BurmaNet News, Feb 3, 2004

[editor at burmanet.org]

Feb 3, 2004 Issue # 2416


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Chicken Sales Down
Irrawaddy: More NLD Members Arrested
Xinhua: Online e-visa system in progress in Myanmar
DVB: Burmese policemen and soldiers moonlighting as pirates

ON THE BORDER
BBC Monitor: Bird flu reaches Thai-Burmese border

DRUGS
Drug Week: Myanmar officials seize millions of fake drugs

BUSINESS / MONEY
Asia Pulse: India looking at fourth LNG terminal for gas from Myanmar

REGIONAL
AFP: Troops sent to India-Myanmar border to keep out bird flu
AP: Two Indian states ban poultry from Myanmar; one bans all livestock
imports from Bangladesh
AFP: Development of Myanmar casino stalls amid Singapore legal row
AFP: Northern Marianas bans entry from 30 countries for security reasons

OPINION / OTHER
Nation: Wa leader sacks brother from key post
Excerpts from an interview by Washington Post – Colin Powell



INSIDE BURMA
___________________________________

Feb 3, Irrawaddy
Chicken Sales Down - by Kyaw Zwa Moe

People in Burma are not buying chicken out of fear of the bird flu that
has killed 12 people in Southeast Asia, says a resident of Rangoon.
Burmese health and livestock officials say that no cases have been
detected in the country.

"People have started getting afraid of eating chicken," a Rangoon resident
said today. He added that the price of a chicken dropped from more than
1,000 kyat (US $1.13) to 450 kyat in recent days, but most people still
balk at buying poultry.

The resident said Burmese began avoiding chicken dishes after the outbreak
of avian influenza, or bird flu, led to the mass culling of poultry in ten
Asian countries, including neighboring Thailand and China.

There are still no outbreaks among any kind of bird and we haven’t seen
any signs or symptoms of the bird flu. —Dr Than Hla

The confirmed death toll from the human strain of the bird flu virus is
nine people in Vietnam and three in Thailand. Thai health officials
suspect that nine additional deaths in the kingdom are a result of bird
flu.

There are no reports of the virus in Burma, said Dr Soe Aung, the deputy
director general of Burma’s Health Department, who was reached by
telephone today in Rangoon.

Dr Soe Aung said consumers’ anxieties have increased since the government
last week alerted citizens of its efforts to prevent the virus.

"People are too worried about the virus, which has impacted the business
of chicken sellers," said Dr Soe Aung. "So we are now advocating that it’s
safe to eat well-cooked chicken."

Yesterday, officials from a hospital in Vietnam said the latest casualty
there died of the virus after eating chicken meat, but the World Health
Organization has yet to confirm the death.

The Director of Burma’s Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department, Dr
Than Hla, told The Irrawaddy today by telephone: "There are still no
outbreaks among any kind of bird and we haven’t seen any signs or symptoms
of the bird flu around the country."

What he termed "normal" diseases have been found among some chickens
during the department’s investigation, he added.

"In a few days, we will call for help from the FAO [Food and Agriculture
Organization] to clarify if those diseases are an outbreak or not," Dr
Than Hla said.

The Burmese government banned chicken imports from bordering countries
after news of bird flu elsewhere, but the volume of poultry imports to
Burma is historically small.

Yesterday, Thai officials said that the bird flu was detected near the
Thai-Burma border, opposite Kyar Inn Seik Kyee Township in eastern Karen
State. About 4,000 chickens and ducks were culled in the area, according
to local authorities. About 45 million chickens have been culled
throughout Asia.

Dr Soe Aung said the health department would discover immediately if any
outbreaks of the bird flu occur in Burma.

Said the Rangoon resident: "We can’t rely on reports by the government.
It’s better to take care of it by ourselves. Wisdom safeguards the life,
as the saying goes."
____________________________

Feb 2, Irrawaddy
More NLD Members Arrested - by Kyaw Zwa Moe

Burma’s military junta continues to jail members of the main opposition
group while preparing to head down the path to national reconciliation,
say National League for Democracy (NLD) members in Rangoon. Meanwhile, a
political prisoner died after serving 10 years in prison, according to an
exiled political group and a prisoners’ rights association.

Last weekend, military intelligence officers arrested two NLD members,
said a senior NLD youth member in Kyee Myin Daing Township, Rangoon. Myint
Aye, chairman of the township’s NLD office, and Tin Maung Kyi, a senior
member, were arrested, he said.

Nobody, including the men’s family members, knows the motive behind the
arrests or where they are being held, the NLD youth member said.

According to the Thai-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
(Burma) (AAPP), 15 NLD members were arrested throughout Burma in December
and January.

On Jan 16, the junta released 26 NLD members who were arrested after the
May 30 attack on NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi;s convoy in Upper Burma.

Meanwhile, a political prisoner, Shein Tin, died last Wednesday, according
to a press release from the exiled National Coalition Government of Union
of Burma. He was being held at Taungoo prison in Pegu Division.

The press release states that the 65-year-old prisoner died of lung
cancer. He was arrested in March 1994 and sentenced to 10 years
imprisonment, so he was scheduled to freed next month.

Shein Tin was executive member of the People’s Progressive Party, which
was founded during the 1988 pro-democracy movement and later disbanded by
the junta. He was accused of being connected to the banned Communist Party
of Burma.

The AAPP confirmed the death of Shein Tin. Secretary of the AAPP, Tate
Naing, said sources inside Burma told him that prison authorities only
told Shien Tin that he suffered from lung cancer a week before he died.
Shein Tin passed away at a hospital in Taungoo, said Tate Naing.

Tate Naing added that Shein Tin’s son-in-law was arrested with him in 1994
and is detained at Thayet Prison in Magwe Division.

Shein Tin is the 85th political prisoner to die in a Burmese prison since
the military staged a coup in 1988, according to the AAPP.
____________________________

Feb 3, Xinhua
Online e-visa system in progress in Myanmar

Online e(electronic)-visa system is in progress in Myanmar since the
country launched the system late last month, according to the latest
disclosure of the e-National Task Force Tuesday.

Seven e-visa applications have so far been received respectively from six
countries --Austria, Denmark, Italy, Singapore, Sweden and the United
States --since Jan. 21, the sources said.

The visa online, processing through the Immigration and National
Registration Department, is accessible in seven languages, it revealed,
adding that approved applications are replied through e-mail, and that
with the print-out of which in hand, travelers can enter the country on
arrival.

Visa charges online are arranged to be payable with credit card and the
processing time for the e-visas takes less than 24 hours, the sources
confirmed.

The sources claimed that Myanmar is the first country in Southeast Asia to
offer online e-visa.

The introduction of the e-visa system in Myanmar came one and a half year
after the country's organizations concerned worked together with a
Malaysia-based MSN Trust Gate Company with 90 percent of the process being
implemented by the Myanmar side.
____________________________

Feb 2, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese policemen and soldiers moonlighting as pirates


Burmese soldiers and policemen at Kawthaung region, Tenesserim Division in
southern Burma are resorting to piracy on the sea to feed their starving
families.

On 20 January, three policemen from Aw Gyi Police station, a soldier and
three civilians robbed a fishing boat on its way back from Thailand. After
the robbery, the second-in-command of the station told the three policemen
to escape to Thailand to evade arrest.

The victim of the robbery, U Soe Myint, the owner of a fishing company was
robbed 1.1 million kyats (approx US$ 1250) and fuel for his boat.

The escaped robbers were eventually handed over to a local military
intelligence force after they were rounded up and apprehended by a Burmese
army veteran with the help of Thai criminal gangsters.

Burmese soldiers and policemen have been bullying and robbing local people
throughout Burma due to poverty and corruption in the forces.


ON THE BORDER
_____________________________________

Feb 3, BBC Monitor
Bird flu reaches Thai-Burmese border

Irrawaddy web site, Bangkok, in English 2 Feb 04

Text of report in English from "News Alert" section by Aung Su Shin,
MaeSot entitled: "Bird flu reaches Thai-Burma border", published by
Thailand-based Burmese exile publication Irrawaddy web site on 2 February

The bird flu virus sweeping through Asia has been detected near the
Thai-Burma border, according to local officials in Thailand.

Chalermchai Warrawudtiphong, deputy governor of Tak Province, said
authorities are taking measures to contain the outbreak.

He said a section of Umphang District in Tak is affected and authorities
have killed more than 4,300 chickens and ducks in the area.

"Our Thai people need not be afraid," the deputy governor said. "If we
join hands and cooperate, the disease will not stay in our province." He
added that residents must remember to fully cook eggs and chicken before
eating.

The comments were made at a Chinese temple in Mae Sot, where a meal of
chicken and eggs was served. About 2,000 Burmese workers joined Thai
authorities and businessmen at the function.

A Burmese worker in attendance said he does not fear eating chicken.

"Since these officials eat it, we also eat it. I trust them," said Myo
Myint, 42. "They warned us not to eat dead chickens and the chickens which
have a ring shape on their body."

Thai authorities have banned transporting chicken and eggs.

The affected area is across the border from Kyar Inn Seik Kyee Kya-in
Seikkyi Township in Karen State, but there are no reports of bird flu on
the Burma side.

Last week, Burmese officials said that they have taken steps to prevent
any bird flu outbreak.



DRUGS
_____________________________________

Feb 3, Drug Week
Myanmar officials seize millions of fake drugs

Myanmar authorities seized about 10 million fake antibiotics and other
drugs in raids during December, a newspaper said.

Some of the medicines were locally produced while the rest were imported
from China and India, the Myanma Ahlin daily newspaper said.

"As part of the effort to improve the health standard of the people,
authorities have exposed producers and distributors of counterfeit
medicine," the report said.

The commentary urged people to expose the "avaricious" producers, sellers
and distributors of counterfeit medicines. But it added that registered
pharmaceutical distributors should sell their products at a "reasonable
rate."

The distribution and sale of fake medicine has become a major problem in
the developing world.

A recent World Health Organization survey found that 57% of tested drugs
in Myanmar did not have legal approval to be sold.

Many of the counterfeit drugs do not contain the necessary active
ingredients or have inappropriate levels to treat serious diseases such as
malaria and tuberculosis, which can sometimes lead to death or the spread
of infection.


BUSINESS / MONEY
_____________________________________

Feb 3, Asia Pulse
India looking at fourth LNG terminal for gas from Myanmar

The Centre on Monday said it is looking at the possibility to build the
country's fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to receive gas from
Myanmar.

"We are examining the possibility of building the fourth LNG terminal in
the country to bring in gas from Myanmar which would depend on the quantum
of gas available from that gasfield," Federal Petroleum Secretary B K
Chaturvedi said.

The government is also examining the possibility of bringing the gas
through pipelines via Myanmar and northern states, he said.

The consortium of OVL-Gail with Korean companies reported a major
discovery of over 5 TCF in Myanmar last month.

Charturvedi said the gas from the LNG terminal at Dahej in Gujarat would
add about one-third to the total availability in the country while the
second terminal at Hazira would add about 8-10 standard cubic metres (SCM)
of gas.

Even by the conservative six per cent GDP growth, the total demand for gas
in the country would touch about 300 SCM, he said adding, thrust should be
given by companies on price competitiveness due to the price sensitivity
in the Indian economy.


REGIONAL
____________________________

Feb 3, AFP
Troops sent to India-Myanmar border to keep out bird flu

Hundreds of soldiers have been deployed along India's border with Myanmar
to prevent the spread of a bird flu outbreak that has killed 12 people
across Asia, officials said Tuesday.

India is still free of avian influenza or bird flu.

And while no cases of avian influenza have been reported in Myanmar,
officials are worried some poultry could be smuggled through the country
from neighbouring Thailand, which has been badly affected by the virus.

"Troops were deployed along the borders of the northeastern states of
Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh neighbouring Myanmar to
prevent smuggling of poultry into the region," a government spokesman
said.

The four northeastern states share a 1,643-kilometre- (1,018-mile-) long
unfenced border with Myanmar.

India has already banned all poultry imports in an effort to protect its
billion-plus population from bird flu.

But an Indian intelligence official said it was "very difficult to
completely seal the border" with Myanmar due to the rugged terrain.
Smuggling from Myanmar of goods and livestock, including poultry, was
rife, he said.

A government health official said authorities had not ruled out the chance
of bird flu strains finding their way into the region "because some
imported birds may have been bred in Thailand."

India's seven northeastern states share borders with Myanmar, China,
Bhutan, and Bangladesh. Ten Asian countries, including China, have
reported bird flu outbreaks, with Vietnam and Thailand officially the
worst affected.

UN health authorities have warned millions of people could die if the H5N1
strain of bird flu becomes a deadly version transmittable between humans.
____________________________

Feb 3, AP
Two Indian states ban poultry from Myanmar; one bans all livestock imports
from Bangladesh

A northeastern Indian state banned poultry imports from Myanmar on Tuesday
and another halted the importation of all livestock from Myanmar and
Bangladesh in an attempt to prevent the spread of bird flu, officials
said.

Manipur and Mizoram states announced bans on poultry from neighboring
Myanmar - despite official assurances that the virus has not reached the
Southeast Asian nation - fearing the illegal import of chickens from
infected countries via Myanmar.

An outbreak of the avian virus has killed at least three people in
Thailand and nine in Vietnam. It has resulted in the death or slaughter of
millions of birds in nine Asian nations and Taiwan.

"We have ordered a ban on poultry imports from Myanmar to check the
possibility of entry of poultry or poultry products originating from
Thailand," said Thangso Baite, Manipur's veterinary minister.

Veterinarians will join police and border guards to help stop poultry from
crossing the border from Myanmar, Baite said.

Meanwhile, Mizoram banned all livestock imports, as well as poultry, from
Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi authorities insist the country is bird flu-free, despite the
unexplained death of thousands of chickens there last week.

There is no evidence that the avian virus has spread to other animals.

"We don't want to take any chances," Dr. Sangnghina, Mizoram's director of
animal husbandry, said of the livestock blockade. He uses only one name.

The state bans issued Tuesday are in addition to those already announced
by India's national government, which prohibit poultry imports from South
Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan and Japan, where the disease
has been detected.

China, Taiwan, Laos and Indonesia have also reported cases of bird flu.
But their products have not been banned because India doesn't import
poultry products from them, officials said.
____________________________

Feb 3, AFP
Development of Myanmar casino stalls amid Singapore legal row

Plans by a Singaporean businessman to open a 90 million US dollar
resort-style casino in Myanmar have stalled over the non-delivery of power
generators, a media report said here Tuesday.

Drake Poh Teong Kang, managing director of Myanmar-registered Victoria
Entertainment Resort Club, is suing Singapore's Esasia Engineering for
alleged loss of profits and manpower costs incurred from the generators
not being delivered, according to the Straits Times.

Esasia, in defence, is counter-suing Victoria, claiming breach of contract
and demanding losses for unsold equipment as well as damages for storage
and maintenance.

The four generators, worth more than 220,000 Singapore dollars (130,000
million US dollars) were ordered two years ago to supply power to the
casino-cum-resort, the daily reported Victoria as claiming in the lawsuit.

Poh signed a 30-year lease with the Myanmar government for two islands
near the nation's southern border with Thailand in 1997 to develop the
casino and resort, with wealthy Thais one of his key intended target
markets.

The report did not say when the casino was scheduled to open.
____________________________

Feb 3, AFP
Northern Marianas bans entry from 30 countries for security reasons

The Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands Tuesday slapped a ban on
entry permits to people from 29 countries and one province of China,
citing security concerns.

The nations had "consistently proven unable to provide adequate background
information regarding their nationals, citizens, subjects and residents
who seek to travel to the commonwealth," Attorney General Pamela Brown
said.

She said this posed "an unacceptable risk to the security, health and
welfare" of the people of the Northern Marianas, which lie in the Pacific
Ocean, east of the Philippines.

The list includes China's Fujian province, as well as Afghanistan,
Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea,
Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria,
Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Under the regulations, a person from one of the excluded territories may
be allowed entry if they post a 5,000 dollar bond, which will be forfeited
if it is found they have a criminal record or violate conditions of entry.

Medical professionals and religious ministers entering the country for
work reasons are exempt from the ban.


OPINION / OTHER
_____________________________________

Feb 3, The Nation
Wa leader sacks brother from key post

[This article originally appeared in “The Nation” on Jan 25.  BNN is
republishing the same due to its significance. – Ed]

The leader of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), Bao Yu-xiang, has dismissed
his youngest brother from a key command position in his 20,000-strong army
over alleged involvement in drug abuse and trafficking.

Bao Yu-hwa has been removed from his position as the commander of the UWSA
Special Regiment near the Thai border and placed under "detention" in an
area north of Kengtung. The action was taken about twoweeks ago because of
his involvement in the production and the use of methamphetamines, said
Thai and Wa sources.

The move is seen as an at- tempt to garner support from Thailand and the
international community. Both have consistently accused the pro-Rangoon
UWSA of major involvement in the drugs trade.

The UWSA had been accused of supplying the world with some of the finest
heroin; and the region with millions of methamphetamine pills, said a
senior Thai narcotic officer who kept a close watch on the UWSA. However,
he questioned whether Yu-hwa was actually being "detained".

In the context of Burmese insurgent groups, this usually meant placing a
person in an inactive post and watching them closely.

He said he could not see Yu-hwa meeting the same fate as other political
opponents of the chairman.

He cited the example of Wei Sai-tang, a young Wa commander who was
dismissed last year on similar charges but was slapped with a jail
sentence of 75 years.

Besides dismissing Yu-hwa, chairman Bao has also ordered about 300 of his
officers along the Thai border to return to the UWSA headquarters in
Panghsang near the Chinese border in northern Shan State.

The 300 were believed to be the key figures in the drug trade, said the
Thai officer.

The decision came amid strong pressure from the Thai and Burmese
governments, who are seeking to end years of hostility between the
pro-Rangoon UWSA and Thai security forces and narcotics agencies. There
have been frequent bloodshed during firefights along the border between
Thai soldiers and Wa drug caravans . The Thai officer sees the move as an
attempt to build on the improved relationship between Thailand and the Wa
following the visit last month by Thailand's Fourth Army Region commander,
Lt-General Picharnmate Muangmanee, who travelled to Mong Yawn, a UWSA
stronghold near the Thai border.

Picharnmate and chairman Bao had attended the opening ceremony of a
Thai-funded school near Mong Yawn.

The event marked a new chapter in relations between the Thai government
and the UWSA, which is the world's largest armed drug trafficking group,
according to the US State Department.

"The Wa is trying to reinvent themselves. It's a natural process and we
welcomed it," said the Thai officer.

Don Pathan
____________________________

Excerpts from an interview by Washington Post – Colin Powell

Feb 2, 2004, Secretary Colin L. Powell, Washington, DC

QUESTION: Another piece of journalism you committed was an op-ed piece on
Burma. Since then, the situation hasn't improved much.

SECRETARY POWELL: No.

QUESTION: Maybe because you published it in the wrong newspaper.

 (Laughter.)

SECRETARY POWELL: I'll have to have a duty roster, which paper to use next.

QUESTION: Are Thailand and China helping, not helping, and do you have any
thoughts on how to push forward the agenda you laid out there?

SECRETARY POWELL: No. We're intending to press it at every opportunity. It's
frustrating that we haven't been able to make more progress. It's sad that
this country continues to live in this despotic past, and we'll continue
to press.  The next opportunity I really have to press the whole community
is when I go out to the ARC meetings later in the year, but we ll continue
to press bilaterally.

QUESTION: Do you think you did enough at the last ARC meetings?

SECRETARY POWELL: I think we did a lot, pressed hard. I think we pretty much
isolated them, but they are used to being isolated, and we could always do
more.
____________________________