BurmaNet News, July 29, 2008

[Editor]

July 29, 2008 Issue #3522


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Nine monks arrested in Rangoon (transcript)
BBC News: SSA-North to contest in 2010 elections
Mizzima News: Censor Board scraps article on Oway Nyo Mya
AFP: Myanmar’s storm survivors get new eco-friendly homes
Xinhua: Foreign envoys to view cyclone restoration work in Myanmar
Myanmar Times: Management changes at The Myanmar Times
The Straits Times: Face-to-face with victims of Myanmar cyclone

BUSINESS / TRADE
Financial Times (UK): Activists accuse insurers on Burma
Irrawaddy: Junta approves investment in Cyber City
Mizzima News: Kanbawza Bank denies impending closure

HEALTH / AIDS
Central News Agency (Taiwan): Mass overseas infection of dengue fever
recorded

INTERNATIONAL
Telegraph (UK): UN aid disappearing in Burma cash scam
DPA: Update: Bush signs US law banning Burmese gems

OPINION / OTHER
VOA: Changing course on Burma – Editorial
IRIN: Myanmar: "Life is totally bleak” – Soe Soe



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 29, Democratic Voice of Burma
Nine monks arrested in Rangoon (transcript)

Dear listeners, nine monks who are believed to preparing to depart from
the Rangoon Railway Station to return to their districts for a refuge at
their monasteries during the Waso Buddhist lent were arrested by
authorities, according to an eyewitness.

The witness said the Railways Police arrested the nine monks as they
arrived at the Rangoon Railway Station on 15 July. The monks were reported
to have come separately and were at the railways station. They did not
seem to know each other.

A resident of Rangoon who saw the incident had this to say:

[Begin unidentified male recording] The monks did not come as a group.
They came separately and were at the railway station before the train
departed. They appeared to be on their own and were not seen to be
communicating with each other or doing something together. But, Railways
Police arrived and arrested the nine monks and sent them to Insein Prison.
That was in the evening of 15 July. The monks are now being locked up in
Insein Prison. I do not know if any charges had been filed against them.
[End recording]

The Democratic Voice of Burma is investigating the case and enquiring
about the monasteries that the monks belong to and where they were heading
for before their arrest.
____________________________________

July 29, BBC News
SSA-North to contest in 2010 elections

Shan State Army (North) says it has decided to contest in 2010 general
election, which would be held by the ruling military regime in Burma.

A top SSA member anonymously told BBC that the decision was made at the
SSA (N) biannual conference held in Sai-kyauk headquater.

SSA-North Vice chairman Sao Gaifah will lead a political party which would
be formed in future though the party's name has not been chosen so far.

The winner of 1990 elections the NLD, National League for Democracy called
for convening of a parliament based on the elections results and as a
result to contest in the 2010 elections or otherwise is controversial
among politicians.
____________________________________

July 29, Mizzima News
Censor Board scraps article on Oway Nyo Mya – Nem Davies

The Censor Board of the Burmese Ministry of Information is at it again,
clamping down on articles it has a distaste for. Now it has banned the
publication of the July issue of 'Padaukpwinthit' magazine. The reason
being it has writer 'Oway U Nyo Mya' as the cover story.

The censor board scrapped over 80 pages of the Magazine's July issue,
which has a write-up on U Nyo Mya, a prominent Burmese journalist and the
editor of 'Oway' magazine, which is also the mouthpiece of the Students'
Union during the anti-colonial struggle.

Nyo Mya was also an intimate friend of Burma's independence hero General
(Bogyoke) Aung San. The story in this issue is on his involvement in the
student movement, his life and views on him by his contemporary students
and politicians.

"This month's issue of the magazine had over 200 pages, of which over 80
pages were censored. The authorities said that these pages are now being
suspended from publication and might be allowed to be published at the end
of the year," a magazine editor who wished not to be named and is close to
the Burmese literary circle said.

"The censored article includes U Nyo Mya's famous article entitled 'Hell
Hound at Large,' his literary and political life, his student life with
his room mate Bogyoke Aung San and views and opinions on him by his
contemporaries," he added.

The authorities gave no reason to the magazine as to why it censored the
pages but the literary circle speculated that it was because of the
forthcoming popular uprising anniversary which falls on August 8.

"The 'Oway' magazine was the mouthpiece of the Students' Union and student
movement. The censor board usually censors such articles from time to
time. The 88 uprising anniversary is next month," the veteran magazine
editor who wished to remain anonymous said.

The censor board informed the magazine about censoring the article after a
wait of over one month. The magazine had to replace it with another cover
story on writer 'Bamaw Tin Aung'.

Similarly the censor board censored the cover story on renowned writer,
literary guru and architect of domestic peace 'Thakin Kodaw Hmaing' in one
of its 2007 issues.

'Padaukpwinthit' magazine was first published in 1991 but due to various
reasons, it could publish only 31 issues until 2008.
____________________________________

July 29, Agence France Presse
Myanmar’s storm survivors get new eco-friendly homes – Moe Moe Yu

Dozens of construction firms have arrived in the cyclone-hit region to
take on government-subsidised house building projects

NEARLY three months after a cyclone devastated Myanmar’s southern
Irrawaddy delta, local firms are helping survivors replace their makeshift
shelters with eco-friendly modern homes.

Cyclone Nargis swept away every home in its path, leaving thousands of
Myanmar people with only driftwood and donated plastic sheets for shelter.
The village of Auk Pyon Wa near the mouth of the Irrawaddy river lost 221
of its people when the storm hit, flattening it and surrounding it by
water on all sides.

For the past three months the village’s survivors - 380 by official count
- have been living together in temporary shelters donated by monks. Now
they finally face the prospect of having a home again as dozens of
construction firms arrive in the region to take on government-subsidized
projects. The Pun Hlaing Construction Group is building 125 wooden homes
with solar lighting and solar-powered water pumps in an effort to harness
the elements to help - rather than destroy - residents’ lives.

“The government provides the timber, zinc for the roof and iron, while our
group provides technicians and skilled labourers as a donation,” Ohn
Myint, the company’s construction manager told AFP. In return, the
villagers help build their new homes. “It’s like they are building their
own house but combining our skills with their labour,” Ohn Myint said.

Ohn Myint hopes the homes will be ready in three months. “But we are
facing delays in transporting material and getting the right labour,” he
said. At the village jetty, hard wood and other building materials arrive
by cargo ship and are carried off by residents. Not all the villagers are
happy about their building work - they would rather be doing their old
jobs, fishing the waters.

A village elder, in his 60s, told AFP: “Many villagers get tired from
working so hard and we are all upset about the situation we’ve ended up
in. “We cannot go back to work (as fishermen) as we are required to work
for the housing project.” The fishermen are also stuck on dry land because
their rods and boats were destroyed by the storm.

They are awaiting government donations of fishing equipment they hear are
being given out in other villages along the delta. “We lost everything in
our family and we have no fishing equipment left,” said Khin Min, 49, a
village official. “We understand that farmers are the first priority
because the planting season is limited, but we need fishing equipment very
soon for our own survival,” he added. The people of Auk Pyon Wa still rely
on food handouts, recently receiving a month’s rice from international
charity Save the Children. They collect their water from nearby Thin Gan
Gon village, as their own water pond is not clean enough to drink from.
“Before, many donors came to our village but now we get less and less.

We receive mostly rice but we can’t eat rice alone in the long term. We
want to eat other things as well, that’s why we want to work,” said the
village elder. But while there may be no work for now, homes are on their
way - allowing these traumatised communities to find some semblance of
normality amid the chaos wreaked by Cyclone Nargis.

____________________________________

July 29, Xinhua
Foreign envoys to view cyclone restoration work in Myanmar

The Myanmar Foreign Ministry Tuesday organized trips for foreign diplomats
and newsmen based in Yangon, taking them in three groups by helicopters to
view restoration work in cyclone-hard-hit areas in Ayayawaddy delta
region.

These journeys, the first of its kind involving media, covered such areas
as Phyapon, Dedaye, Laputta and Bogalay.

Led by Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister U Kyaw Thu, the trip to Phyapon
also involved the Japanese ambassador, the military attaches of the U.S.
embassy, newsmen from Reuters and Xinhua news agencies.

Phyapon, once a cyclone-hard-hit township with over 1,200 people killed
during a severe storm in early last May, was witnessed that the whole
township has restored to the original face.

The group also viewed building of fishing boats for supply to local
fishermen for the restoration of fishery undertakings.

The builders told newsmen that 20 boats were constructed daily and there
has been 608 boats already completed so far.

Officials of the cyclone-hit township also briefed newsmen that it
projected to re-cultivate 210,000 acres (85,050 hectares) of farmland,
saying that up to now 160,000 acres (64,800 hectares) have been grown with
paddy, meeting 76.12 percent of the target.

Flying from Phyapon to Dedaye, reconstruction works were seen underway in
the post-cyclone period, especially the two villages of Kyondar and Toe in
Dedaye township were seen added with new wooden houses that some victims
have moved in.

According to official reports, Myanmar has put 2.2 million acres ( 891,000
hectares) of farmland under monsoon paddy update in cyclone-hard-hit
Ayeyawaddy division as part of its second phase of restoration work
dealing with recultivation after May storm.

The government's National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee has also
assigned a total of 30 private companies to undertake reconstruction work
in 17 disaster-affected areas.

Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit
five divisions and states -Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on last
May 2 and 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest
casualties and massive infrastructure damage.

A joint assessment report of Myanmar, the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations (UN) estimated the total damage and
losses due to the cyclone storm at 4.4 to 4.5 trillion Kyats ( 4.02 to
4.13 billion U.S. dollars).

The report preliminary indicates that recovery needs will be at over one
billion dollars over the next three years.

____________________________________

July 29, Myanmar Times
Management changes at The Myanmar Times

THERE has been a comprehensive re-shuffle of management at Myanmar
Consolidated Media, publishers of The Myanmar Times.

CEO Ross Dunkley said the company was preparing for changes to the
political landscape as the government moves towards elections in 2010.

"We are continuing to receive assurances from government that the
transition from a military-run system to a democracy of sorts is on track.
As such we can only assume that in the coming times, political parties
will be formed and that an election, scheduled for 2010 will take place,"
he said.

"That's not far away, and while we have been immensely distracted by the
catastrophe of cyclone Nargis, we can now focus more closely on the
historic political reform about to take place in Myanmar"

"Our senior management has been informed our ambition to turn The Myanmar
Times into daily newspapers is taken seriously. Potentially, that's all
good news, and not just for us but for all leading players in the media
sector," he said

"All round there are bright spots appearing on the horizon and I believe
this is an appropriate time to make changes in the way we are managing the
company so we continue to be well prepared for exciting times ahead. Just
as the government is evolving, so must we."

"I am therefore instituting management changes so that more and more it is
Myanmar people who are running the business of MCM and they are the best
equipped to do so," he said.

The company has now given specific responsibilities to its four-man
executive management committee. U Myint Maung, while continuing to manage
the company's commercial print facility, will now become the senior member
of the committee.

U Zaw Myint has been promoted to the position of Editor - The Myanmar
Times (Myanmar), while U Myo Lwin will be the editor in charge of special
features which run in publishing both editions of the paper.

U Wai Linn has been appointed the General Manager of the company's two
bureaus in Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw as well as the editor in charge of the
company's non core assets, Crime Journal and NOW Magazine.

Mr Dunkley said that in the future he would focus more closely on
preparing the ground for expansion of the company's activities.

Other changes at the company include the appointment of U Win Nyunt Lwin
to Deputy Editor (Myanmar). U Min Zaw Oo replaces U Soe Than Linn as the
company's Mandalay bureau chief becomes an editor at large.

Within The Myanmar Times U Tin Moe Aung has been appointed Chief of Staff
(News) and Daw Su Myat Sandi Oo becomes Chief of Staff (Administration).
Norah Anne Pass becomes the new project manager of Now Magazine. Recently
Linn Linn Soe Lwin has been promoted to Manager of Sales & Marketing.

"All in all we have attempted to promote younger members of our team. They
are our future as we continue to expand under expectation of exciting
times ahead. We have a policy of promoting according to talent and effort,
not on length of time at the company and we continue to be an equal
opportunity employer," said Mr Dunkley.

____________________________________

July 29, The Straits Times
Face-to-face with victims of Myanmar cyclone – Melissa Sim

THEY stood amid the rubble and ruin of Myanmar's cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy
delta, handing out supplies and cash directly to the victims of the
disaster.

This group of 14 - eight Singaporeans, four Myanmar citizens, a Malaysian
and an Australian - were doing what no Singapore group had done since
Cyclone Nargis tore through the area on May 3.

The group from the Buddhist Fellowship, led by its president Angie
Monksfield, 44, had been warned that Myanmar's military junta could bar
them from giving aid directly to the cyclone victims.

In late May, a 23-member team comprising doctors, nurses and logisticians
from Mercy Relief, the Singapore Red Cross and the Health Ministry here,
denied access to the delta, had to work from a township about 10 hours
away.

But the Buddhist Fellowship group, which made the weekend trip there this
month with funds raised by the society and flights paid for by team
members themselves, made it past three military checkpoints where travel
papers and permits for humanitarian work were scrutinised.

Once at their destination, the fishing village of Myit Pauk, all were
struck by how calm and dignified the cyclone victims were, despite what
they had been through.

There was no 'grabbing or rushing' when the villagers came to receive the
total of US $5,000 (S $6,800) and items handed out. These survivors - from
600 families - simply received the items, clasped their hands in thanks
and walked away.

Former Nominated Member of Parliament Kanwaljit Soin, 66, who was in the
team, said: 'They didn't even open the envelope to count the money. They
just sat there, dignified.'

All around them, reconstruction had begun, though many houses were still
roofless and some were only topped with blue tarpaulin.

Many children were running around barefooted and wearing oversized
clothing - a sign that relief supplies had reached the people.

After Myit Pauk, the group went to two nearby villages, Poe Thint and Ton
Ngar Se San Set.

Their journey to the delta had been arduous: They met the cyclone victims
for all of two hours, but to get there, the group was on a bus for 12
hours. It had crawled along at 20kmh over muddy, unpaved roads from Yangon
to Labutta, the southernmost tip of the delta.

On board the bus were 1,000 blankets that the volunteers had lugged over
from Singapore, as well as 400 mosquito nets, candles and food items.

Of the 14 people in the group, five were from the SilkAir office in
Yangon, which helped coordinate the trip.

Everything went as planned, but there were times when the group thought it
might have to turn back, especially at those three checkpoints.

Although 130,000 people were dead or missing and over 2.4 million needed
food, water, shelter and medicine, the military junta was unshakeable in
its decision, at least in the early days, to bar foreign aid from the
worst-hit Irrawaddy delta.

SilkAir's manager in Yangon Joel Goh, 33, who was in the team, said his
staff were crucial in helping him explain to junta officials the purpose
of the group's trip.

Dr Soin said: 'When we crossed the third checkpoint, everyone cheered and
clapped because we felt we had made it.'

Mercy Relief and the Singapore Red Cross, following the mission in late
May, have based two Singapore members each in the delta; they work with
other aid agencies there distributing supplies.

Mrs Monksfield's team had wanted to meet the villagers face to face. She
said that the team's donors wanted the supplies handed directly to the
people 'and we were glad we were able to do that'.

She called SilkAir's office here three weeks before the trip, and they
agreed to put her in touch with Mr Goh, who made the travel arrangements
and procured the candles, mosquito nets and food for distribution.

After the team was done with its work and was ready to leave, one of the
villagers held on to Mr Goh's arm and walked him to the boat.

Recalled Mr Goh: 'I think she was just very grateful. The highlight for me
were the smiles on their faces when we were leaving the villages.'

Mrs Monksfield added that the villagers also helped to push the boat when
it got stuck in the mud.

For Dr Soin, the experience was uplifting.

She said: 'I was struck by the way the people took their misfortune
calmly. And though we could only speak one word in their language, I felt
a very beautiful human connection.

'Mingalar par - may the blessings be with you.'

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

July 29, Financial Times (UK)
Activists accuse insurers on Burma – Amy Kazmin

Activists pressing for an end to military rule in Burma have accused
global insurance groups of "underwriting" the Burmese junta by directly
and indirectly insuring businesses that provide a cash lifeline for the
generals.

In a report entitled "Insuring Repression", the Burma Campaign UK urges
global insurance companies, including Lloyd's of London and Japan's Tokio
Marine, to pledge to stop underwriting policies issued by state-owned
Myanma Insurance, the monopoly provider of insurance policies in Burma.
The report says global insurers have facilitated businesses such as
airlines, natural gas pipelines, and ports and shipping services, which
provide cash to the regime.

Johnny Chatterton, the report's author, said the insurance industry's
secrecy made it difficult to determine the companies' precise interests in
Burma.

The group called on large insurers to clarify their interests and on the
European Union to impose sanctions that would prohibit insurance companies
in member countries from doing business with Myanma Insurance or insuring
entities in Burma.

Already, 11 of the world's top 30 insurance companies are prohibited by US
financial sanctions from doing Burma-related business.

Lloyd's said: "A very small amount of reinsurance is written at Lloyd's in
Burmese shipping and aviation. We are unaware of any -businesses at
Lloyd's defying international sanctions. If we discovered any underwriters
breaching sanctions, we would take action immediately."

Tokio Marine said it could not comment on the issue.

____________________________________

July 29, Irrawaddy
Junta approves investment in Cyber City – Min Lwin

Twelve local and foreign information technology companies have been given
permission by Burma’s ruling regime to invest in the country’s largest IT
center, the Yadanabon Cyber City, according to Rangoon-based industry
sources.

The Burmese companies include the semi-government-owned Myanmar Teleport
and eight privately-owned companies, including FISCA Enterprise, MCC and
Fortune International, Htoo Trading, Myanmar World Distribution, Nibban,
Tamoenyel Chanthar Tun Wai Thar, Yadanabon Cyber Corporation and Myanmar
Info-Tech.

An Internet café in Rangoon provides limited access to the World Wide Web.
Three foreign companies have received the go-ahead: the Russian-owned firm
CBOSS, Maxinet of Australia and Global Technology, which is believed to be
based in either Thailand or the UK.

According to well-informed sources, the regime rejected proposed
investments by Shin Satellite of Thailand, ZTE and Alcatel Shanghai Bell
of China and Malaysia’s IP Tel Sdn Bhd.

The 12 companies agreed to spend a total of US $22 million at the
Yadanabon site. They have been assigned 12 plots, with a combined area of
70 acres, according to a report in
The Myanmar Times weekly, published in Rangoon.

Several sources from computer universities said that the objective of the
Yadanabon Cyber City project is to tighten control over Internet
connections across the country and prevent users from gaining access to or
distributing information critical of the regime.

The 10,000-acre Yadanabon site was established in June 2006. It includes
seven training and human resources development buildings, 30 factory
plots, a convention center and a research and development area. There are
also fiber-optic cables connecting the site with other cities in Burma and
satellite connections with India, China and Thailand.

Over one-fifth of the total area of the site will be used for the
production of software and hardware. The project is located in the town of
Yadanabon Myothit, near Pyin Oo Lwin (Maymyo), about 67 km east of
Mandalay.

A journalist from Mandalay said that IT professionals based in the city
have shown little interest in investing in the Yadanabon Cyber City
because it is too remote from urban areas.

Burma has three Internet service providers—the state-owned Myanmar Posts
and Telecommunications (MPT), BaganNet/Myanmar Teleport (formerly known as
Bagan Cybertech) and Information Technology Central Services (ITCS),
launched by the government-aligned Union Solidarity and Development
Association in 2007. All are based in Rangoon.

Meanwhile, the Burmese military regime approved www.khitlunge.com.mm, a
Web site launched by ITCS to spread government propaganda and counter
media attacks by exiled Burmese media groups.

Burma has some of the world’s most restrictive Internet policies, banning
blogs and exiled news providers critical of the country’s ruling junta.
However, access to prohibited Web sites is often possible through use of
proxy servers.

According to the Open Net Initiative Bulletin, Burma is one of 30 counties
that have less than one percent Internet penetration, with an estimated
300,000 Internet users nationwide in 2005.

____________________________________

July 29, Mizzima News
Kanbawza Bank denies impending closure – Nem Davies

Burma's privately owned Kanbawza Bank on Tuesday denied rumours that the
bank is closing down in the wake of panic withdrawals.

An official at the Bank's head office in Kamayut Township in Rangoon told
Mizzima on Tuesday that the bank is functioning normally and that it has
no plans to close down.

"Whatever you heard are rumours. Everything is fine here including the
President and the Vice President. There has been no interrogation either
and we have no plans to close down," the official said.

An official at the Kanbawza's branch office in Kamayut Township also said
while there had been a come down in the amount of deposits to the bank
about two weeks ago, the situation has normalised and customers can now
deposit as much as they like.

The official's clarification comes at a time when rumours are doing the
rounds in Rangoon that the Managing Director Zaw Win Naing, an adopted son
of Kanbawza Bank's owner Aung Ko Win, has been arrested by authorities and
is currently being interrogated.
"About two weeks ago, we limited the amount of deposit to three million
Kyats according to the central bank's order but now things are normal and
customers are free to deposit or withdraw as much as they want to. The
transactions are normal in the bank," the official at the Kamayut branch
office said.

A Rangoon based businesswoman, who regularly has financial transactions
with the Kanbawza Bank in Bayintnaung Township told Mizzima that though
sometimes there are problems in transferring money to other parts of the
country, so far there has been no major problem with the bank.

"For example sometimes when we transfer about five million kyat to Taung
Gyi branch and if the branch does not have that much money they refuse to
accept it. But if the amount is lesser and if the branch has the money
usually there is no problem," Thida, the businesswoman told Mizzima.

Though she denied rumors of the bank's imminent closure, she said banks in
Burma have limited capacity and cannot be totally trusted.

"I go to the bank almost every day and it is not closed yet. But in the
long run we cannot trust any bank in Burma. There is no bank that can be
trusted," she said, saying that there is no proper financial policy that
can guarantee the security of banks.
Meanwhile, an editor at a Rangoon-based Weekly Journal said he had heard
of the rumors about the arrest of Kanbawza's Managing Director and the
interrogation. But he failed to confirm the information.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

July 29, Central News Agency (Taiwan)
Mass overseas infection of dengue fever recorded – Y. F. Low

Ten members of a Taiwan religious group have been infected with dengue
fever while taking part in volunteer relief efforts in Myanmar in the
aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, marking the first case of mass overseas
dengue fever infections to be recorded in Taiwan in recent years, a
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) official said Tuesday.

The cases were discovered after one of the patients, a 48-year-old Taipei
County woman, sought treatment earlier this month at the Far Eastern
Memorial Hospital and was diagnosed July 18 with dengue fever, according
to CDC Deputy Director-General Shih Wen-yi.

A subsequent investigation conducted by health authorities found that she
and 10 other members of her group had visited Myanmar to help with the
aftermath of the disaster, and that 10 of the 11-member mission had been
infected with the disease in Myanmar and had already fallen ill while in
the Southeast Asian country, Shih said.

The patients were aged between 48 and 87 and come from Taipei County,
Taipei City, Taoyuan County and Changhua County, Shih said.

The CDC official said the center is still awaiting the results of a third
test on the remaining member of the mission, who tested negative for
dengue fever in two previous tests.

Shih said the CDC had also notified local health authorities to check
other people who might have had contact with the 10 patients after their
return to Taiwan to make sure they are not infected with the disease,
which is contracted through the bite of the mosquito that carries the
disease.

As the religious group is planning to send another mission to Myanmar in
September, the CDC has advised the group to strengthen health education
for its members and to take precautionary measures against its members
contracting the disease, he added.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 29, Telegraph (UK)
UN aid disappearing in Burma cash scam – Thomas Bell

The United Nations has admitted that £5 million of aid intended for
Burmese cyclone survivors has been skimmed off by banks run by the
country's military junta.

The missing money is likely to have lined the pockets of the ruling
generals and their business cronies.

The scam, which is still occurring, involves forcing the UN to buy the
local currency, the Kyat, at above the market rate by changing money
through government backed Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC).

A dollar currently buys around K1,100 while a "one dollar" FEC only buys
K880.

In New York on Monday, Sir John Holmes, the under-secretary-general for
humanitarian affairs, said: "We were arguably a bit slow to recognise...
how serious a problem this has become for us."

He estimated that 15 per cent, or £5 million, of aid transferred in this
way had been lost. "It is not acceptable," he added.

A UN spokesman in Rangoon told The Daily Telegraph that the exact losses
are still being calculated. Observers believe the final figure could be
higher, because for much of the period since the cyclone the discrepancy
in exchange rates has been around 25 per cent.

The scandal was exposed in an investigation by Inter City Press, a New
York blog, which began reporting the story on 26 June, after receiving a
leak of purported minutes from a teleconference in which officials
registered alarm at a "very serious 20 per cent loss on foreign exchange".

Yet top officials denied that such losses were occurring, even as they
launched an appeal for another £150 million in cyclone aid on 10 July.

"We buy kyats at the market rate using dollars," Daniel Baker, the
humanitarian co-ordinator for Burma said that day. "The government has not
benefited."

On Monday Sir John insisted: "We were not aware of the extent of the loss."

A spokesman for the UN Development Programme in Rangoon explained
yesterday: "I don't think people expected, given the past, this divergence
to be as much as it was or to go on as long as it has."

Urgent steps were being taken to address the problem, he said.

Discrepancies between the official and market exchange rates are well
known to visitors to Burma. The International Monetary Fund highlighted
the issue in a report last year.

Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese academic at Chiang Mai University in Thailand,
said that identifying the beneficiaries of the process would be difficult
in Burma's corrupt financial system.

"Who is handling the money, who is doing the trade?" he asked. "Sure the
military is profiting, but other shady people may also be profiting who
the UN can not clearly pinpoint."

____________________________________

July 29, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Update: Bush signs US law banning Burmese gems

US President George W Bush on Tuesday signed legislation into law to
tighten an existing ban on the trade in gems from Burma.

In a statement released in Bangkok, Human Rights Watch praised the law,
which would bar US gem dealers and jewellery retailers from importing
rubies and jade from Burma because of its human and labour rights abuses.

"The international trade in Burmese gems helps finance repression and puts
millions into the pockets of Burma's abusive rulers," said Arvind Ganesan,
director of the New York-based rights group's business and human rights
programme.

"With the new law, US retailers can no longer legally profit from the
trade in Burmese rubies and jade," Ganesan said in a statement.

As part of its economic sanctions on the Burmese military regime, the US
government has prohibited private investment in the country since the
early 1990s and banned the import of Burmese goods since 2003.

Despite the 2003 trade ban, a loophole permitted the purchase of gems that
originate in Burma, but were cut or polished in third countries, such as
India or Thailand. The new legislation closes that loophole.

Precious stones such as rubies and jade, are Burma's third most important
export item, earning the country about 647 million dollars in the fiscal
year 2007-08, which ended March 30, Human Rights Watch said.

The European Union and Canada already prohibit the import of Burmese gems.

The change in the US law would stipulate that retailers keep records
documenting the origin of rubies and jade to prove they are not from
Burma.

The law, which would go into effect 60 days after Bush signs it, applies
to finished jewellery.

The regime's atrocious human rights record, starting with a bloodbath in
1988 to end pro-democracy protests, has earned it pariah status among
Western democracies, which have slapped increasingly onerous economic
sanctions on the country during the past two decades.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

July 29, Voice of America
Changing course on Burma – Editorial

In an unusual public rebuke, Southeast Asian leaders have called Burma's
military junta to task for its repression of the nation's pro-democracy
movement. While their action is welcome, hopefully it is just the first
step in increasing pressure on the generals in Rangoon to begin reforms
that address the broader political issues that are keeping their country
down.

Foreign ministers from member states of the Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Singapore expressed their "deep
disappointment" with Burma's continued detention of opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi. They also called for the junta that for decades has ruled the
nation with an iron grip to hold "meaningful dialogue" with opposition
figures.

ASEAN is a consensus-based organization that is loath to speak out on the
internal affairs of its members. Given that human rights figured
prominently in the meeting’s agenda and the political climate in Burma has
deteriorated over the past year, the organization may have decided the
time was right to speak out.

They also were encouraged by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who
credited ASEAN with growing influence in Rangoon. She said the group was
instrumental in persuading the junta to reverse its initial obstruction of
assistance and accept international aid after Cyclone Nargis killed at
least 78,000 people along the Irrawaddy Delta in May. She urged the group
to continue engaging Burma to push it toward democracy.

Indeed, it's in the interests of both the Burmese people and ASEAN nations
concerned about regional stability that the generals be persuaded to
release all political prisoners and engage in a genuine dialogue with
democratic and ethnic minority leaders in order to begin a credible
transition to democracy.

____________________________________

July 29, IRIN
Myanmar: "Life is totally bleak” – Soe Soe

Almost three months since Cyclone Nargis struck southern Myanmar - leaving
nearly 140,000 dead or missing - many storm-affected people lack basic
necessities of food and shelter.

In the village of Outkwin, Pyapon Township, deep inside Myanmar's badly
affected Ayeyarwady Delta, one such survivor, Soe Soe, 28, told IRIN about
the hardship she faces, as well as the birth of her son, named after the
storm.

"That night I went into labour in a small bamboo, thatched house on the
banks of the Pyapon River to deliver my first child. But as the wind
roared, my husband and I struggled outside only to see our home destroyed
right before our very eyes.

"As the rain poured down and the water began to reach my chest, my husband
lifted me on to some floating debris. As I lay there, the labour pains
became so painful I began to scream. I needed help.

"Finally, among the broken pieces of wood I gave birth around six in the
morning, but almost died in the process. I had lost so much blood. Both my
husband and the woman who had helped me deliver thought I was gone. But a
single hope kept me hanging on – that my son needed me.

"After the cyclone, I thought the worst was over. But finally I understood
that the worst of our hardship – bringing our lives back to where they
were – had only just begun.

"We could not rebuild our home. We have neither money to buy materials,
nor assistance to build. If my neighbour hadn't had the compassion to
share her makeshift hut with us, we would have been left to live in a
displaced persons camp. My neighbour collected material from what was left
of her own house to build this place. Now, my son Nargis and I have been
living here with four other families. My husband, a fisherman, has been
away at sea for two months and has yet to return.

"I hope he comes back soon. I have so many debts to pay back and my son
needs medical treatment.

"For medical fees, I had to borrow some money from a local money-lender at
a high interest rate - 30 percent per month.

"But there are no choices here. You do what you need to do to survive. Not
just for my son's medical bills, but also food. Occasionally, the local
authorities bring rice to us, but it's never enough. I still need to buy
some rice, as well as vegetables and other things for cooking.

"Of course, I know I shouldn't be borrowing money at such high interest
rates, but I don't know what else to do. I feel I should thank her for
allowing me to borrow the money given I have nothing to offer her in
collateral.

"My husband earns just $30 a month and our debts far exceed that now.

"Sometimes, I wonder what the future holds. Right now life is totally bleak."