BurmaNet News, August 12, 2004

[Editor]

August 12, 2004, Issue # 2537


INSIDE BURMA
Myanmar Times: Irrigation project nears completion
DVB: USDA members trick Burmese people into joining them

ON THE BORDER
DVB: The plight of Burmese women in Thailand

AIDS / HEALTH
NPR: Fresh Air: Interview: Jon Cohen discusses the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Asia
Myanmar Times: Agreement signed to bring funds to fight TB
Myanmar Times: UN to provide funds to fight spread of bird flu

BUSINESS / MONEY
Kyodo News: Myanmar to prepare alternative energy for vehicles

REGIONAL
FEER: Thais get tough on foreign labour

OPINION/OTHER
FEER: Letters: Call their bluff

PRESS RELEASE
NCUB: Burmese pro-democracy Council to emerge as new force in Burma

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 9-15, Myanmar Times
Irrigation project nears completion - May Thandar Win

The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation expects to complete
construction of what will be Myanmar’s biggest electrical pump irrigation
project later this month, said a government official.

The project will supply water to 11,000 acres of cultivated land near
Lawka-nanda Pagoda in Bagan, Mandalay Division.

“The project will be a cornerstone of efforts to transform land in
semi-arid regions in the middle of Myanmar into paddy land,” said U Tin
Htut Oo, the director-general of the Department of Agricultural Planning
under the ministry.

Construction on the Lawkananda project, which includes seven pumping
stations, was started by the ministry in 2001 and is expected to cost
about US$2 million, once completed.

“It has been built with the ministry’s own money, but the pumps and
electrical appliances have been imported from China,” said U Tin Htut Oo.

Because the average annual rainfall in Bagan is only 24 inches, most
farmers in the area grow crops that do not require much water, such as
sesame, peanuts, and other tropical beans and peas.

Although paddy can be cultivated in the region during years of
exceptionally high rainfall, under normal conditions local paddy farmers
would face a rice deficit.

“The irrigation project will help solve the rice deficit problem in the
Bagan area,” said U Tin Htut Oo, adding that it will make water available
not only for monsoon paddy but also for summer paddy.

The pump system will bring water from the nearby Ayeyarwaddy River, which
is a less expensive way to irrigate land than building a dam, he said.

The Lawkananda pump irrigation project is the second to be built in
Mandalay Division. The first, the Ngathayauk system, irrigates 8700 acres.

“Including the Lawka-nanda project, there are now six pump irrigation
systems in Myanmar that irrigate a total of 79,000 acres of land,” said U
Tin Htut Oo.

An additional 16 projects are currently under construction, which will
irrigate a further 152,000 acres once completed.
______________________________________

August 12, Democratic Voice of Burma
USDA members trick Burmese people into joining them

Members of the Burmese military junta-sponsored Union Solidarity and
Development Association (USDA) at Aunglan (Allen) in central Burma are
tricking people into joining their organisation without their consent.

USDA members have been visiting houses of local residents on the pretence
of taking census for the forthcoming election. When the people checked the
census, to their horror, they found out that they are registered as
members and supporters of the organisation.

Similarly, a local religious organisation headed by the famous actor Kyaw
Thu was forced to accept two members of the USDA as central executive
members prompting existing members to boycott by not donating money.

USDA members were implicated in the attack on National League for
Democracy (NLD) supporters and members including its leaders Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi and her deputy U Tin Oo in an ambush at Dipeyin in upper Burma on
30 may 2003 in which scores of people were killed and hundreds wounded and
imprisoned.

______________________________________
ON THE BORDER

August 11, Democratic Voice of Burma
The plight of Burmese women in Thailand

Thai authorities sent back 20 young Burmese women, mainly victims of human
trafficking in Bangkok to Burma on 10 August.

They were returned to Tachileik in eastern Shan State through Maesai and
they were said to be ‘received’ by the director of the Burmese social
rescue and relocation U Sit Myaing.

Earlier this year, many Burmese women were also returned to Burma in
similar circumstance.

According to a Burmese woman who doesn’t want to be named, nearly half of
Burmese women living in Bangkok are victims of human traffickers who
abandoned their victims after taking their money.

These women are used as unpaid housemaids, factory workers and prostitutes
in brothels throughout Thailand. They are often subjected to violent
treatments by their Thai ‘owners’, employees and policemen. Some were
deliberately infected with HIV/AIDS in rapes, even killed and ‘liquidated’
when they tried to escape.

Nang Hseng Noung from Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) said that some of
the victims are so young and naïve that they even didn’t know that they
were sold off as sex slaves.

Those who are returned to Burma are often arrested and prosecuted by
Burmese authorities for leaving the country illegally.

A distraught Burmese mother in the Thai border town Maesod told DVB that
she still could not locate her daughter after she was sold into
prostitution in Thailand a year ago. She tearfully begged anyone who could
help find her missing daughter.

______________________________________
AIDS / HEALTH

August 11, National Public Radio: Fresh Air
Interview: Jon Cohen discusses the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Asia

The below interview is excerpted from an August 11th Fresh Air interview
with Jon Cohen. The introduction and the content on Burma is excerpted. To
listen to the full interview, please visit:

http://freshair.npr.org/day_fa.jhtml?display=day&todayDate=08/11/2004

This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies, senior writer for the Philadelphia
Daily News, filling in for Terry Gross.

Last December, the premier of China, Wen Jiabao, did something regarded as
extraordinary. He allowed himself to be photographed greeting a former
taxi driver from Shanxi province who's being treated for AIDS. The event
signaled the awakening of the Chinese government to the threat HIV poses
to its 1.3 billion people at a time when countries across Asia are hoping
to avoid the catastrophic AIDS epidemic that has befallen sub-Saharan
Africa.

My guest, writer Jon Cohen, recently published a four-part series on AIDS
in Asia for the journal Science. In researching the series, Cohen traveled
to six countries, talking to doctors, patients, public health officials,
sex workers and drug users. Cohen has been writing on the AIDS epidemic
for 15 years. His book on the search for a vaccine is called "Shots in the
Dark." Cohen has also followed the AIDS crisis in Africa. I asked him how
the situation in Asia compares
.

DAVIES: You mentioned that the country of Thailand had had a relatively
successful campaign battling the growth of the HIV/AIDS problem. By
contrast, the country of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is ruled by a
military dictatorship that took over in 1988. What did you find there?

Mr. COHEN: Well, I toured the country and I went officially again with a
minder, and the health-care system itself looks like it has AIDS. It's
just a bare-bones system that has very little to offer anyone. Medecins
Sans Frontieres, Doctors Without Borders, has a clinic outside of Rangoon,
now known as Yangon, that had started to treat people with anti-HIV drugs.
They had 13 people on treatment--one three--in a country that probably has
a higher prevalence than anywhere in Asia. Now the junta has changed.
There is a more aggressive campaign to prevent HIV spread and to help
HIV-infected people. But, you know, the virus waits for no one. And it
takes advantage of every misstep that politicians make. And the Burmese
government, the junta in Myanmar, has allowed the virus to trample through
much of the country unabated. And given the role of heroin and the gem
mines there, it further exacerbates the situation greatly.

It reminds me of South Africa. You know, South Africa has these diamond
mines in the center of the country, and you see all this migration coming
from both the east and the west coast. So typically men leave their
girlfriends or spouses, their wives, and they go the center of the country
for six months, work in these mines, make all this money. There are lots
of sex workers there, lots of drugs, lots of alcohol. It's a perfect
environment for HIV.

You see a very similar situation in Myanmar with the gem mines. They have
ruby, jade, sapphire mines. And I met several men who go work at the mines
for three, four months. There are a lot of sex workers there. If you have
a good day, you make a tremendous amount of money. And what do you do at
the end of the day? Well, you party with your friends, maybe you smoke
some heroin, maybe you shoot some heroin and maybe you hire a sex worker.
That's life. And if you're going to really tackle HIV in Myanmar, that's
where you've got to go. And I don't see much happening at those places,
nor would they let me visit those places, to be frank. I mean, they didn't
want me to see them.

DAVIES: Did you say you did speak with some gem mine workers, though?

Mr. COHEN: I did, yes. I met gem mine workers who had become HIV-infected
at the mines, they believed. And they described the mines for me. And--I
mean, I was very near the mines; they just wouldn't let me go right to the
mines. And they had a long list of reasons, some of which may have been
valid. There's no telling when you're dealing with a government like that.

DAVIES: What...

Mr. COHEN: I mean, I must say, the government let me in. You know, they
let me in officially. Loads of journalists go there as tourists. I didn't
want to do that. They were very accommodating to me, given their history
and reputation with the media.

DAVIES: What did the gem mine workers tell you about what was going on
there, and their own knowledge of HIV when they were infected?

Mr. COHEN: It was a good time. Knowledge of HIV was low. Many people in
Asia and Africa learn about HIV after they become infected. They don't
even know about the disease. It was a good time had by all. I mean, the
descriptions I heard of the gem mines made it sound like the Wild, Wild
West.

DAVIES: And does the prevalence of HIV in that community pose a threat to
other countries?

Mr. COHEN: Sure. I mean, there have been studies that have looked at HIV's
spread outward from Myanmar and that has done--the study did a molecular
epidemiological analysis where they looked at the gene sequences of the
HIV strains traveling around Asia. And they could map that the virus moved
along the heroin trade routes from Myanmar in every direction. So
certainly it spreads from there.

I mean, again, I'm always hesitant to, like, place blame. It's not
Myanmar's fault that there's HIV in Asia. There's HIV in Asia because
there's HIV anywhere the virus can go, and it will simply take advantage
of any situation it can. Heroin trade routes--that's a great situation for
a virus. It wants to move around. It wants to copy itself. I think we
always have to see the world of HIV through HIV's eyes, so to speak.

______________________________________

August 9-15, Myanmar Times
Agreement signed to bring funds to fight TB - Nwe Nwe Aye

A grant agreement that will initiate the flow of money into Myanmar from
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was signed in
Yangon on August 4.

The signing ceremony was held at the Ministry of Health on Pyidaungsu
Avenue Road in Dagon township.

The agreement was signed by the Health Minister, Dr Kyaw Myint; Mr Charles
Patrie, the resident representative of the United Nations Development
Program; and Mr Roger Walker, the resident representative of World Vision.

The agreement will bring US$4.2 million into the country to fight
tuberculosis for one year.

The money, which will be disbursed by the end of August, is part of a
five-year fund of $17.12 million that was pledged by the Global Fund in
February 2003 to fight the disease in Myanmar.

The list of grant recipients includes the government’s National TB Control
Program, Population Services International, Myan-mar Maternal and Child
Welfare Association, Myanmar Medical Association and the Myanmar Red Cross
Society.

Dr Kyaw Myint said in his speech at the ceremony that the grant would be
used to strengthen the human resource capacity of the National TB Program,
to expand its coverage and to improve infrastructure.

Dr Win Maung, the manager of the National TB Program, has welcomed the
funding, saying it will help Myanmar achieve the global target set by the
World Health Organisation of detecting 75 out of every 100 TB cases and
administering proper treatment to 85 per cent of those detected by 2005
Myanmar will receive a total of $98.5 million in funds over five years
from the Global Fund, of which about $17.12 million will be used to fight
TB, $27.4 million will be used to combat malaria, and $54 million will be
used for the campaign against AIDS.

______________________________________

August 9-15, Myanmar Times
UN to provide funds to fight spread of bird flu - Win Nyunt Lwin

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation will provide
US$400,000 to bolster the fight against the spread of avian influenza
among Southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar, according to an
announcement released by the organisation last week.

Ten countries will benefit from the support: Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, East Timor
and Vietnam.

The organisation’s support will focus on intensifying the exchange of
information throughout the region, and coordinating the efforts of
affected and non-affected countries to prevent and control bird flu
outbreaks, said Dr Than Hla, the director of the Research and Disease
Control division of the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department in
Insein township, Yangon.

He said the enhanced regional coordination that will result from the
organisation’s support will improve the capacity for diagnosis and boost
the quality of epidemiological data, thereby increasing the chance of
finding a solution to the bird flu problem.
“We are more likely to achieve success through regional cooperation than
if individual countries tried to fight the disease on their own,” said Dr
Than Hla.

He said the cooperative approach will also allow the network of countries
to share information about failures and successes in their efforts to
control and take precautions against the virus.

The FAO announcement also said the organisation will soon provide an
additional $800,000 to create two similar networks in South and East Asia.

It said that avian influenza, which poses a serious threat to human and
animal health, requires rapid and effective national and regional
responses.

The three networks will offer training and information exchange platforms
for national laboratories and surveillance teams from a total of 23 Asian
countries, the announcement said.

“The region will be in a much better position to respond to the avian
influenza threat,” it said.

Dr Than Hla said Myanmar remained free from outbreaks of the disease, but
precautionary measures were being taken in the country, such imposing a
temporary ban on the import of all broiler chickens on January 7 after an
outbreak of bird flu caused widespread alarm in Southeast Asia.

Permits were issued in late April for select companies to begin importing
parent-stock broilers from Malaysia and India – neither of which have
reported any cases of bird flu – over concerns that the supply of day-old
chicks in Myanmar would diminish.

About 120,000 birds have been imported so far since imports resumed.

However, imports from Thailand were still banned because an outbreak of
avian influenza was reported in the northern city of Chiang Mai, located
near the Myanmar border, in late May.

Dr Than Hla said the government will issue licences to import chickens
from countries that have not reported cases of the virus in the past 90
days.

He said concerns over bird flu have dropped among consumers but remain
high among breeders of broiler chickens.

______________________________________
BUSINESS/MONEY

August 12, Kyodo News
Myanmar to prepare alternative energy for vehicles

Myanmar will promote the use of natural gas and gasohol, a mixture of
ethanol and gasoline, as alternative fuels for motor vehicles to cope with
rising demand for energy and higher global oil prices, local media
reported Thursday.

Speaking at an Energy Ministry meeting Wednesday, Lt. Gen. Soe Win of the
junta called for coordination and cooperation in the government to
implement the alternative fuel project and convert the fuel burning system
in vehicles from gasoline to natural gas, the state-run newspaper New
Light of Myanmar said.

''As using natural gas for vehicles is energy-efficient and eco-friendly,
the government will help convert more and more cars to use natural gas,
better utilizing domestically available energy sources,'' the newspaper
said.

According to official estimates, Myanmar has about 400 billion cubic
meters of exploitable offshore natural gas. Myanmar started using natural
gas in a small number of government vehicles and buses in 1986.

The semiofficial weekly 7-Day News reported that before the end of the
year, the government is expected to distribute ethanol produced at
state-own sugarcane factories. It can be used in vehicles by being mixed
with gasoline.

According to official reports, the consumption of gasoline in Myanmar rose
to 440,280 kiloliters in 2003 from 209,610 kl in 1993, while the
consumption of diesel fuel almost tripled to 1,510,650 kl during the same
period.

Myanmar imported $200 million worth of fuel from the Malaysian state oil
company Petronas last year and plans to import $250 million worth of fuel
from the company this year.

______________________________________
REGIONAL

August 19, Far Eastern Economic Review
Thais get tough on foreign labour

The Thai people and authorities have long turned a blind eye to the
hundreds of thousands of illegal foreign workers in their country. But the
government has clearly decided to more closely monitor the situation,
possibly in part to avoid complaints from neighbouring countries that it
is sheltering anti-government activists. It has long been known that
hundreds of thousands of illegal foreign workers, particularly from Burma,
have been working as domestics or in the agriculture and construction
sectors. The government has in the past made half-hearted attempts at a
round-up, but earlier this year it decided to get tough. It offered an
amnesty throughout July for illegal workers to register. On August 5, the
Ministry of Labour announced that 980,000 Burmese, 220,000 Cambodians and
190,000 Lao had responded to the call and registered as legal workers.
Deputy Prime Minister Wan Mohammed Noor told the press the day after the
figures were released that henceforth foreigners caught working illegally
faced immediate deportation. It's not clear why so many came out of the
woodwork to legalize their status. Possible reasons include the current
government's reputation for toughness and the hope among foreign workers
that legalizing their presence could offer them more protection against
exploitation by unscrupulous employers.

______________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 19, Far Eastern Economic Review
Letters: Call Their Bluff - John Teo

Andrew Steele's opinion article on Burma highlights the lack of any real,
effective levers on the country's generals [How to Move Burma Ahead, The
5th Column, Aug. 12].

If it is recognized that a military invasion to effect regime change is
not a serious option, the only realistic and viable thing to do is to take
the generals at their word and help them develop the country as they claim
they are trying to do. The generals say they want to model their country
on Indonesia under former President Suharto. They must know that real
economic development will over time loosen their grip on the country.

For the sake of the long-suffering people of the country, the generals'
bluff must be called. The Burmese opposition may be brave, but if it had a
conscience, surely it must at some point start asking how long burnishing
its martyr's image can be sustained when it is so many innocent Burmese
who are actually paying the price.

After having tried almost everything else and failing to budge the
generals, realpolitik cannot be anything but honourable.

John Teo

______________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

August 7, National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB)
Burmese pro-democracy Council to emerge as new force in Burma

San Francisco - The General Secretary of the National Council of the Union
of Burma (NCUB) told the Burma Pro Democracy Conference (West Coast USA)
that the Council, the oldest coalition of pro-democracy forces within
Burma, is "transforming itself into an operational body" and taking up "a
new, stronger role in leading and guiding and directing our people to the
realization of a democratic nation."

U Maung Maung, recently elected as the NCUB's General Secretary, said the
change was vitally  needed, as "the future of our cause for freedom, for
liberty, for democracy is in our own hands.  No one else's."  Maung Maung
told the group that "we are not Iraq.  Do not wait for Americans to send
troops to Burma to help Burmese throw off the burtal yoke of a regime that
denies our basic human rights, our basic human dignity."
It is up to Burmese alone, he said, "to take our struggle for freedom and
democracy to a new level."  Previously, the NCUB served more as a
coordinating arm for its diverse coalition of pro-democracy groups.

As a guest of the congressionally funded National Democratic Institute,
the NCUB's top leader attended the Democratic Party's National Convention
in Boston last week.  "I had the opportunity to witness the stirring
addresses by leaders who never have to give a second thought to being
imprisoned, or killed," he said, "for speaking out, for opposing those in
power."

While at the convention, Maung Maung said he spoke to many union and
political leaders, telling them "of our need for help, for support, for
more pressure on the military regime." Calling on conference attendees "to
speak of our cause to unions and churches and other groups ready to listen
to our drive for freedom," he said that the more people know about
conditions in Burma, "more and more voices will be added to the chorus of
cries for liberty."

The NCUB represents 13 ethnic groups within Burma in addition to 26
pro-democracy groups, members of parliament who were elected in 1990, but
never seated, and members of the National League for Democracy from
liberated areas within Burma.

Under the leadership of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD
won 80% of the vote in the 1990 elections.  Since, Daw Suu Kyi has spent
most of her time under house arrest.  In May of 2003, during one of the
few times Burma's military dictatorship permitted her freedom to travel,
Suu Kyi was brutally attacked by allies of the military regime.  The U. S.
has repeatedly called for her release and has imposed economic sanctions
on Burma for its many human rights violations, including its use of forced
labor and imprisonment of political leaders.

U Maung Maung
Ko Ko Lay 415-564-2446