BurmaNet News, June 11, 2004

[Editor]

June 11, 2004, Issue # 2494


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Two NLD members arrested, whereabouts unknown
Mizzima News: Rangoon steps up dam project stirring locals anger

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: Northeast Buddhists Accuse Rebels of Harassment

DRUGS
S.H.A.N.: The season's harvest: input up, output varied

BUSINESS / MONEY
Irrawaddy: Euro 2004 soccer tournament fuels retail boom
Business Day: Myanmar, Daewoo may build plant

REGIONAL
AFP: Cambodia fears Myanmar human rights spat may delay ASEM entry: minister
IPS via Irrawaddy: Malaysian Caucus Leaves Burma with Limited Choice
Nation: Working to put Asem back on the radar


INSIDE BURMA
______________________________________

June 11, Irrawaddy
Two NLD Members Arrested, Whereabouts Unknown - Shah Paung

On Saturday the Burmese government arrested three National League for
Democracy, or NLD, members, two of which face long-term imprisonment, said
party secretary U Lwin.

The junta that rules Burma said that it arrested the three individuals
because they were communicating with illegal groups on the border. The
government claims that the busts are not indicative of a new clamp-down on
the NLD, as recounted by U Lwin.

The names of the arrestees are Than Than Tay, NLD Magwe Division’s women’s
group secretary and her son Thiha Soe; also taken in was Tin Myint,
secretary of the Thingangyun township in Rangoon.

The authorities released Thiha Soe on Wednesday because he wasn’t
involved, they said. The whereabouts of his mother and Tin Myint are
currently not known, according to U Lwin.

On May 30 the government arrested nine NLD youth members for distributing
pamphlets with text taken from the UN human rights declaration (the date
marked the first anniversary of the Depaying massacre in which a
junta-orchestrated gang of thugs attacked a convoy carrying Aung San Suu
Kyi and beat dozens, perhaps hundreds, to death with iron bars, sharpened
sticks and wooden clubs). The pamphleteers were released on Monday.

______________________________________

June 11, Mizzima News
Rangoon Steps up Dam Project Stirring Locals Anger - Tun Naing

Rangoon's plan to proceed with building a new dam on the Irrawaddy River
confluence, in spite of a letter of objection submitted by locals, has
stirred anger among Kachin locals.

On 1 February, villagers from N-Hkai bum area submitted an objection
letter outlining the negative effects of the dam project to their
communities. The impact includes the damage to 5000 houses, home to 8000
people living in over 20 villages, damage to 18,000 acres of farm land,
and damage to natural resources, wild life and valuable forest products in
the N-Hkai bum area. Additionally, a historic Christian missionary
monuments will also be affected.

The letter was sent to the State Peace and Development Council's (SPDC)
divisional commander, the Kachin Independent Organization (KIO) and the
New Democratic Army – Kachin (NDA-K), said one local party to the letter.
The authorities have made no reply to the letter. Instead, the Government
media announced that smaller dams on the Tabarang and Malikha Rivers were
to be built as a follow-up projects.

A Japanese company, Kang Seng, had agreed to build a hydro-project that
would produce up to 3000 mega watts, in a lowland are 3 miles from Tang
Hpare town, 27 miles away from Myitkyina Town in Kachin state. The height
of the dam is planned to be 500 feet above sea level.

Though Kang Seng has not yet commenced building the dam yet, a survey team
visited the area twice in 2003.
According to the Burmese state-owned newspaper, New Light of Myanmar, the
Irrawaddy River confluence dam project is to be the second largest dam
project after the Salween (Tasang) project in Shan state which is expected
to be constructed within four years.

The negative effects that the project would bring to the affected areas
described in the objection letter sent by local villagers also includes
lost of a spirit of patriotism. The Swan ya Bum highway, located in the
Maykha-Malikha Triangle area, is also likely to be destroyed, causing
communication and transportation difficulties. Most importantly, also to
be lost are all the important historical monuments of the Kachin.


ON THE BORDER
_____________________________________

June 10, Mizzima
Northeast Buddhists Accuse Rebels of Harassment - Surajit Khaund

The Buddhist community of the northeast India bordering Burma has
expressed deep concern over the growing number of incidents of harassment
and persecution of Buddhist minorities by the militant
groups in the region.

In a statement released Thursday, Purvanchal Bhikkhu Sangha alleged that
two militant groups, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-
Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM)and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland
–Khaplang (NSCN-K), have demanded the land of Buddhists living in the
Tirap Changlang areas of Aruchal Pradesh, causing major concern.

"These militant groups have issued a decree to these people that they
should convert into Christianity. Most of the people have fled from these
areas to avoid clashing with the underground groups. Burma is a safe place
for the Buddhist and they have started going to these nearby areas," the
statement said.

Several leaders of Purvanchal Buddhist Association have condemned the
incidents and demanded immediate intervention by the Indian government.
"This is a violation of human rights. Since India is a secular country,
every one has the right to profess and practice their religion," the
statement further said.

There are about 50,000 Buddhists living in various parts of northeast
India. In most of these areas, Buddhists, who are believed to have
migrated from Burma during the 17th Century, are closely assimilated with
the Assamese society.


DRUGS
_____________________________________

June 11, Shan Herald Agency for News
The season's harvest: input up, output varied

The 2003-2004 poppy season saw bumper harvest in some areas and meagre
ones in the rest of Shan State but the overall acreage had significantly
escalated in several townships compared to last year's, report Hawkeye,
Zong-arng, LNDO, HN and KING from the border.

In the north, Namkham, one of the Shan townships bordering China's Yunnan,
had boasted a healthy yield especially in areas controlled by Panhsay Kyaw
Myint, well-known militia chief and financier. However, its neighboring
townships, notably Muse, Kutkhai and Hsenwi were unable to make the same
claim. Meanwhile, Tangyan, traditional poppy growing township, where
militia leader Bo Mon of Marnparng, a former lieutenant of ex-warlord Khun
Sa, is supreme, "the output is just fine," according to a local,
especially in Loimaw, Pangmon, Nammusay, Mongma, Mongtawm, Kerngka and
Hpatang.

In the south, most of the townships complained of fine-looking plants
producing only a mean amount of opium sap, except those grown on higher
elevation like Loilai in Mongpan township and Loimaw and Loihon in Hopong
and Hsihseng townships. The fields, in contrast, were extensive, which in
many cases, could be seen from public roads. For which a Burmese officer
gave an explanation: "Most of Southern Shan State, unlike Northern, are
"black areas" (where the Shan State Army "South" of Col Yawdserk is
active) and, being so, we can always say doing away with Yawdserk takes
priority over everything else."

As a result, Pa-Os, whose name used to be synonymous with cheroot-leaf
plantations "have now become equivalent with opium," wrote a Pa-O woman
author recently. Even Burmans of lowlands are joining the fray, according
to sources in Loilem.

East of the Salween where the Wa are predominant, growers from the "West
Bank" arrived in droves during the season to grow poppies. "Here we need
to fear neither destruction nor official extortion," said a rice farmer
from Hsenwi. Wa authorities were also encouraging people to grow as much
as they could so they would be able to face the lean years following 2005,
which has been fixed by the Wa leadership as Drug-free Year. (A Wa
battalion commander from Wei Hsuehkang's 171st Military Region maintains
however that the annual meeting in Panghsang, the Wa capital, had opted
for 2007, as reported earlier by S.H.A.N., Wa extend drug free deadline,
12 July 2003).

As a result, poppy fields were blooming even in Hotao, a UN Office on
Drugs and Crimes project area since 1998. The yield however was mixed:
whereas growers in the eastern part of the Wa area were lamenting for the
poor harvest, those in the western part were basking in their fruitful
season. "I was in Wiang-ngern and Hotao (in the eastern part)," said a
Lahu source. "The yield there was negligible, but at Pangyang in the west,
people said the output was twice as much compared to last year."

Down south, near the Thai border, the total output is down from the
previous season. "We used to get at least 6 viss (1 viss=1.6 kg) in the
past,'" said a local who fled to the Thai side of the border last month,
after she found herself and her family in debt to the local Chinese boss
who had fed her family of 4 for the whole year. "This year, we were able
to gather only 4 viss."

All the sources have blamed the dry weather for the poor harvest.

Prices consequently are going up sharply. S.H.A.N. reported on 4 February:

------------------------------------ 2003 ------------------------- 2004
------------------------ (Kyat/per viss) ------------- (Kyat/per viss)
North ----------- 280,000 - 300,000 -------- 450,000 - 500,000
South ------------------------ 200,000 -------- 250,000 - 260,000
East -------------------------- 250,000 ---------------------- 320,000

By April, prices both in the south and east continued to soar up: 300,000
kyat in the south and 350,000 in the east.

Last week, one Lahu farmer at Mongkarnglong, Mongton township was given
37,000 baht (740,000 kyat) per viss by a Chinese buyer for his opium. "He
told me he was in a hurry to fill up an order from abroad," said the
source.

Reports of tax collection by government officials, whether military,
police or civilian, came from every corner. "In February, U Ye Kyaw
Khaing, township officer of Hsenwi, who was on a poppy destruction trip in
Namkhai tract was given 3 million kyat by the farmers," said a source from
Kachin Democratic Army, a cesefire group. "Deputy Police Inspector Aung
Ngwe Hpyo later arrived in the neighboring tract of Nam Zalarb, where he
collected another 6 million."

Refineries in the north that had been laid idle during the last two years
are also being dusted off in several townships, some of whom also
diversify into yaba (methamphetamines). "Their only problem is the
procurement of (precursor) chemicals," said a businessman in Muse. "For
one thing, the Chinese are getting more restrictive with the chemicals.
For another, the drug refiners prefer Indian products to Chinese, but
India is much farther away."

Luo Feng, China's Deputy Director of National Narcotics Control
Commission, disclosed on 12 February that the drug problem was "worsening"
and 80% of Burma's heroin was being smuggled into China.

Considering the Wa 2005 deadline, Ta Mahasang, leader of the non-ceasefire
Wa National Organization, had told S.H.A.N.. "It will not be Panghsang's
deadline that will end the opium production, but their leaders' positive
involvement in the country's struggle for freedom and democracy."


BUSINESS
_____________________________________

June 11, Irrawaddy
Euro 2004 Soccer Tournament Fuels Retail Boom - Naw Seng

Sports journals and whiskey and donuts that are marketed as associated
with soccer, are selling out in Burma as the Euro 2004 tournament draws
nearer; it kicks off on Saturday in Portugal.

First Eleven Sports Journal, the country’s most widely-read sports
publication, has sold out, said a staffer from the publication. “A lot
more sports journals sell at the moment than normally,” she told The
Irrawaddy by telephone from Rangoon.

She said that many football fans ask for information about Euro 2004 at
the journal office. “Guidebook for Euro 2004”, a one-off publication put
together by the journal, is selling very well, according to the staffer.
The guide book is priced at 1500 kyat (US $1.60). “There are no copies
left at the office,” she said.

On Friday, First Eleven launched a soccer analysis and forecasting TV show
for Euro 2004 in conjunction with Myanmar Media Box, or MM Box, a
subsidiary of Myanmar Forever June Co. The program is broadcast on MRTV-4.
The new TV channel went on air in mid-May and features foreign and local
movies and video plays, foreign TV series, music programs and karaoke
songs.

A café chain and a whiskey distributor in Rangoon have launched lucky
draws for Euro 2004.

International Beverage Trading Co, or IBTC, one of the largest privately
owned liquor distribution firms in Burma, will award prizes of from 100
($0.10) to five million kyat ($5,434) from, May 20 through to June 30.

The lucky-draw numbers are put in the caps of Grand Royal Whiskey bottles,
which sell for 960 kyat ($1.04) for 750 ml bottles and 575 kyat ($0.63)
for hip flasks.

Yan Naing Soe Myint, marketing manger for IBTC, said the draw is not just
a one-off sale promotion. “[It’s] for getting more real customers.”

IBTC sells Grand Royal Special Whiskey, Grand Royal Whiskey, Royal Dry
Gin, London Rum and Eagle Whiskey. The company was founded in 1997 and
started with a distillation facility imported from New Zealand.

J’Donuts, a popular café chain with six stores in Rangoon that sell coffee
and donuts, has also launched a lucky-draw program. It will award 1.5
million kyat ($1,630) to the winner.

Burmese citizens had the opportunity to watch live international soccer
for the first time when the 1994 World Cup aired.

______________________________________

June 11, Business Day
Myanmar, Daewoo may build plant

Manila: Myanmar said it plans to build a US$3 billion liquefied natural
gas plant on its west coast with Daewoo International, the main
stakeholder in gas fields in the country, to supply the fuel to Korea and
India.

Other investors may include Gail (India), Korea Gas, the world's biggest
buyer of LNG, and India's Oil & Natural Gas, said Brigadier General Than
Htay, Myanmar's deputy energy minister. The companies also hold stakes in
the country's gas fields.

"We'll start building it in 2005 and it has to be completed in 2007," said
Than Htay, during an Apec Energy Minister meeting in Manila. "We plan to
sell the LNG to Korea and India and we are also considering to build a gas
pipeline to India."

A group led by South Korea's Daewoo International said in January they
found gas off the coast of Myanmar. The reserves in Block A-1 are
estimated at as much as six trillion cubic feet of gas, equivalent to 1.1
billion barrels of crude oil, said Daewoo, which owns 60 percent of the
project.

The plant, which will turn natural gas into liquefied form for shipping by
vessel, will have two production lines each capable of handling 3.5
million tonnes of gas a year. It will use gas from the A-1 field and two
other fields off the west coast, said Than Htay.

ONGC Videsh is not aware of a plan to build an LNG plant, DS Porwal,
general manager of the company in charge of India's portion of the Myanmar
fields. "There's no proposal with us" for an LNG plant, he said.

Daewoo International said in February it's in talks to sell natural gas to
be produced off the coast of Myanmar to India.

While India wants gas to be supplied through a pipeline, Daewoo favours
building a gas liquefaction plant to sell the gas at higher prices and
diversify sales options, Rim Chae Moon, executive vice president of
Daewoo's commodity and energy division, said in February.

If liquefied, Daewoo expects to earn between $5 and $6 per 1,000 cubic
feet of gas it sells, Rim said. At production levels, the fuel is valued
at between $2 and $3. The company will opt for LNG if it finds more gas in
nearby areas, he said.

Korea Gas, which owns 10 percent of Block A-1, said last month it wants to
raise its stake in the project as it expects the field has more gas than
original estimates.

"The project will need more investment for additional exploration and I
don't think Daewoo can afford to provide much of the extra funding," Korea
Gas Chief Executive Oh Kang Hyun said in an interview in Seoul on May 31.

"We want to play a more active role in the project, which is estimated to
have as much as 120 million metric tonnes of gas."

Oh didn't say how much the company wants to raise its stake from the 10
percent it now owns. India's ONGC Videsh has 20 percent of the project and
GAIL (India) has 10 percent.


REGIONAL
______________________________________

June 11, Agence France Presse
Cambodia fears Myanmar human rights spat may delay ASEM entry: minister

Phnom Penh: Cambodia fears that some Asian countries could derail its
efforts to join the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) as a result of the spat
surrounding Myanmar's proposed inclusion, it said Friday.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) wants its
newer members -- Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar -- to be included in the
biennial summit in return for the participation of 10 European countries,
which joined in May.

However, some EU members are opposed to Myanmar's entry unless the
military regime lifts restrictions on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
putting the next summit, slated for October, in jeopardy.

"I have told the European community that want it or not, we are being held
hostage to the Myanmar situation when it comes to entering ASEM," foreign
minister Hor Namhong told reporters.

He said that while European members have said they have no problem with
Cambodia and Laos entering the bloc, some Asian countries want to see all
three join at the same time.

"Unfortunately, some Asian countries -- I won't mention any particular
country -- want the three of us in jointly," he said, adding that he could
not confirm whether Cambodia would join October's summit in Hanoi if it
goes ahead.

Many western diplomats say the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National
League for Democracy party won a landslide 1990 election victory but was
never allowed to rule, is the key factor in ensuring ASEM goes ahead as
planned.

The last ASEM summit was held in Copenhagen in 2002 among the then EU 15
members together with China, Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN members
Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and
Brunei.

_____________________________________

June 11, Inter Press Service via Irrawaddy
Malaysian Caucus Leaves Burma with Limited Choice - Marwaan Macan-Markar

By expressing dissatisfaction with the slow pace of Burma’s democratic
reforms, a group of Malaysian parliamentarians have indicated that the
military regime could cause untold political damage to the international
reputation of the region.

The message from Kuala Lumpur to Rangoon this week gives the junta little
room to wriggle out of, since the Malaysian parliamentarians have faulted
the Burmese regime for failing to abide by both the international and
regional norms of human rights and democracy.

The parliamentarians are calling on Rangoon to “respect Asean [the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations] and international opinion and
return to the mainstream of responsible international norms and behavior,”
declared a statement released Tuesday.

The reference to Asean is with reason, since Burma is expected to assume
the chairmanship of this regional body in 2006.

“If Myanmar [Burma] has not changed by then, it could prove very
embarrassing for Asean, because its partners in the West would not attend
the Asean meeting,” said Asda Jayanama, a former Thai diplomat who served
in Burma.

“It could even result in the break up of Asean,” he added.

According to Sunai Phasuk, the Thai representative of the global rights
lobby Human Rights Watch, the message from Malaysia amounts to an open
acknowledgement that an unreformed Burma will be a “political liability
for the region.”

“Asean will run the risk of being branded as a collaborator of a pariah
state,” he explained during an interview.

What lends weight to the Malaysian appeal is the composition of the
lawmakers: they come from both the government and the opposition ranks.

The statement was the first of many measures expected to come from these
parliamentarians who formed a bi-partisan committee this week to campaign
for democracy in Burma.

This appeal comes shortly after Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi was reported to have told his visiting Burmese counterpart, Prime
Minister Gen Khin Nyunt, that “the future is democracy.”

Khin Nyunt’s visit to Malaysia on June 1 was the first he took to a
neighboring country since Burma began its National Convention, to draft a
new constitution for the country.

This political exercise, which got under way May 17, is being bandied by
the junta as a key feature towards political reform in the country. Over
1,000 delegates chosen by the military government are involved. But the
constitutional convention has been deprived of credibility from its
inception, since the junta refused to revoke a law that prohibits
individual delegates or political parties from criticizing the
convention’s format.

The junta also denies participants the freedom to conceive a constitution
that is an alternative to the one drafted by the military.

The violators of Order 5/96, which includes other harsh restrictions,
could face prison terms up to 20 years.

Further, the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, or
NLD, is boycotting the event, since its leader, Nobel Peace laureate Aung
Saan Suu Kyi is under house arrest along with other members of her party.

Suu Kyi’s arrest and the hundreds of political prisoners in Burma have not
been lost on the Malaysian parliamentarians either, since they urged the
junta to release all political prisoners.

Such a rebuke from Malaysia towards a regional neighbor comes almost a
year after former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad lashed out at
Rangoon’s oppressive policies at last July’s Asean summit meeting in
Indonesia.

Mahathir, who was the most senior government leader of Asean at that time,
even threatened Burma with expulsion from the regional body if it failed
to release Suu Kyi, who was arrested after she and her party members were
attacked by gangs linked to the junta on May 30.

“Mahathir’s criticism and the one made this week stem from the sense of
moral obligation Malaysia feels to bring about change in Burma, because it
was Malaysia that took the lead to invite Burma to join Asean,” said
Asada, the Thai diplomat.

And following Burma’s entry in 1997, Mahathir took on an added role to
shield the Burmese regime from criticism over its notorious human rights
record. That was achieved by the Malaysian leader describing Burma’s
problems as an internal affair, which foreigners should keep out of.

Thereafter, Asean talked of “constructive engagement” polices and
“enhanced interaction” as ways it was pursuing to push the junta towards
political reform.

Malaysia’s level of engagement acquired another characteristic following
the appointment of a former Malaysian diplomat, Razali Ismail, as a
special envoy of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to initiate political
change in Burma.

“Burma’s military leaders have regarded their relationship with Malaysia
very seriously,” said Soe Aung, director of external affairs for the
Network for Democracy and Development, a group made up of Burmese
political exiles.

“That was reflected in the choice of countries Khin Nyunt visited after
the National Convention began,'' said Soe Aung.

_____________________________________

June 11, Nation
Working to put Asem back on the radar - Jeerawat Na Thalang

Hanoi: There are no signs advertising Asem (Asia-Europe Meeting) in
evidence on the streets of Hanoi, nor are there any banners on the
flyovers raising awareness of what promises to be the biggest gathering of
Asian and Europeans leaders ever. The event is to take place in October in
Vietnam's capital city. Nonetheless, the Vietnamese government has already
got down to the serious business of hosting the fifth Asem leadership
meeting.

Hanoi has planned a series of spectacular events to showcase its success
in partially transforming its economy from being centrally planned to
market-oriented, and to support its campaign to become a member of the
World Trade Organisation.

A budget of 200 billion dong (Bt515 million) has been earmarked for the
event, which will bring together Asian and European leaders, including
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and French President Jacques
Chirac. Hanoi will import 300 vehicles to put at the world leaders'
service. A number of government sites have been upgraded to serve as Asem
venues.

'Asem V is a significant political event,' said Nguyen Dang Quang, chief
executive of the Asem 5 Secretariat under the Vietnamese ministry of
foreign affairs. 'Especially this year, the meeting will be held in the
context of a changing world.'

Designed to counter-balance the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum
(Apec), which groups the countries around the Pacific Ocean, Asem consists
of 15 European and 10 Asian countries. The grouping has somehow lost its
lustre in recent years, partly because of the informal nature of its
meetings. While Apec is principally focused on improving economic
cooperation among member countries, Asem leaders can discuss virtually any
topic. Previous Asem meetings have been overshadowed by world events such
as the East Timor conflict, the Asian financial crisis and the war on
terrorism.

This year, the question of adding new Asem members could become a serious
political issue, as some EU countries, including the UK, Denmark and
Sweden, have blocked the Asian side from nominating Burma to join the
club.

This comes at a time when the European Union is welcoming 10 new members
to its grouping.

'We wish to sort out this enlargement before October. Otherwise, the
question of enlargement will take the whole meeting hostage,' said Quang.

But even though Asia and Europe are still far apart on the issue of new
members, Vietnam has shown that it is determined to have the meeting
attract more international trade and investment to the country.

The numerous small shops that have sprouted up along the alleyways of
Hanoi are a testament to last year's buoyant economic growth rate of 7.3
per cent. Many of the new shops carry international goods, including
brand-name European cosmetics, Swiss watches and Japanese motorcycles. Le
Dzung, director of the foreign ministry's press and information
department, said the government expects to see 8-per-cent growth by the
end of this year.

Hanoi, meanwhile, wants to join the World Trade Organisation by January 1
of next year. Officials have been busy working on this issue, but there is
still much to be done. Asked when Vietnam would achieve its ambition, Tran
Quoc Khanh, director of the multilateral policy department of the
department of trade, said: 'It's a long and winding road.'

On the domestic front, Hanoi raised public awareness by organising an Asem
V logo contest, which rewarded the winner with 10 million dong,

The winning logo, selected from among more than 100 candidates, features
blue, symbolising the EU, yellow for Asia and red for the revitalisation
of the Asem organisation, according to Pham Xuan Sinh, director of the
international relations department under the ministry of culture and
information.

With its wide-ranging agenda, Asem can highlight issues such as cultural
heritage and the promotion of traditional medicines, Quang said.

>From now through October, Hanoi will hold a series of exhibitions and
activities highlighting both Asia and Europe, among them a cultural
diversity seminar, a photography exhibition, a film festival, a
national-costumes fashion show, art exhibitions and a spectacular open-air
concert featuring pop artists from both Asia and Europe.

'We want to emphasise social aspects and culture to make Asem more
connected to the people,' said Sinh.