that if KNPP doesn't do
anything to stop the reconstruction of dam they will form a group and they will
catch the engineers, the tourists - and copy the other countries,
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7. INTERVIEW WITH A KARENNI
WOMAN DISPLACED FROM THE BALUCHAUNG HYDROPOWER PLANT AREA
Interview
date:
Interviewee: Maw Xxx Meh
Occupation: (before relocation and becoming a refugee)
Farmer
Age: 60 yrs
Ethnicity: Kayah
Place: (before relocation) Tee Ta Nga
Village – forced to move to Hti Po Klo
Village,
“I
do not remember exactly when the order to move from the village came, it was
some time in June of 1996. It happened after the soldiers ordered the headman
to come and see them. They killed him. A
little bit later the whole village was ordered to move by the 72nd LIB. He was killed because there had been fighting
between KNPP and SLORC. The SLORC
suspected the headman of supporting the KNPP.
The soldiers came to the village and ordered them to move. We didn’t know why, they didn’t say. We
couldn’t take all our belongings. We had
only 2 hours to move – no, not 2 days, only 2 hours. We started to leave the village at
“Before
the three months were finished one of my sons went back to the village but he
stepped on a mine. The mine didn’t kill
him, he is still alive. However my
husband is dead – for more than 4 years now.
He was killed by the Burmese soldiers when he was taken as a porter. He
was very tired and weak from the bad food and little rest. He collapsed, he
just couldn’t carry his load any more.
The soldiers beat him to make him move. When he couldn’t they kicked him
off a cliff.”
Her husband was taken as
a porter when the headman received an order for 3 porters to go to serve
72LIB. It was his turn to go. There were many people doing portering with her husband.
He was killed on a trail going up a mountain between
Asked if she knew
details of the army unit responsible for his death she said she knows only one
name –
“Tun Shwe. He
is a 3 star rank”.
“My
husband was about 45 years old when he died, younger than me. We held a memorial service in the traditional
way – killed a buffalo, and buried his clothes and some other possessions.
“I
have 8 children – all sons. My son who
stepped on a mine already had two children – he is about 30.
“When
we were made to move at first we stayed under some other people’s house when we
arrived in Hti Poh Klo – they said we could stay with other people. It is a big village. It was the rainy season.
“30
families were moved from my village. The
other villages that were forced to move had to go to Nwa Leh Bo village in
“Our
villages are close to
Other villages that were
also relocated (that she knew of) were “Daw Pu, Daw Peh, Law Pi Hto, Tha Poe (Tapo), Bu
Lei, Daw Lo Khu. These are all in the
eastern part of Dee Maw Soe, mostly south of Baluchaung – half a day’s walk
from Baluchaung.”
-
further movements,
attempts to find sufficient work/rice
-
dangers for her sons
from arrest, interrogation, torture
“I
came here last month after deciding last March to leave,” when she could take her family.
She decided to leave because she had to work every day, often had to
walk to find work. She learnt about the
refugee camp from some people she met when she was looking for work who said
the situation may be a little better in
“My
injured son is in Loikaw with his family, trying to find work. Sometimes he does gardening.
It’s
very hard – everyday they find a job from the people in the village – a tin of
rice for 3 days work (biscuit tin-size, 20 litres). They also get some corn. Sometimes I have to go house to house to ask
for rice when there is no work. I made
my children spread out to look for work or ask for rice.
“We
stayed in that area (Hti Poh Klo) for 3 years. Over one and a half years ago I
moved back to Loikaw area because it (Hti Poh Klo) is very dangerous,
especially for my sons. They are often stopped and interrogated by the
soldiers. My son has been tied up like this (stands like a cross) and the soldiers twisted a stick into his
belly-button until it bled. This has
happened often, not just once. When the
soldiers are involved in fighting, they suspect everyone.
“Since
moving to Loikaw the security was a bit better, but it was still hard to find
rice. Life was getting worse and worse – there was no firm work. Sometimes I
had to offer to clean people’s houses for whatever they choose to give
her. Sometimes it was very little and I
was very disappointed.”
…..”We
only came in the night time – we were afraid of being seen by the Burmese military. It took ten days walking to get to the
border, but if you count the time it took to get from Loikaw up to the refugee
camp, it was actually about 15 days travel.”
She came with other refugees – (she guessed there were
about 88 in the group). The group arrived March 9th.
“Yes,
the Karenni soldiers helped us, escorted us from the
“All
the people in the group came together from different places, joined together on
the way. My temporary ‘boss’ from Loikaw
had asked me to go to Dee Maw Soe to get some things to sell. When I was there
I met and talked with some people in a place near the forest, they said they
were leaving and would wait for 2 days for her to go back and get her family.
Asked about being in
“I
feel safer here – I don’t need to worry more about the military giving trouble
to my sons. Also my son can go back to school.
He lost many years – even though he is 17, he is happy to go back to
primary school.
“I
heard from people I came here with about ‘loke a pay’ (forced “voluntary”
labour) at Lawpita. They make people
clear the plants from below the power lines.
Others are made to build high bamboo fences around the army
positions. Some have to work to plant
yellow flowers that the soldiers can sell.
These flowers are being planted by the Lawpita road that goes to
Loikaw. If you travel by truck you can
see them from the road. They are “Pa Khi
Di” flowers. They are very bitter-leaf
flowers – people boil and eat the leaves.
“Five
villages remain in the Baluchaung / Lawpita area that I know: Gar Nee, Saw Law Gyeh, Maw Taw Khu, Mai Garn
(Shan), She Meh. In She Meh there are
mostly Burmese. The first 4 villages are
above Lawpita, north of Baluchaung.”
(When asked to elaborate on other villages in
the area Maw Xxx Meh said she had “heard of Dawtacha near (south of) Mai
Garn – but I have not been in that area so I don’t know.”
The majority of the villages are Karenni, a few
Shan, some Pa Oh.)
Before relocation, Maw
Xxx Meh worked on her farm with her husband and sons, growing paddy. When asked
how big their lands were she was unfamiliar with measurements. She said “I don’t know exactly
how much land we had, but we had plenty of land to grow all we needed. Every year we still had a little rice left.
In a year we could harvest 10 full bullock carts of paddy.”
(total of around 300 sacks of paddy per year.)
“We had many buffalos –
don’t know what has become of them now. They have probably become wild, been
shot or eaten.”
“We
used to have to pay rice tax, but got a very low price for the rice. Every year we had to give 20 biscuit tins in
tax to the tax collectors. These were civil servants, not soldiers.”
She said she could see the
pipe and hear the sound of the falling water, but she couldn’t hear the
turbines as they were a long way down.
“Most
of the water goes through the pipe to the power plant. There is no waterfall any more. From the distance you can see the big white pipe
– I never went and touched it but went past it many times. I could hear the water from the pipe.”
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8.
DAM MISINFORMATION AND THE PARADIGM SHIFT
Tyson R. Roberts
Large hydropower dams and
large irrigation projects with dams, weirs, and water diversions are part of
the syndrome of over-population and over-development that is threatening the
global ecosystem and causing social disintegration
[This
commentary is a response to Martin Wieland's article titled 'Don't damn dams
out of hand' in the Bangkok Post on
Wieland
presented his pro-dam arguments forcibly and in a well-organised fashion. Many
of his statements are slanted or biased, or half-truths. Others are subjective
over-simplifications of complicated issues. The main problem, however, is that
his entire essay represents an archaic point of view. The thinking in it is
based upon a failed paradigm of development. This expansionist, no-limits-to-growth
paradigm has resulted in global environmental deterioration and diminished
quality of life for everyone. It is the root cause of social, political and
economic instability and insecurity.
Fortunately
the world might be in the early stages of a major paradigm shift in global
economic development. The new paradigm has not yet been officially adopted by
organisations such as the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank, and
certainly not by Wieland's International Commission on Dams. The ICD is not to
be confused with the WCD or World Commission on Dams. WCD is supposed to
provide a balanced evaluation of dams and particularly of hydropower dams. ICD
is a purely pro-dam lobbying group. Its membership is composed mainly of
engineers, consultants and others professionally and financially interested in
promoting dams.
Wieland
and others holding views similar to his should try to adjust their thinking and
behavior to the new paradigm if they can. The problem with paradigm shifts is
that most people in the middle of one are unable to recognise it, and others
who comprehend the shift are so habituated to old ways of thinking and old ways
of behaving that they are unable to adjust or adapt to the new paradigm.
Instead they try to detract from the new paradigm and its supporters. They
cling tenaciously to the old ways and rail against the new thinking. Thus it is
up to succeeding generations to take up the new paradigm. This is starting to
happen in many parts of the world. It is in mankind's best interests that the
new paradigm prevails. It involves environmentally-and people-friendly regional
and global development based on intentional population reduction. It involves
conservation and preservation of wilderness and of biodiversity, and increased
quality of life for all human beings. It is an elitist concept in which Homo
sapiens, the elite species, establishes a rational relationship to the
biosphere. In economic terms it means development that is truly sustainable,
based on resources that are truly renewable. It means living within the means
provided to friendly-users by our user-friendly planet.
Contrary
to the statements of Wieland and others stuck with the old paradigm, the new
paradigm is not idealistic or utopian thinking. It is pragmatic, rational and
realistic. It is also beautiful and challenging. The old paradigm is ugly,
boring, destructive and ultimately obscene. It is not idealistic, not rational,
and not pragmatic. It is based on the self-defeating and nihilistic assumption
that mankind cannot escape from the loop of over-population and
over-development.
A
close reading of Wieland's commentary reveals the faultiness of his thinking.
In the first paragraph he states: "World Anti-Dams Day on March 14 may be
just the invention of small groups of dam opponents trying to draw public
attention and block future dam projects." More likely the March 14
occasion represents an expression of numerous people of diverse backgrounds
motivated by their (perhaps limited at this point) perception of the new paradigm.
It is characteristic of paradigm shifts that proponents of the old paradigm
cannot grasp the rate at which the new paradigm is taking over.
In
the second paragraph is the statement that: "There is a growing need for
sustainable and environmentally friendly sources of energy, which [hydropower]
dams can provide." Increase of quality of life for everyone may mean that
many people will consume more energy in the future than they do today. But that
does not mean that any of the increase should come from hydropower dams. Most
hydropower dams are not sustainable sources of energy and they emphatically are
not environmentally friendly. There are very few exceptions to this statement,
and the exceptions do not occur in tropical
In
the second paragraph Wieland's article also states that dams have contributed
significantly to flood control all over the world. This is certainly true. But
it is only a half-truth. Dams also have contributed significantly to floods and
aggravation of flooding all over the world. Dam failures have been responsible
for substantial loss of life. The floods in
India
and China, the two most populous countries and with the highest undeveloped
hydropower potential, although planning to develop their water resources, have
vigorously opposed any anti-development policies supported by anti-dam interest
groups. This is a highly subjective and carefully-hedged statement. As the two
most populous countries,
"It
is in the interest of countries to only develop projects where the number of
people who benefit outnumber those who suffer a negative impact. The people
affected by large infrastructural projects are not to be considered
automatically as losers. Everybody's life is affected by unforeseen decisions
and circumstances. Usually this leads to new opportunities and most people do
not want to return to the past once they get used to their new
environment."These remarks border on the ridiculous. They could equally
well be used as a good rationale for another world war. Its not an acceptable
trade-off that thousands of Cambodians or Laotians lose their lands and way of
life so that a million people in
Tyson
R. Roberts, PhD Stanford University 1968, is a Research Associate of the
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. He has studied the fishes of the
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9.
A REGION AT RISK:
A
NEW report dealing with
The
report, released recently by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), divides
the Greater Mekong Sub-region into five areas considered to be threatened both
by hydro-electric plants and new roads. One of these areas is the
However
there is much at risk in the region, and the plants could prove a threat to the
area's natural diversity. The
There
are five dams currently operating, or nearing completion, in
They
are the Manwan Dam (1,250 MW), completed in 1996; the Dachaoshan Dam (1,350
MW), to be finished early next year; the Xiaowan Dam, (4,200 MW), to be built
in 2002; the Jinghong Dam, (1,500 MW), to be built in 2006; and the Nuozhadu
Dam (5,000 MW), to be built in 2005. Panellists at a seminar called recently to
discuss the report warned the dams could cause significant environmental and
social impact, because they will impede the flow of the
Biodiversity
in the lower reaches also faced a major threat.
The
second area facing major changes is the Golden Quadrangle. In that area it is
not so much dam development as the construction of a super-highway expected to
span from Chiang Rai to
The
area is highly regarded for the ethnic diversity of its indigenous peoples.
However, they rely on increasingly degraded natural resources. While
governments eagerly await the great economic benefits expected as a result of
opening the area up, the risks posed to communities ill-prepared to handle
rapid change are staggering.
Not
the least of these were drug abuse and prostitution, said the report. The third
area, the Central Greater Mekong, is home to some of the most untouched
wilderness in
The
fourth area's main water sources are the Se San and Se Kong Rivers, which flow
from
The
last area the report discusses is the
Because
of its uniqueness, the repercussions for the lake an impeded flow in the
Jeerawat
Na Thalang
THE
NATION
LAST
MODIFIED: Wednesday,
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