BurmaNet News, April 13, 2006

[Editor]

April 13, 2006 Issue # 2940

INSIDE BURMA
Xinhua: Yangon celebrates first water festival since capital move
Narinjara: General Than Shwe to celebrate Thyangyan in Arakan
DVB: The appeal for Burmese lawyer farmer rejected by Pegu Court
DVB: Burma’s Energy Ministry confiscates paddy fields from farmers for oil
exploration

ON THE BORDER
Kaladan: Rohingya couple jailed for seven years for marrying without
permission

BUSINESS / TRADE
The Korea Herald: Korean firms to mine copper in Myanmar
Narinjara: Over 30 million Kyat saved by battalion
Khonumthung: Castor oil plantation project a problem for the people

ASEAN
Mizzima: ASEAN should take tough stance on Burma: AIPMC

PRESS RELEASE
AIPMC Secretariat: Statement of AIPMC on the visit of Asean special envoy
and Malaysian foreign minister Dato’ Seri Syed Hamid Albar to Burma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 13, Xinhua General News Service
Yangon celebrates first water festival since capital move

Yangon residents started on Thursday to celebrate Myanmar's Thingyan
traditional water festival for the first time since the administrative
capital moved to Naypyidaw city outside Pyinmana in November last year.

With a few dozens of beautiful young girls in colorful dresses performing
traditional dances, the open-air Yangon Mayor's water- throwing pandal,
which is the central and the biggest one in the city, was inaugurated in
the evening with a speech by Mayor Brigadier-General Aung Thein Lin
greeting the fall of the new Myanmar calendar year.

The festive atmosphere in Yangon city this year, however, is much lower
than the past years in terms of the number of people participating and the
number of water throwing pandals and entertainment stages erected.

Observers attribute the sharp drop by two-thirds of such numbers to the
move of government ministries to the new capital. In the past, almost each
ministry set up its own water throwing pandal and a large number of
private companies erected theirs to hold the festival in one way as a
means of advertising their products.

Another reason was that almost all top artistes in the country including
those in Yangon traveled to and gathered in the second largest city of
Mandalay in the northern part to stage performances. Mandalay has been
traditionally known as the most crowded city with festive revelers
especially on the occasion of the water festival.

Apart from the mayor's water throwing pandal in Yangon, other outstanding
private pandals set up include those of the famous Bo Gyoke Aung San
Market with the Nightingale Music Band staging live show, Myanmar Beer,
Tiger Beer, Myanmar Whisky, Petronas Oil Company of Malaysia, Euro
Continent, Air Bagan, Sedona Hotel, Great Wall Shan Yoma Ointment, Tun
Electric and Valiant Cigarette among others.

Competitions of songs and dances were also staged in some pandals with
prize money arranged to be presented on the last day of the four-day
festival.

A rare scene that will draw people's attention is that the French Embassy
will sponsor similar water festival activities on Friday, the second day
of the festival, with French language Myanmar learners and artists to give
performances on the occasion.

As in the past years, this year's Myanmar water festival in Yangon city
maintained with a civilized manner with polite approach by people in water
throwing in response to the call by the authorities to prevent undesirable
accidents out of drink and quarrel.

Meanwhile, reports reaching here that the water festival in Naypyidaw city
is held with special characteristics as the city was first named as the
new capital. Residents in the new capital and areas nearby do not need to
travel upwards to Mandalay or downwards to Yangon to join the festival but
to stay back there as people increased preparations of the festive
activities like in Yangon and Mandalay.

Other local reports said Myanmar's second largest city of Mandalay was
highlighted by similar activities taking place at the pandal of Mandalay
Mayor's Office at the south moat of the Royal Palace as well as dozens of
other private pandals along the canal of the palace where live shows and
performances were staged with a large number of top vocalists in the
country especially from Yangon.

Besides, procession of decorated floats in the evening has long been a
feature of the water festival in Mandalay, which stands the cultural
center of Myanmar and the business center in the north.

The festival will continue for three days after which the first day of the
new Myanmar calendar year will fall on next Monday when Myanmar people
will spend the new year day by doing deeds of merit such as washing heads
of elderly people with scented water and setting animals free such as bird
and fish.

It is acknowledged that among the 12 traditional seasonable festivals of
Myanmar, the water festival is the merriest one.

The water festival stands as the most popular, raucous and colorful
celebration of the year for more than 54 million people who are relaxing
themselves and giving up any thoughts of work.

In the olden days, Myanmar people used to sprinkle water gently with
leaves in one another as a traditional way of holding the festival, but it
has developed for a long time into a way that people are throwing water
and splashing with water-gun and even with plastic pipes being joined to
water pumps to create throwing force to increase pleasure.

Water is a symbol of cleanliness and auspiciousness. Myanmar people
believe that celebration of the water festival can wash away evils and
sins accumulated in the old days and prepare for the new one, bringing the
people into a happy new year.

____________________________________

April 13, Narinjara News
General Than Shwe to celebrate Thyangyan in Arakan

The head of the Burmese junta, Senior General Than Shwe, will visit Arakan
State with his family for Thyangyan, the Buddhist New Year Celebration
which kick off today. The visiting entourage will have to be welcomed with
an Arakanese ritual of drum beating that was employed by the Arakanese
kings in ancient times, says a member of the drum team that has been
instructed to prepare by the state's military authority.

"Senior General Than Shwe and his family visited Arakan State last year at
Thyangyan. They will come again this year as well. They will arrive in
Akyab on April 13. The first family will see the welcome of the Arakanese
auspicious drum beatings," says the drummer.

During last year's Thyangyan, the Burmese first family visited Akyab,
Mrauk U, Kyauk Taw, and other historically important places. At an ancient
pagoda in Mrauk U, they donated the umbrella to top the pagoda.

A person from Akyab said about the umbrella donation that, "We heard the
rumor that one the daughters of Than Shwe is the reincarnation of an
Arakanese princess. Even before he became the head of the state, the
daughter told the story of her being the former princess of Arakan, and
that she had built a pagoda in the former Arakanese capital. Hence, she
returned to Arakan to donate the umbrella at that pagoda. They are said to
be going back there again. Some Arakanese also believe that she is the
reincarnated Arakanese princess."

A source close to the security establishment in the state also said that
security in the northern cities of Arakan has been tightened, with troops
being heavily deployed on the streets. Military intelligence has been
keeping a close watch on those involved in the welcoming parties,
especially on the drum beating teams.

At the welcoming ceremony of the then Secretary I of the junta, General
Khin Nyunt, in 2000, the drum beating teams played not the auspicious
tune, but the death tune. For this offense, the leader of the drum team,
Kyaw Zan Maung, was sentenced to a five year imprisonment. In order to
avoid such an incident again, the intelligence agents are keeping an eye
on the drum teams.

The beating of auspicious drums had been an important opening ritual of
royal ceremonies, such as coronations, of Arakanese kings.

____________________________________

April 13, Democratic Voice of Burma
The appeal for Burmese lawyer farmer rejected by Pegu Court

The appeal submitted on behalf of detained Burmese lawyer Aye Myint who
was accused of giving ‘wrong’ information to the International Labour
Organisation (ILO), was rejected by Pegu divisional court on 7 March after
it was also rejected by the district court.

Aye Myint’s lawyer San Maung told DVB that the appeal was rejected by a
woman judge named Khin Saw Nyunt who once sentenced Aye Myint to death.
The new appeal will be lodged at the High Court in Rangoon on 7 May.

San Maung said that he recently saw Aye Myint at the Pegu Prison where he
is being detained and that he was in good health and allowed to receive
religious and legal books but barred from reading a Newsweek Magazine as
it contained political matters.

“Mentally, his health is also good. He is very hopeful about his case,”
added San Maung. He added that ILO official in Rangoon, Richard Horsey ahs
also been working hard for the Aye Myint’s release and the latter is said
to be very encouraged by it.

Aye Myint was arrested and imprisoned for helping the farmers of nearby
Daik-U Townships’ Phaungdawthi Village report the confiscation of their
grazing lands by military authorities for their own benefits.

____________________________________

April 12, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma’s Energy Ministry confiscates paddy fields from farmers for oil
exploration

The authority of Ma-U-Pin Township in Burma’s Irrawaddy Division and the
Energy Ministry of the ruling junta, the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC), jointly confiscated paddy fields from farmers for oil
exploration without giving any compensation to their owners.

As the confiscation occurred at the time of harvests, the farmers are
facing untold difficulties and certain ruins, and they are given neither
compensations nor new paddy fields to work and make a living on.

A local farmer told DVB that the oil exploration was named Thabyeseik Oil
Exploration and more than 20 acres of paddy fields were confiscated from
the farmers who are facing untold miseries and difficulties.

As those who make a living on paddy fields are unable to work anymore,
there are many difficulties there. Now we can’t grow beans. The rice yield
is not good. Therefore, we are facing many difficulties. As we are given
no compensations, we have so many difficulties.

We contacted the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) of the Ministry of
Energy for comments on the matter, but no reply was forthcoming.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 13, Kaladan News
Rohingya couple jailed for seven years for marrying without permission

Maungdaw, Burma: In continuance of the Burmese military regime’s gross
violation of human rights a Rohingya couple were sentenced to seven years
in prison by the Nasaka (Burmese Border Security Force) for marrying
without permission from the authorities in northern Arakan, reports our
correspondent.

The couple, Azizul Hoque (25), son of Nurul Islam and Sawkina Begum (22),
hail form Inn Din Village-tract in Maungdaw Township.

The couple’s parents applied to the authorities for a marriage permit
three years ago. But, there was no response from the authorities. So,
their son and daughter had marred in April 2005.

The Nasaka arrested them on charges of getting married without permission
and then sentenced them to seven years in jail each on April 3, 2006. The
bride Sakina Begum is pregnant with her first child, according to a
neighbour of the groom.

Moreover, on April 2, 2006, Moulvi Niyamat Ullah, (22) son of Mohammed
Khasim, hailing from Inn Din Village-tract, applied to the authorities for
permission to marry. Nasaka summoned him to the camp for interrogation.
When he went to the camp, Nasaka saw he was bearded and ordered him to
shave. He refused and he was detained then and there and was forced into
hard labour in the camp for one week.

Eventually, he was set free after he gave Kyat 1,25,000 and six gallons of
kerosene as fine, said a local elder.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 13, The Korea Herald
Korean firms to mine copper in Myanmar

A consortium of Korean companies is pushing to participate in a Canadian
company's copper mine development project in Myanmar.

Korea Resources Corp. said it and two other Korean companies - Taihan
Electric Wire Co. and Daewoo International Corp. - signed a preliminary
agreement in January with Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. to jointly develop a copper
mine in Monywa, central Myanmar.

Korea Resources said the Korean consortium plans to buy a 25 percent stake
- 10 percent for the state mining firm and 7.5 percent each for Taihan and
Daewoo - in the copper mine for $120 million.

A formal contract is likely to be inked in July after a due diligence,
Korea Resources said. About 10,000 tons of copper will be shipped to Korea
each year once the mine begins production. The Monywa mine is estimated to
contain 1.45 billion tons of copper.

____________________________________

April 13, Narinjara News
Over 30 million Kyat saved by battalion

Infantry Battalion 34, based in Kyauk Pru, Arakan State, has saved more
than 30 million kyat in its battalion fund at Myanmar Holdings Bank, Ltd.

According to sources inside the bank, the battalion has 35,260,000 kyat in
its saving account as of March, 2006.

The battalion is said to have over 40 million in cash savings, but only 35
million of that is held in the bank.

Such savings are in line with the directive of the Central Command in
Rangoon, which ordered each battalion to reserve some cash in the bank.
Thus, most battalions have managed to build savings in the order of
millions.

In the current military climate, it is not military or organizational
skills which will bring an officer promotion, but their ability to bring
in money. Many senior officers are therefore concentrating on making money
rather than other military duties.

In this bid to build savings, many private business are being pushed aside
or taken over by military officers in the name of the battalion's
interest, says a primary teacher in Akyab.

____________________________________

April 12, Khonumthung News
Castor oil plantation project a problem for the people

The military regime’s Castor oil plantation project is creating a major
problem for the people in North-western Burma. The military government’s
insistence that people be involved in such plantations will give them no
time to eke out their livelihood.

Reports received indicate that the people and government servants have
been ordered to collect the bio diesel producing six inches high Castor
oil plant. Colonel Tin Hlah issued the order, according to sources.

Each household has been ordered to find 1,200 Castor oil plants. Failure
to comply with the order will result in buying four kilograms of the
plant's seed from the army. A kilogram of the seed costs 1,000 kyats, a
villager told Khonumthung on the Indo-Burma border.

"Skills related to Castor oil plantation has been taught in public
meetings," says a villager from Thantlang Township. Colonel San Aung also
ordered the planting of castro oil in old jhum areas in southern Chin
state.

The villagers have been directed to plant Castor oil over a two-acre area
in Rizua township, said a villager.  About 1,000 plants are to be planted
over the two-acre area. The authorities in southern Chin state have not
fixed the cost of the seeds and Castor oil plants in nurseries.

The government servants including United Solidarity Development
Association (USDA) of Rizua and the people of Indo-Burma border area have
to buy the seeds from the military authorities as Castor oil plants found
in the forests will not be sufficient to fulfill the demand of the
military regime.

"Castor oil plantation will take up all the time and there will be no time
left for other work needed to be done for subsistence. Castor oil has to
be planted alongside the road, where the authorities can see. Yet the
fertility of the soil for the plantation has not been tested. The project
will not succeed," said a villager in Rizua.

SPDC authorities have stated that the Castor oil plantation project will
not benefit the authority but the people of Chin state.

The military regime had once started a project called "Chin state as Tea
state" which was a complete failure. The authorities initiated the
bio-diesel producing Castor oil plantation project again in 2006.

____________________________________
ASEAN

April 13, Mizzima News
ASEAN should take tough stance on Burma: AIPMC - Mungpi

Southeast Asian parliamentarians urged ASEAN today to take a tougher
stance on Burma and increase pressure on the military to accept the
National League for Democracy’s latest negotiation offer.

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus said in a statement today
ASEAN should, “Push Burma’s generals to consider the NLD's proposal as
part of the military government’s efforts to create democratic reforms in
the country”.

The NLD urged the military to convene the people’s parliament of
representatives from the 1990 election in return for the party’s
recognition of the military as Burma’s government de jure on Burma’s Union
day on February 12.

The NLD set April 7 as the deadline for the military to accept the offer.
The junta has yet to respond.

AIPMC also urged ASEAN to take a much stronger stand in the wake of the
disappointing visit to Burma of Malaysian foreign minister Syed Hamid
Albar as a special ASEAN envoy.

“Although the much-awaited ‘fact finding’ visit achieved nothing tangible,
the AIPMC hopes that the ASEAN will not shy away from bringing about
political and economic reforms just because it appears difficult,” the
statement said.

In December last year, ASEAN appointed Syed Hamid Albar to travel to Burma
to check on the country’s progress towards democracy. The junta delayed
the visit several times and when it did take place Syed Hamid Albar was
not allowed to meet detained NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Syed Hamid Albar is due to brief ASEAN on the visit at a ministerial
meeting in Bali on April 17.

“Asean may have been able to avoid difficult situations in the past, but
the stakes are so much higher in today's interrelated world,” said AIPMC
vice-president and Indonesian parliamentarian Nursyahbani Katjasungkana.

“The relevance of the entire organisation rests on how effectively it
deals with Burma,” Katjasungkana said.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

April 13, The AIPMC Secretariat
Statement of the Asean Inter-parliamentary Myanmar caucus (AIPMC) on the
visit of Asean special envoy and Malaysian foreign minister Dato’ Seri
Syed Hamid Albar to Burma

ASEAN should take a stronger stand against Burma’s military junta in the
wake of the disappointing visit last month of its special envoy, Malaysian
Foreign Minister Dato’ Seri Syed Hamid Albar, to Burma which failed to
bring the country and its long suffering people any closer to democratic
transition.

Although the much-awaited “fact finding” visit achieved nothing tangible,
the AIPMC hopes that ASEAN will not shy away from bringing about political
and economic reforms just because it appears difficult. It takes strong
political will and determined leadership to see through what ASEAN so
courageously started in December and we hope the organization will be able
to confound its critics by being resolute in tackling one of its most
pressing problems.

“ASEAN may have been able to avoid difficult situations in the past, but
the stakes are so much higher in today’s interrelated world. Now is not
the time for ASEAN to lose its nerve when dealing with Burma,” said AIPMC
vice-president and Indonesian parliamentarian Nursyahbani Katjasungkana.

“The relevance of the entire organization rests on how effectively it
deals with Burma. ASEAN must take into consideration international views
and policies on Burma, especially from organisations like the European
Union and the United Nations, that impact political and economical
relations member states have with such global partners,” she added.

That Syed Hamid was barred from meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, and members
of the National League for Democracy (NLD), may suggest that Burma’s
military regime, also known as the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), is adamant in clinging on to power. But its grip is more
precarious than it appears.

The hasty move last year of Burma’s capital city from Rangoon to a
half-completed bunker in central Burma, the apparent inability of the
regime to cope with the bird flu epidemic and the authorities’ dwindling
grip on the economy, undermines the SPDC’s defiant propaganda and displays
of strength.

“There is ample recent evidence that the regime is feeling far from
secure. Otherwise they would not be afraid to allow Aung San Suu Kyi to
receive visitors, including Syed Hamid last month,” emphasized AIPMC
member and Philippine legislator Congressman Mario Joyo Aguja.

“Now, more than ever, an ASEAN strategy of principled engagement backed by
international pressure is needed. If ASEAN is indecisive, it will not only
be Burma’s people who suffer. Regional security will continue to be
affected by a paranoid and unstable regime that is intent on flooding its
neighbours with drugs and refugees,” he added.

If isolation of Burma is not the solution for democratic reform, surely
meaningful reform cannot be initiated when the SPDC acts in remoteness.
That is why ASEAN has to insist that the NLD, along with other
pro-democracy parties that won the 1990 elections and ethnic nationality
leaders be an integral part in the long-term solution for Burma.

On February 12, the NLD issued a bold, innovative proposal to the SPDC for
a power-sharing transitional arrangement. This proposal has received the
support of the leaders from many of Burma’s ethnic groups as well as
political parties and organizations seeking democratic reform in Burma,
including the AIPMC.

The SPDC has so far not responded to this magnanimous offer to start the
process of reforms that will also see the military playing a role in the
future of Burma. In order to salvage the situation following Syed Hamid’s
fruitless visit to Rangoon, ASEAN will be wise to use any leverage
available to prove that is has the political will to ensure that Burma’s
generals fulfil their promises for reforms. This should include the
implementation of NLD’s power-sharing proposal. It is the most credible
and practical plan available.

AIPMC wishes to reiterate its strong support for the NLD proposal to
create a transitional body to implement true democratic reform in Burma
and a genuine program of national reconciliation.

AIPMC further urges ASEAN to push Burma’s generals to consider NLD’s
proposal as part of the military government’s efforts to create democratic
reforms in the country. ASEAN must be more actively involved in Burma’s
political developments if it chooses to continue allowing a military
dictatorship, which violently suppresses and isolates its own people, to
remain a member of its organisation.


Media coordinator: Roshan Jason, AIPMC Executive Secretary. (+6012-3750974)
ASEAN INTER-PARLIAMENTARY MYANMAR CAUCUS
(AIPMC)
c/- ZICO, Level 19 Menara Milenium,
Jalan Damanlela, Pusat Bandar Damansara,
50490, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: +60-3-2087 9999 ext 2533 Fax: +60-3-2094 4888
Web: ­www.aseanmp.org   Email: info at aseanmp.org