BurmaNet News, July 12, 2006

[Editor]

July 12, 2006 Issue # 3002


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Hundreds flee homes amid Myanmar floods, landslides
Mizzima: Magazine delays release after censor strips top stories
DVB: Dam burst kills five in northern Burma’s Kachin State

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Invitation of Karen rebel leader turned down
Kaladan Press: Rampant rice smuggling to Burma from Bangladesh

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Myanmar to transform some state-owned factories into public companies

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: Thais demand talks on helicopter incident
Reuters via VOA News: Burmese activists call for foreign partners to
withdraw from gas deal

INTERNATIONAL
Reuters: House extends sanctions on Myanmar
DVB: Burmese MPs and activists meet in northern Italy

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Burma’s increasing importance to US national interests

PRESS RELEASE
Shwe Gas Movement: Burma’s military dictatorship to gain over US$12
billion in profits from western Burma gas finds

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 12, Agence France Presse
Hundreds flee homes amid Myanmar floods, landslides

Flooding and landslides in military-run Myanmar last week have forced
hundreds of people to leave their homes for temporary shelters, state
media said Wednesday.

"Torrential rain has caused flooding in many parts of the country," the
official New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.

The newspaper gave no details on casualties or the number of people
affected, but said entire townships that are home to hundreds of people
had been evacuated.

The areas worst-hit by the floods and landslides were Bago division,
Ayeyawady division, Mon state, Rakhine state and Taninthayi division, the
paper said.

Some primary schools were temporarily closed in Bago division, which is 50
miles (80 kilometers) northeast of the capital Yangon.

"So far, 21 temporary relief centers have been set up in Bago," the New
Light of Myanmar reported.

Homes in some villages were almost submerged by floodwaters, forcing the
residents to flee by boat.

The authorities warned that the situation could get worse, with the level
of the Bago river reaching 889 centimeters (350 inches) by Tuesday
afternoon. The danger level of the river is 910 centimeters, the height at
which it could burst its banks.

"If the Bago river water level exceeds the danger level, all residents in
flood areas will be evacuated to relief centres," the paper said.

Residents of four townships in Ayeyawady division have already been moved
to safer places after heavy rain on July 7 and 9 caused extensive
flooding, the paper said.

In Mon state, the Mawlamyine-Yangon road was temporarily closed by the
floods, which also damaged a concrete bridge. Some residents were taken to
relief camps.

Torrential rain caused landslides and bridge collapses in Rakhine state
where the Thandwe river reached danger level, and in Taninthayi division
residents were moved to safer places and some schools were closed.

____________________________________

July 12, Mizzima News
Magazine delays release after censor strips top stories - Ngun Te

Burma’s New Spectator magazine has been forced to skip publication this
month after the censorship board stripped it of four of its leading
articles.

The magazine’s publisher, Ko Aung, told Mizzima, “We cannot release our
third issue, as the pages of the magazine are reduced it is not good
anymore. We will have to release it next month.”

The four articles rejected by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division
included a cover story based on ‘Prospects for our People’ by Whan Chukee
and ‘Public Intellectual’ from the Prospect magazine.

The magazine, which is dedicated to philosophical and ideological
articles, has only been in publication since May and has a print run of
just 1000 copies.

“There are not many magazines focusing on philosophy here. And even in our
next issue we are not certain that pieces on Philosophy will get through,”
Ko Aung said.

The magazine will again be submitted to the censors in the hope of being
able to publish next month.

____________________________________

Jul 11, Democratic Voice of Burma
Dam burst kills five in northern Burma’s Kachin State

The barrier of Kyeinkran Kha Dam situated near Kachin State capital
Myikyina in northern Burma, broke and the raging water caused by heavy
downpours washed away the whole hydro-electric plant situated nearby,
killing at least five people recently.

A staff at the plant told DVB that the dam barrier collapsed at around 2am
due to continuous heavy rains which started in early June and four
security staff and an engineer drowned during the disaster.

Moreover, the main bridge on the road connecting Kyeinkran Kha Village and
Myikyina was washed away, cutting off communication lines. But
miraculously, no one in the village was injured.

The dam and the hydro-electric plant were destroyed because they were
built with forced labour when Maj-Gen Kyaw Ba was the commander of the
Northern Command in the early 90s, according to local residents. Moreover,
neither the dam nor the plant could be rebuilt or repaired as the whole
location, situated between two ridges of mountains was washed away by the
force of the water.

In 2004, torrential monsoon rains and avalanches killed more than 10
people in Myikyina area.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

July 12, The Irrawaddy
Invitation of Karen rebel leader turned down - Shah Paung

An invitation by Burma’s military regime for aging Karen rebel leader Gen
Bo Mya to seek medical treatment in Burma has been turned down, according
to sources along the Thailand-Burma border.

The invitation came during a meeting between Col Ner Dah Mya, son of Gen
Bo Mya, and officials at the Burmese embassy in Bangkok on June 28, who
reportedly offered to provide medical treatment in Rangoon for the ailing
Karen National Union leader, as well as 300,000 baht (nearly US $8,000)
for travel expenses.

Bo Mya, 79, who suffers severe health complications from advanced
diabetes, last visited Rangoon in 2004 to attend peace talks with former
prime minister Gen Khin Nyunt.

KNU officials confirmed that Burma’s ruling junta sent a medical team to
Mae Sot, which included Dr Simon Thar, a Karen peace broker, in early July
to assist during Bo Mya’s trip to Rangoon. The KNU ultimately refused the
offer.

The proposed visit will not take place, according to KNU General Secretary
Mahn Sha, because senior group leaders were displeased with the junta’s
approach. The recent Bangkok meeting took place through unofficial
channels and without the knowledge of the KNU or Bo Mya.

Prior to the embassy meeting in late June, a Burmese delegation met Pastor
Timothy—a former member of the KNU involved in past ceasefire negotiations
and a Chiang Mai-based humanitarian aid worker—in Myawaddy across the
border from Mae Sot, Thailand. He denied on Wednesday having any role in
brokering the invitation to Bo Mya.

Pastor Timothy split with the KNU’s foreign affairs office for “actions
inconsistent with the organization,” according to the KNU—a charge
stemming from a similarly unauthorized meeting with Burma’s military
attaché Col Tin Soe last year, which led to discord among the Karen
rebels.

Mahn Sha has charged that the junta’s offer to Bo Mya, rather than being a
goodwill gesture towards peace, was designed to create divisions within
the KNU.

____________________________________

July 12, Kaladan Press
Rampant rice smuggling to Burma from Bangladesh

Ukhiya, Bangladesh: Hundreds of sacks of rice are being smuggled to Burma
every day from various points through the Bangladesh-Burma border, reports
our correspondent.

Smugglers in the guise of rice traders are bringing rice to Teknaf from
Ukhiya ostensibly for home use. Thus people in border areas do not trouble
rice carriers as rice is the staple food for people in Bangladeshi.

If rice smuggling continues to Burma, it will become difficult for the
border people staying in Teknaf area of Bangladesh, said local people.

According to the local people, rice smuggling to Burma is carried on under
the very nose of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), and is done mostly at night.
 So far, no one has been arrested for smuggling.

Local people also said, as of the last two years rice is smuggled to Burma
in the rainy season from Bangladesh because less paddy was cultivated in
Burma and the price of rice increased.

At present, rice being smuggled to Burma is stocked in the warehouse on
the Burma side, said Amir Hamza, a trader in the border area.

Local people further said that the smugglers had already given advance
money to the Bangladeshi syndicates to purchase rice.

A bag of medium quality of rice is being bought at Taka 760 by smugglers
in the border areas of Bangladesh while it is Taka.900 (Kyat-17,100) in
Burma. So, the smugglers make a net profit Taka 100 (Kyat 1,900) per rice
bag excluding expenditures made. (onfiltered= Kyat 19)

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

July 12, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar to transform some state-owned factories into public companies

The Myanmar government has outlined a plan to transform some 11
state-owned factories into public companies and to pave way for the
emergence of a stock and share market, the local weekly 7-Day News
reported Wednesday.

The plan was introduced after the government announced a proposal last
month to run the 11 factories under the Ministry of Industry-1 with the
private sector on the basis of joint ventures as a form of privatization.

These factories include textile, beer, cigarette, soft drink and ice,
cosmetic, glass, paint, sewing and bicycle factories scattered in Yangon,
Mandalay and Kyaukse respectively.

Under the proposed government-private cooperation plan, the state will put
in 51 percent of share, while the remaining 49 percent of share will be
sold to the public, according to a recent clarification given at the new
capital of Nay Pyi Taw to private entrepreneurs by the ministry.

The ministry set the period of such joint running as 10 years and assured
that the public enterprise will not be nationalized.

The 11 state-owned factories are among the 899 to have been endorsed for
such operation and the remaining ones will follow suit on the next
occasion, the ministry said.

In its move to help develop the industrial sector, Myanmar has since 1995
been privatizing state-owned enterprises (SOE) systematically including
industrial ones with the aim of transforming them into more effective and
efficient ones.

The plan, which has been implemented by the government-formed
Privatization Commission, is carried out by auctioning and leasing or
establishing joint ventures with local and foreign investors. These
enterprises include textile factories, saw mills, rice mills, oil mills,
cinemas and hotels.

So far, a total of 194 SOEs from 10 ministries, including 26 from the
Ministry of Industry, have been privatized in Myanmar as of March this
year since the country began implementation of the plan of privatization.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing or industrial sector is dominating Myanmar's
domestic private investment with 31.483 billion Kyats ( 28.62 million U.S.
dollars) out of a total of 122.73 billion Kyats (111.57 million dollars)
as of January this year since 1988, according to the National Investment
Commission.

Myanmar's industrial sector increased with an average of 24.4 percent in
the previous four fiscal years and the private industrial sector has
increased to more than 23 percent in 2002-03, 30 percent in 2003-04 and 25
percent in 2004-05.

Although the industrial sector accounts for about 11 percent of the
country's gross domestic products, economists said that it still has a
long way to go for the sector to contribute more to the national economy
and that efforts are needed on the development of medium and heavy
industries in addition to small industries which are leading.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

July 12, The Irrawaddy
Thais demand talks on helicopter incident - Sai Silp

Thai military authorities were still awaiting on Wednesday a response from
Burma on a proposal to discuss an incident in which Thailand says Burmese
forces fired at a Thai helicopter.

“We have submitted letters through the Township Border Committee in Chiang
Rai and Mae Hong Son provinces [of northern Thailand] and the military
attaché to meet since yesterday but the local Burmese military said they
have not yet received orders from their commander,” a Thai military
official told The Irrawaddy.

Thailand says small arms fire from Burma hit and damaged a Thai supply
helicopter as it was flying over the Pangmapa district of northern
Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province on Monday.

The Thai Third Army’s website carried a report on the incident saying the
helicopter, from the Third Army’s Infantry Division 7, based in Mae Hong
Son, was carrying food to Laktaeng and Maisangnam villages near the Shan
State border. Small arms fire from Burma damaged the exhaust pipe of the
helicopter, which was able to land safely at a military base in Pangkong
village. Nobody aboard was hurt.

The Third Army lodged a strong protest over the incident. Thailand’s
English language newspaper The Bangkok Post said the Third Army’s Lt-Gen
Saprang Kallyanamit had called for the punishment of those responsible and
the payment of compensation for the damage incurred by the helicopter.

The incident recalled a similar case in August, 1997, when a Thai
helicopter was shot down by Burma Army fire near Mae Sot on Thailand’s
border with Karen State. The two pilots and two Thai soldiers died in the
crash.

____________________________________

July 12, Reuters via VOA News
Burmese activists call for foreign partners to withdraw from gas deal

A group of exiled Burmese activists has asked Burma's Indian and Korean
partners in a natural gas joint venture to withdraw from the project,
saying big profits will further entrench Burma's military rulers.

Activists in Thailand, Bangladesh and India issued a report Tuesday,
saying Burma's government stands to earn 12 billion dollars from royalties
and taxes on natural gas sales from the Shwe off-shore gas project.

The activists say they fear continuing the Shwe joint venture will lead to
a repeat of human rights abuses that occurred during other energy
projects, when Burmese citizens were subjected to slave labor and forced
relocation from their land.

Burma's Indian and Korean partners in the Shwe project have not responded
to the request.

The Shwe gas project has been exploring natural gas fields off the western
coast of Burma's Arakan and Chin states, and reports say it promises to be
one of the richest gas sources in Southeast Asia.

The United States and the European Union have imposed harsh sanctions
against Burma's military government for its poor human rights record and
failure to hand over control to a democratically elected government.

Information for this report is provided by Reuters.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 11, Reuters
House extends sanctions on Myanmar

Washington: The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to extend
sanctions on the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, which the U.S.
government calls Burma, for an additional year.

"The Burmese government has an egregious record of human rights abuses,"
House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas, a California Republican, said
in a statement after the voice vote. "Continued U.S. sanctions on Burmese
imports sends an appropriate message that these violations of basic human
rights will not be ignored."

Congress first passed the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act in 2003. That
law allowed the sanctions to be extended annually for three years, or
until the end of July 2006.

The bill approved by the House on Tuesday would extend the sanctions for
another year, and give Congress the option to annually extend them for two
additional years.

____________________________________

July 11, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese MPs and activists meet in northern Italy

A five-day-long second conference of exiled Burma’s Members of Parliament
Union (MPU) and a Burma Forum started yesterday at Turin’s ILO Training
Centre in northern Italy.

The political séance is being attended by around 30 MPs and members of the
National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB), the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), the Federation of Trade Unions,
Burma (FTUB) and other political activists including women leaders and
ethnic national leaders.

Today, the MPs and democracy activists are meeting in two separate groups
to hold discussions.

“Politicians from Italy and activists came to discuss,” Pa-le Township MP
Dr. Tint Swe told DVB. “Today, the ILO (International Labour Organisation)
came to discuss this morning. Today, the MPU standing committee put
forward (read) reports
They said what the MPs did and what the MPU did.
The NCGUB is a government promoted by the MPU. The NCGUB also read reports
on its activities and finance, and discussed the matter. There are three
types of report; political, work-related and financial reports. Tomorrow,
we will discuss the forthcoming activities and strategies. And we might
change the number of members the standing committee and permanent
committee. And on the last days (of the meeting) 13-14 (July), we will
again carry out strategy confederation.”

The meeting was sponsored and organised by the Italian union,
Confederazione Italiana Sindacati dei Lavoratori (CISL).

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

July 12, The Irrawaddy
Burma’s increasing importance to US national interests - Zo Tum Hmung

Since June of this year, 15 members of the UN Security Council, led by the
US, have privately discussed the text of a resolution on Burma. It appears
likely that a Chapter 6 UN resolution will pass, rather than the stronger
resolution under Chapter 7. The former addresses the settlement of
political disputes without punitive action against a state which is likely
to pose a threat to international peace and security. The latter
acknowledges an existing threat, opening the possibility of economic
sanctions and the use of military force. While stronger action would be
preferable, a Chapter 6 resolution will lead to meaningful progress.

Not surprisingly, China and Russia are opposed to a Chapter 7 resolution,
and the use of Chapter 6 could weaken their objections. Japan, the key US
ally in Asia, has also expressed opposition, but at the end of the day,
they will side with the US. A Security Council resolution may include
calls for the unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other
political prisoners, negotiation between the Burma's ruling junta and
democratic opposition groups and unhindered access for humanitarian
agencies. A resolution may not bring change to the country overnight, but
it will send a unified message to Pyinmana's military rulers that change
in Burma is inevitable.

Current discussion on a resolution will likely be delayed, since North
Korea's test of seven missiles last Wednesday put it at the forefront of
the US and UN agendas. Nevertheless, the Burma issue will ultimately
receive increased attention due to North Korea's actions. Recently,
diplomatic relations between Pyinmana and Pyongyang have tightened, and
Eric John, deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of East
Asian and Pacific Affairs, said in February 2006 that the US has become
more concerned with Burma. Pyongyang's missile tests are a threat to US
allies Japan and South Korea, US military bases in the region and US
territory—namely Alaska.

In addition, North Korea has sold its nuclear materials to other states
including Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, the United Arab Emirates
and Vietnam. Exporting missiles comprises the main financial source for
its nuclear's program. Graham Allison wrote in the January/February 2004
issue of Foreign Affairs that North Korea is willing to sell missiles to
virtually anyone including terrorists. Therefore, as a potential market
for North Korean missile components and technology, Pyinmana could pose a
nuclear threat to the US and its allies. The current situation in
Pyongyang is just further evidence of why US and UN involvement in Burma
is crucial.

Burma is of strategic interest to the US because of its location between
China and India. It shares a border with China and is located on the Bay
of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, near India. Both Beijing and New Delhi
recognize the importance of Coco Islands, in the Andaman Sea, and are
therefore engaging with the military government in Burma. If the US were
to pursue closer relations with a democratic Burma, it could benefit from
strategic access to both China and India. Therefore, a democratic
government in Burma is important for the long-term security interests of
the US.

US President George W Bush has repeatedly stated his dedication to
promoting democracy around the world. Burma presents an opportunity for
him to support a new democracy in a region that is increasingly important
to US national interests. The conditions for democracy already exist.
Burma held elections in 1990—in which Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the
National League for Democracy, won in a landslide. There is no need for
military intervention and no desperate need for economic aid since Burma
is rich in natural resources. By leading the Security Council to pass a
resolution on Burma, the US is already taking major steps to promote
democracy there, and if it is successful, both the US and Burma will
benefit.

Zo Tum Hmung is a former president of the Chin Freedom Coalition. He
received a master’s degree from Harvard University, where he concentrated
on foreign policy.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

July 12, The Shwe gas movement
Burma’s military dictatorship to gain over US$12 billion in profits from
western Burma gas finds

Burma's military regime stands to profit by US$12-17 billion dollars from
the Shwe Gas project in western Burma, according to a new report released
by the Shwe Gas Movement today. The report, titled Supply and Command,
details how the sale of natural gas to regional neighbours India and
China, threatens to entrench the junta, and will lead to extensive human
rights abuses in Arakan and Chin States.

A consortium of Indian and Korean corporations, led by Daewoo
International, in cooperation with the regime, has been exploring gas
fields off the coast of Arakan State after the discovery of “world class
gas reserves” in wells labeled “Shwe” (the Burmese word for gold) in late
2003. The Shwe wells are expected to lead to one of the largest gas yields
in Southeast Asia.

Gas from the Yadana and Yetagun pipelines in eastern Burma is currently
the regime’s largest source of legal export revenue. The Shwe project,
however, would increase the junta’s revenues from gas by at least 150% and
they would stand to profit by approximately US$ 580-824 million per year.
Previous gas earnings have been directly linked with military arms
purchases and allow the regime to continue its oppressive grip on the
whole of Burma’s population in defiance of international pressure.

“The hopes of many people in Burma for democratic change will be dealt a
serious blow by the Shwe gas project if it goes ahead,” said Wong Aung of
the Shwe Gas Movement.

Experience from the infamous Yadana and Yetagun gas pipelines provides
evidence that the Shwe project will lead to increased Burma Army presence
in the area, forced relocation of villagers, land confiscation and slave
labour. Supply and Command already cites human rights abuses linked to the
Shwe project.

“Burma’s military regime has built 15 new bases along the proposed
pipeline route in Kaladan River valley since 2003. The Arakan and Chin
people have already been suffering from human rights violations and if the
project is implemented, the situation will go from bad to worse,” said Kim
of the Shwe Gas Movement in India.

While the regime purchases more arms with gas revenues, the local
population remains in poverty. Arakan and Chin states are both excluded
from the national electricity grid; ninety percent of the population uses
candles for light and firewood as their primary source of cooking fuel.
People are denied their rights to participate in decision-making about any
development projects, including the extraction of local resources.

The Shwe Gas Movement is centered around campaign groups in Burma and its
neighbouring countries. “Indian and Korean corporations involved with the
Shwe project should freeze all current business with the military regime
until a dialogue can be held with a democratically elected government,”
says Aung Marm Oo of the Shwe Gas Movement in Thailand.

For further information, see web site www.shwe.org, contact the Shwe Gas
Movement at global at shwe.org or call:

Media Contacts:
In Thailand: Aung Marm Oo +66 (0) 555 46 179
In India: Kim: +91 9818359344
In Bangladesh: Soe Lun +88 0189504994