BurmaNet News, April 16, 2010

[Editor]

April 16, 2010, Issue #3942

QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'They have to move forward because many people in
Myanmar know that this is not a solution for Myanmar. Many of their people
know that their government is doing badly by them and resent it deeply.”
-Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong speaking to television
journalist, Charlie Rose, about Burma as reported in the Straits Times, 16
April 2010


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar urges vigilance after deadly bombs
UPI: Myanmar blasts blamed on terrorists
KNG: BGF impasse explained to people by Kachin leaders
KNG: Christians forced to donate for Buddhist Festival

BUSINESS / TRADE
Myanmar Times: Improved electricity for Yangon industry

ASEAN
Channel News Asia: Singapore condemns Myanmar's bomb attacks

INTERNATIONAL
The Nation: Working towards a world without nuclear threat
AFP: US condemns Myanmar blasts

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 16, Agence France Presse
Myanmar urges vigilance after deadly bombs

Yangon  – Myanmar state media urged revellers at annual water festivities
to be on guard Friday after bomb blasts killed eight people at a park in
the military-ruled country's biggest city.

People should "remain vigilant against potential atrocities" and inform
the authorities if they see anything suspicious, the English-language New
Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

Officials had initially reported that nine people died Thursday in three
explosions near Kandawgyi Lake in the former capital Yangon, but later
said they had miscounted the number of fatalities.

State media said 170 people were wounded in the park, where thousands of
people were gathered for water-throwing festivities to mark the Buddhist
New Year.

It was the worst bomb attack in Yangon since a series of blasts in May
2005 at two supermarkets and a convention centre killed 23 people. The
junta blamed those explosions on exile groups.

Thursday's blasts came as the country prepares for elections planned for
this year that critics have dismissed as a sham due to the effective
barring of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi because she is a serving
prisoner.

The United States condemned Thursday's attacks and said it was unsure
about the motivation.

"We condemn any kind of violence that victimises innocent civilians," said
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who were the victims of this
bombing," he said.

Washington maintains sanctions on the regime but initiated a cautious
dialogue with the junta last year, concluding that the previous US policy
of trying to isolate the regime had failed.

Hundreds of revellers returned to the same park Friday on the final day of
the Thingyan New Year festival, watched by dozens of police officers.

State television said late Thursday that an investigation had begun to
find the "destructionists" behind the explosions.

Myanmar has been hit by several bomb blasts in recent years, which the
junta has blamed on armed exile groups or ethnic rebels.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962, partly justifying its grip on
power by the need to fend off ethnic rebellions that have plagued remote
border areas for decades.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in
1990 elections, but the junta never allowed it to take office.

The Nobel peace laureate, who advocates non-violent resistance, has been
under house arrest almost constantly since.

Armed minorities in Karen and Shan states continue to fight the government
along the country's eastern border, alleging they are subject to neglect
and mistreatment.

The regime recently stepped up its decades-long campaign against the
rebels in an apparent attempt to crush them before the polls, expected
before early November this year.

____________________________________

April 16, United Press International
Myanmar blasts blamed on terrorists

Myanmar's official New Light reported the death toll in three explosions
at a water festival unchanged at eight Friday but raised the number of
injured to 170.

The blasts, blamed on terrorists whose affiliation was not provided,
occurred Thursday at a pavilion during a festival in Yangon, former
capital of the military-ruled country previously known as Burma.

Five men and three women were killed and the injured were taken to
hospitals, New Light said.

Xinhua, the official news agency of China, which maintains close relations
with Myanmar, quoted the official media as saying that since the
terrorists cannot be identified easily, "they are brazenly committing
subversive acts by sliding into the crowds of ordinary people in
disguise."

The Los Angeles Times, quoting analysts, said the blasts, which came as
the country prepares for elections, could have been the work of
dissidents, or even the government.

The military rulers have promised to hold elections this year but have set
no dates.

Analysts said dissidents may have reacted because the government got more
repressive with election rules and regulations.

The explosions could also have been set off by the government or its close
affiliates, a researcher with Amnesty International told the newspaper.

"One could speculate -- although you wouldn't do this in many other
countries, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility here -- that the
government is behind this," the researcher said. The government could use
such violent acts to justify another crackdown, he said.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2010/04/16/Myanmar-blasts-blamed-on-terrorists/UPI-88741271415948/

____________________________________

April 16, Kachin News Group
BGF impasse explained to people by Kachin leaders

Ethnic Kachin leaders in northern Burma today took pains to explain to the
people the impasse on the Border Guard Force (BGF) issue with the
country’s ruling junta. The public meeting comes before the crucial
junta-set deadline of April 22 for transforming the Kachin armed forces.

The public meeting was organized in Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin
Independence Organization (KIO) in east Kachin State, near the China
border. Over 2400 KIO members and members of the public from two
states—Kachin and Shan were the audience. Two senior KIO officers took on
the onerous task of explaining to the people, said participants.

Dr. Lahkyen La Ja, KIO general secretary detailed all the discussions with
the junta on transforming the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the
armed-wing of the KIO to the junta-proposed BGF.

According to Dr. La Ja, the two sides met 15 times on the contentious BGF
issue in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State since April 28, last year.
The issue could not be negotiated because the junta kept pressing the KIA
to transform to BGF.

He quoted Burmese military officials as saying that the BGF proposal was
the brainchild of junta supremo Snr-Gen Than Shwe and is a goodwill
gesture by the military leader.

Brig-Gen Sumlut Gun Maw, Vice Chief of Staff of KIA said that the KIO was
told to come up with a clear response on the BGF regarding acceptance by
Lt-Gen Ye Myint, Chief of the junta’s Military Affairs Security (MAS) when
the KIO delegates met him in Myitkyina on April 4.

In the last meeting, Lt-Gen Ye Myint made it abundantly clear that the KIO
has to provide a clear answer on the BGF issue on April 22. Following,
which the armed-wing must be transformed within two weeks from April 28,
said Brig-Gen Gun Maw.

Lt-Gen Ye Myint also cautioned about the cancellation of the ceasefire
agreement saying “If the KIO does not abide by the latest instructions,
the relations will revert to the period before the 1994 ceasefire
agreement,” the KIA’s Vice Chief of Staff added.

Meanwhile, the latest KIO proposal was sent to Snr-Gen Than Shwe yesterday.

The proposal states that the KIO would like to resolve the BGF issue by
peaceful alternative means, not militarily. It wants to convert the KIA to
the Union Defence Force under the Burmese Army, maintaining its current
status, said Dr. La Ja.

The KIO reiterated to the junta that it would like to convert the KIA
after the political imbroglio is resolved through dialogue.

The KIO delegates will meet Burmese military officials again on April 22
and it is expected to explain its latest proposal instead of coming up
with a clear response on the BGF issue as sought by the junta, said KIO
officials in Laiza.

Till now, there is no sign of impending civil war between the KIO and the
ruling junta, said local military observers.

____________________________________

April 15, Kachin News Group
Christians forced to donate for Buddhist Festival

Christians, who are in a minority in Burma, have had to perforce provide
‘duty-fund’ for the Buddhist Water Festival - Thingyan, which began on
April 13 and will conclude on April 16, sources among Christians said.

Kachin and other ethnic Christians in Bhamo, or Manmaw in Kachin language
in Kachin State have had to donate to the fund for the festival, which was
collected by military officials, said local Christians who paid up last
week.

The money was mainly collected from Kachin communities in Pauk Kone,
Nyaung Pyin Yat and Aung Ta quarters in the city, where hundreds of Kachin
Christian families are settled, Bhamo Christian sources said.

On the orders of the Bhamo Administrative Office the Bhamo Township Peace
and Development Council (Ma-Ya-Ka), each Christian family in the quarters
were to pay 1,000 Kyat (US$1) like Buddhist families, Kachin Christians
told Kachin News Group today.

A woman Kachin Baptist follower in Nyaung Pyin Yat told KNG, “In our
quarter, officials demanded over loudspeakers 1,000 Kyat for the Water
Festival fund to be deposited at the quarter administrative office before
the festival began early this week”.

Last year, officials visited every household in Nyaung Pyin Yat and
collected 1,000 Kyat per family from both Buddhists and Christians for the
festival.

In Pauk Kone and Aung Ta quarters, the quarter headmen collected the money
last week, before the festival began, residents said.

Christians in Bhamo have to donate for the Buddhist festival because they
are apprehensive of punishment from local military authorities, said Bhamo
Christian sources.

Unlike Bhamo, in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, the festival
pavilions and entertainments are organized by authorities and the
junta-backed firms like Aung Mai Company, which has a special permit from
the regime to export seized teak in Kachin State to the China border.

In Myitkyina, authorities do not collect donations for the festival from
local Christian families but do so from private firms, said local
residents.

Only four per cent of over 48 million of Burma’s population are Christians
and they are systematically restricted by the Buddhist-led military
regime.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

Volume 26, No. 515: Myanmar Times
Improved electricity for Yangon industry

Parents watch their children on a merry-go-round at a pagoda festival
marking the full moon of Tabaung last month.

HTOO Trading and a Chinese partner will start work on a coal-fired power
plant next July that will supply electricity to Yangon’s industrial zones,
U Sein Oo, a director of the Htoo Group of Companies, told The Myanmar
Times on March 17.

The US$300 million project will be implemented by the Ministry of Electric
Power (1), Htoo Trading and Huaneng Lancang River Hydropower under the
build, operate, transfer system, whereby the private companies will
finance the construction and then operate the plant for a minimum of 20
years before transferring it back to the government.

Htoo Trading will provide the majority of the investment, U Sein Oo said,
while the Chinese company will supply the technology and most of the
machinery. They will also be responsible for training local technicians to
operate the plant.

The plant, to be located on a 250-acre site in Htantabin township, Yangon
Division, will initially provide 135 megawatts (MW) but that is expected
to rise to 270MW after six months, he said.

The project – Myanmar’s first coal-fired power plant – should be completed
by the start of 2013.

“The construction work will be complete within two and a half years. We
will start providing electricity to industrial zones after two years as
the first step,” said U Sein Oo.

The plant will use coal from Kalewa mine in Sagaing Division and the
electricity generated will supply factories in Yangon’s three industrial
zones: Hlaing Tharyar, Shwe Pyi Thar and Shwe Lin Pan. Any surplus
electricity generated will be diverted to meet domestic demand.

To generate the maximum amount of power, the plant will require 3000
tonnes of coal a day, or more than 1 million tonnes a year.

Myanmar produces about 250,000 tonnes of coal a year, according to
government figures but there is potential for expansion.

If Kalewa cannot provide enough, more will be imported from ASEAN
countries, U Sein Oo said.

“We will transport the coal along the Chindwin [River] and store at least
six months’ supply near the plant,” said U Sein Oo. “The site of the plant
has been selected bearing in mind the need to transport and unload coal.”

He added that, as an environmental protection measure, the plant would be
fitted with a smoke control system to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide
and other gases.

No price has yet been set for the power to be generated. The Ministry of
Electric Power (2) charges domestic users K25 (about 2.5 US cents) per
kilowatt hour and industry K50.

Yangon’s electricity consumption is more than 300MW, but the actual demand
is about double.

U Myat Thin Aung, chairman of Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone, said there
were about 1100 businesses in the three zones. While electricity
consumption figures for Shwe Pyi Thar were not available, U Myat Thin Aung
said total electricity consumption at Hlaing Tharyar and Shwe Lin Pan is
88MW but demand is actually much higher.

U Sein Oo said he expected the three zones to consume at least 200MW when
the plant comes online.

____________________________________
ASEAN


April 16, Channel News Asia
‎Singapore condemns Myanmar's bomb attacks

Singapore: Singapore has condemned the bomb attacks that took place in
Yangon on Thursday.

Responding to media queries about the bombings in Yangon, Singapore's
Foreign Ministry Spokesman said Singapore is shocked to learn of the bomb
explosions and condemns the act of violence that took place on the eve of
the Myanmar New Year, leaving nine dead and at least 75 injured.

So far, Myanmar authorities have informed Singapore's embassy in Yangon
that there are no reports of any Singapore casualties.

Three bomb went off in Myanmar's main city Yangon as thousand of revellers
celebrated an annual water festival on Thursday.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 16, The Nation
Working towards a world without nuclear threat

Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is high on the international agenda
once again; Asean must play its part in the containment effort

United States President Barack Obama should be given credit for bringing
47 world leaders to Washington DC and accomplishing an almost impossible
task. These leaders have pledged to protect the world from nuclear attack
and destruction and make sure that nuclear weapons and materials will
never fall into the hands of terrorists. The meeting agreed that countries
that have weapons of mass destruction, and those that aspire to have them,
must take responsibility to guard their arsenals to ensure the safety of
humanity. Everyone understands clearly that the world's worst nightmare
would be for terrorists to get hold of nuclear weapons, because they would
have no hesitation to use them.

The Washington summit was a success for Obama as he was able to fulfil a
pledge that he gave in Prague last year. Now, more attention must be
focused, and concrete policies be formulated, to turn the summit's
commitments into reality. Nuclear arms containment and reduction is once
again high on the international agenda. Additional efforts in this arena
will be made when the review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty is held next
month in New York.

Aside from Iran and North Korea's weapons development programmes, one of
the world's biggest problems is the stockpile of nuclear weapons held by
arch-enemies India and Pakistan. The leaders of both countries have
expressed confidence in their own nuclear security policies.

Closer to home, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean) must also come clean on their nuclear security policies. The
region's 600 million people have been debating the pros and cons of a
nuclear-powered future. With the limited life span of oil and gas
supplies, the idea of nuclear power appeals to some in the region.

Several countries have established plans to build nuclear power plants to
provide electricity. Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam already have such
blueprints. Singapore has not ruled out the nuclear option either. These
are the countries that have made their intentions known.

However, Burma has not yet done so. Previously, Burma had been the first
regional country to declare that it would pursue a nuclear power plan for
peaceful uses. It is believed that nearly 10,000 officials from Burma have
been trained by nuclear experts in Russia. Worryingly, of late, various
reports have emerged that Burma has another ambition - gaining the
capacity to build a nuclear bomb. Obviously this would be a long-term
objective for Burma - and is probably a far-fetched notion - but it cannot
be completely ruled out if Burma received help from "rogue states" such as
North Korea or Iran. International investigation is going on to determine
if the reports of Burma's nuclear aspirations are true.

Meanwhile, it is incumbent upon Asean - which has a non-nuclear treaty
called the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone - to uphold the
principles it is bound to under this agreement. All Asean members signed
this important treaty that does not permit any member state to own nuclear
weapons, or build them. The treaty prevents the region from entanglement
in the rivalries of the world's nuclear powers by refusing port calls from
ships carrying nuclear weapons.

Now that Asean is increasing its international profile, it is imperative
that the grouping makes sure that its members adhere to the treaty and the
non-proliferation regime. Any deviation from this objective would be
disastrous for the region as a whole.

____________________________________

April 16, Agence France Presse
US condemns Myanmar blasts

Washington – The United States on Thursday condemned blasts in Myanmar
that left nine people dead and said it was unsure about the motivations.

"We condemn any kind of violence that victimizes innocent civilians,"
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who were the victims of this
bombing," he said.

Crowley said the United States did not know who was responsible or what
their motivation was. No Americans were injured, he said.

Three blasts rocked a park in Myanmar's largest city Yangon as revelers
celebrated an annual water festival.

The explosions come as the junta prepares for the nation's first elections
in two decades later this year, which have drawn widespread criticism from
Western nations and the opposition which fear they will be a sham.

President Barack Obama's administration last year initiated a cautious
dialogue with the junta, concluding that the previous US policy of trying
to isolate the regime had failed.