BurmaNet News, May 5-7, 2007

[Editor]

May 5-7, 2007 Issue # 3198


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: People in new Burmese satellite towns said surviving on rice gruel
Independent Mon News Agency: Junta to build new base for air defence
AFP: Four killed in Myanmar floods
Xinhua: Myanmar commits to building more hydropower plants
Voice of America: Doctors say Aung San Suu Kyi in good health
Khonumthung News: First Chin military official to head Chin state

ON THE BORDER
AFP: India begins restoring WWII road to Myanmar, China

BUSINESS / TRADE
Press Trust of India: Myanmar to set up fisheries zone to cater to
Bangladesh demand

REGIONAL
AFP: Malaysia urges Myanmar junta to free Aung San Suu Kyi

INTERNATIONAL
AP: Revised immigration rules could mean admitting foreign terrorists as
U.S. refugees

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 5, Democratic Voice of Burma
People in new Burmese satellite towns said surviving on rice gruel

Dear listeners, we have learned that people in many new satellite towns,
including Hlaing Thaya, have resorted to eating rice gruel because they
cannot afford to purchase rice, and here is a report filed by Democratic
Voice of Burma (DVB) correspondent Ko Htet Yarzar:

[Begin recording] [DVB] Small huts with jute bag serving as walls and
thatched roofs packed the Hlaing Thaya Industrial Zone, where mills and
factories - the pride of the military regime - are located.

People living in these huts are odd job workers and they do not earn
enough. A bottle of rice gruel, which cost 100 kyats, is shared among
family members or a piece of Bein Moke [pancake made of rice flour and
jaggery] constitutes the daily meals for some of these people.

A housewife who survives on rice gruel had this to say to the DVB:

[Unidentified female] It is very difficult to afford anything with what we
earn. Since a pyi [eight condensed milk tins] of rice costs 800 to 900
kyats we cannot afford to eat it. We can only afford rice gruel. We have
rice gruel about three or four times every week. My health is poor, so
also is my family. It is because of lack of nutritious food.

[DVB] A resident of Hlaing Thaya also said that he not only consumes rice
gruel, but also had to eat a piece Bein Moke on some days to ease his
hunger.

[Unidentified male] A bottle of rice gruel costs 100 kyats. The ones we
buy come in brown bottles. There are many days that we had to go by with
just Bein Moke.

[DVB] A vendor who sells rice gruel says the number of people buying rice
gruel has increased and the price of a bottle of gruel has risen from 50
to 100 kyats.

[Unidentified female] Previously, a bottle costs only 50 kyats, then it
rose to 70, then 100 kyats. The current price is 100 kyats.

[DVB] According to the local residents, there are many people in new
satellite towns like Shwepyitha and Taung Dagon as well as in Dala on the
other bank of Rangoon, who are consuming rice gruel. [End recording]

That was a report by Ko Htet Yarzar about many people surviving on rice
gruel.

____________________________________

May 7, Independent Mon News Agency
Junta to build new base for air defence

The Burmese military regime has measured an area for a new base for the
Burmese Air Force on the motor road along Thanpyuzayart-Three Pagoda Pass.

"The junta has named it the Lay Kyaung Yan Kar Kwae Yay Tart, meaning
battalion for defence from international air attack," said a lawyer.

A Burmese military officer measured the land for the base spread over 200
acres near Zee Hna Pin about 15 miles east of Thanpyuzayart town.

A New Mon State Party (NMSP) officer said this is the first time that the
Burmese military government has formed a new air force attack-defence
base.

Following the measurement, local land owners are scared of their land
being confiscated and some land owners including lawyers and government
employees are afraid of not receiving any compensation for the land
seized.

According to a government employee in the area, it is believed that the
government will pay compensation this time.

The land where the new base will come up is owned by government employees
and the land was granted by the government when Major General Sit Maung
was at the helm of the Military Southeast Region Command.

____________________________________

May 6, Agence France Presse
Four killed in Myanmar floods

Yangon: Four people have been killed after floods caused by the heaviest
rain in decades inundated Myanmar's largest city and submerged a number of
homes, state-run media and residents said Sunday.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper said that four people in one Yangon
home suffocated in a fire after floods caused a short circuit. Residents
confirmed that the four family members had died in the accident.

Another woman was injured when she stepped on a power line that was downed
by the extreme weather and was electrocuted, the paper said.

Across the city, walls collapsed and trees toppled over in the worst rain
in decades, and "some houses in the townships were submerged by the
floods," the newspaper reported.

Yangon, the commercial capital of military-run Myanmar, was hit by heavy
rain from Thursday evening to Saturday morning, with the paper reporting
two to three feet (600 to 900 millimetres) of water in some areas.
The semi-official Myanmar Times newspaper quoted a meteorology department
official blaming a tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal for the heavy
rain.

The paper said that a massive storm in Yangon that began late last week
brought 344 millimetres of rain to one district between Friday and
Saturday, the highest rainfall in 39 years.

Other townships also reported their highest levels of rainfall in decades,
but the meteorology department official said the tropical depression that
caused the storm was now on the move.

"It is moving northward but is not developing into a bigger storm," she
told the Myanmar Times.

____________________________________

May 7, Xinhua News Agency
Myanmar commits to building more hydropower plants

Yangon: Myanmar has been committed to building more hydropower plants in
an effort to increase electricity production to help meet the country's
pressing power demand.

In early April, Myanmar began implementation of a 7,110- megawatt (mw)
Tar-hsan hydropower project worth of 6 billion U.S. dollars. The contract
of the major Myanmar-Thai joint venture project on the Thanlwin River in
eastern Shan state is one of the two signed with Thai companies during the
past two years.

The Tar-hsan project, which can produce 35.446 billion kilowatt- hours
(kwh) a year, is implemented by the Myanmar Hydropower Implementation
Department of the Ministry of Electric Power and the MDX Group Co Ltd of
Thailand. The project also involves shares of Ratchaburi Co and
Chkarnchang Co of Thailand and China Gezhouba Water and Power Group Co
Ltd.

The other joint venture project is a 600-mw Hutgyi on the same river in
eastern Kayin state signed with the EGAT Public Company of Thailand. The
plant consists of a 600-mw turbine that can produce 3.82 billion kwh
yearly.

Electricity generated from the two plants will be mainly sold to Thailand
with the rest reserved for domestic use, according to the project
officials.

Of the two projects, the 6-billion-dollar Thai investment in the Tar-hsan
has sharply raised Myanmar's contracted foreign investment to 13.84
billion dollars, a record high in 2006 since 1988.

Not long after the Tar-hsan project started, Myanmar speeded up
implementation of some six other hydropower projects in Shan and Kachin
states.

According to the ministry, the six hydropower projects are Shweli-1 (600
mw) , Shweli-2 (460 mw), Shweli-3 (360 mw), Tarpein- 1 (240 mw), Tarpein-2
(168 mw) and Upper Thanlwin (2,400 mw).

Of the projects, the Shweli-1, which lies on the Shweli River in Namhkam,
northern Shan state, has been reportedly half- completed.

The Shweli-2 and Shweli-3 are located in Momeik, Shan state while the
Tarpein-1 and Tarpein-2 in Momauk, Kachin state and the Upper Thanlwin in
Kunlong, northern Shan state.

The Upper Thanlwin hydropower project is the one on which a memorandum of
understanding on the implementation was signed in early April between
Myanmar and the Farsighted Investment Group Co Ltd and Gold Water
Resources Ltd of China.

Besides, the China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) is also reportedly
to build seven hydropower projects for Myanmar on the confluence of
Ayeyawaddy river and Maykha and Malikha rivers in Kachin state with a
combined capacity of 13,360 mw.

The seven hydropower projects are those respectively on Ayeyawaddy
confluence ( 3,600 mw), in Chibwe (2,000 mw), in Pashe (1,600 mw), in
Lakin (1,400 mw), in Phizaw (1,500 mw), in Khaunglanphu (1,700 mw) and in
Laiza (1,560 mw).

Myanmar is currently building over a dozen other hydropower projects in
its Mandalay, Bago, Shan, Kayin and Rakhine divisions and states. They
include Yeywa (790 mw), Kunchaung (60 mw), Pyuchaung (40 mw), Khabaung (30
mw), Shwegyin (75 mw), Kengtawng ( 54 mw) and Thahtay (102 mw), according
to the ministry.

Plans are underway to build more hydropower plants which include Kawgata
(160 mw), Bilin (280 mw), Hatkyi (600 mw), Shwesayay (660 mw), Manipura
(380 mw), Tanintharyi (600 mw) and Maykha (800 mw).

According to official statistics, Myanmar had a total of over 1, 775 mw of
installed generating capacity of electric power as of September 2006, up
from 706.82 mw in 1988 when there were only 24 power plants in the
country, of which 14 were hydropower ones.

After 1988, Myanmar has so far built 39 new power plants, of which 30 are
hydropower ones.

The statistics also show that Myanmar's electric power generation was
registered at 6.014 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) in 2005-06, up from 2.2
billion units in 1988-89. The power generation for the first half
(April-September) of 2006-07 was 3. 153 billion kwh.

____________________________________

May 7, Khonumthung News
First Chin military official to head Chin state

For the first time a Chin army official has been promoted to the post of
tactical commander and head of the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) of Chin state. He is the first Chin ethnic military official to
hold this rank and position. The decision was taken by the military regime
In Naypidaw, the new capital of Myanmar in February.

Major General Hueng Ngai, a Chin national from Mindat Township, Chin
state, took over from Colonel Tin Hla, the former tactical commander and
head of State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) of Chin state, said a
local in Hakha, a capital of Chin state.
The promotion of Major General Hueng Ngai seems to have a link with
Naypidaw's future nominee for Chin Affairs Minister. The SPDC is also
preparing to hold a general election after its national convention in
keeping with the military junta's seven-step road map to democracy in
Myanmar.

"It won't be any different for us because of his being a Chin general. We
will have to carry out our duties as ordered from above. The surprise is a
Chin being asked to head Chin state," a local said.

Hueng Ngai is the second army official from Chin ethnicity to be promoted
to the rank of Major General after Major General Taung Za Khai in the era
of Burma Socialist Programme party (BSPP) led by U Newin, a former ruler
of Myanmar.

Being a Buddhist is another reason for Major General Hueng Ngai, to be
promoted in the military hierarchy, according to sources in Chin state.

Military personnel from among Christian minorities are hardly promoted to
higher ranks in Myanmar where the majority is Buddhist.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 6, Agence France Presse
India begins restoring WWII road to Myanmar, China - Zarir Hussain

Guwahati: India has started rebuilding a stretch of an historic road
linking its remote northeast to southwest China amid hopes the route can
be reopened to boost trade, officials said.

The 1,726-km (1,079-mile) Stilwell Road connects India's northeastern
state of Assam to Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan
Province, after cutting through Myanmar.

"Talks are on at various levels between governments of the three countries
to speed up re-opening the Stilwell Road," Tarun Gogoi, the chief minister
of Assam state, told AFP, without giving further details.

China's official news agency Xinhua reported last month that a ceremony
was held in Myanmar to celebrate the rebuilding of the Myanmar leg of the
road in Kambaiti on the China-Myanmar border.

The segment of the Stilwell Road in China's Yunnan Province now is part of
the country's national highway network, Xinhua said.

Named after American General Joseph Stilwell, who led its construction,
Stilwell Road was a vital lifeline for the movement of Allied Forces
during World War II as they battled to free China from Japanese
occupation.

Chinese labourers, Indian soldiers and American engineers took three years
to build the road.

"We are widening and developing the Stilwell Road on the Indian side,"
Assam Industries Minister Pradyut Bordoloi said, adding the work would be
completed in four to six months.

"From our side we would be ready and it now all depends on the three
countries agreeing to reopen the road," the minister said.

India, which is keen to extend its influence in neighbouring Myanmar to
counter China's growing presence in the gas-rich nation, views the
reopening of the road as a key to economic development in its landlocked
northeast.

"This would be a dream come true for the people of the northeast, which in
turn would boost trade and commerce significantly," Gogoi said.

The Stilwell Road on the Indian side is 61 kilometres (28 miles) long. The
major stretch of 1,033 kilometres (646 miles) lies within Myanmar, while
632 kilometres (395 miles) of the road are in China.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said his government is keen to further
the country's "Look East Policy" aimed at allowing border trade with
neighbouring Asian nations.

"Our region would then have the potential to become the hub of business
activities and the gateway to South Asian economic centres," Okram Ibobi
Singh, the chief minister of remote Manipur state, said by telephone.

Northeast leaders say the underdeveloped region, racked by bloody
insurgencies, is much closer to southeast Asian capitals than it is to
India's capital New Delhi or financial hub Mumbai.

Some 4,750 kilometers of the northeast region's 5,000-kilometer
(3,100-mile) perimeter are part of international boundaries with China,
Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

There is strong demand for Indian automobile components, fruits, grains,
vegetables, textiles and cotton yarn in most neighbouring countries.

On the other hand, Indian traders are keen on importing electronic
gadgets, synthetic blankets, teak, gold and semi-precious stones.

Last year, India and China put frosty ties behind them to revive direct
trade through a famed Silk Road route.

Trade between the Asian giants, both among the world's fastest growing
economies, has expanded quickly in recent years.

____________________________________

May 7, Voice of America
Doctors say Aung San Suu Kyi in good health

Officials in Myanmar (Burma) say detained democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi is in good health after her doctor and an eye specialist visited her
for a routine check-up.

The two doctors saw her on Thursday, and said she was in good condition.
Further details were not disclosed.

She is allowed virtually no contact with the outside world, except for
visits from her doctors. The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate has spent most of
the past 17 years under house arrest.

Burma has been ruled by the military since 1962. Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in 1990 elections,
but the military never allowed it to take office.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

May 6, The Press Trust of India
Myanmar to set up fisheries zone to cater to Bangladesh demand

Dhaka: Myanmar is keen to set up a Special Economic Zone for fisheries
products in its frontier Rakhine state to cater to Bangladesh.

Yangon would invite Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to invest in the SEZ or
enter into contract farming with their Myanmar counterparts, a report in
BD news24 said, quoting fisheries department officials.

The report came a week after the interim government in Bangladesh signed a
crucial treaty with Myanmar on a direct road link that would also connect
the South Asian country with its other Southeast Asian neighbours,
including China.

According to the deal signed in Yangon yesterday, a 25-kilometre long road
from Ghungdhum in southeastern Cox's Bazaar to Baulibazar in Myanmar will
be constructed with the help of Bangladesh government.

The proposed road link aims at boosting trade and tourism between the two
countries with Dhaka expecting the trans-border road to connect it with
China and Thailand.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

May 6, Agence France Presse
Malaysia urges Myanmar junta to free Aung San Suu Kyi - M. Jegathesan

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia on Sunday urged Myanmar to free democracy icon Aung
San Suu Kyi, three weeks before her latest term of house arrest comes up
for review.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told AFP the military regime should
release the 61-year-old Nobel Peace Prize in the interests of national
reconciliation.

"Our position has not changed. They (military junta) should not continue
with her detention," he said.
"We think since they are continuing with the process of political
reconciliation, it is better that they release her rather than to continue
holding her."

Aung San Suu Kyi's latest term of house arrest is up for review on May 27.

Meanwhile, Southeast Asian lawmakers described her continuing detention as
"very cruel" and urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
to suspend trade and economic ties with fellow member Myanmar.

"The punishment imposed is very cruel. It is about time the military
regime shows some consideration for her welfare," Zaid Ibrahim, chairman
of the ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, told AFP.

"I hope the military junta will adhere to the views of ASEAN," he added.

Lawmakers from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand are members of the caucus formed in 2004 to push for democratic
reforms in Myanmar.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest at her lakeside home in
Yangon for most of the past 17 years.

Her latest period in detention began after a May 2003 attack on her convoy
by a junta-backed militia in the country's central region.

She was thrown into prison after the assault but, following an operation
four months later, was allowed to return home -- again under house arrest.

Calling for the Nobel peace laureate's immediate release, Zaid said it was
clear that the governments of Southeast Asia were unable to secure her
freedom.

"Obviously, ASEAN is quite helpless. It seems to me that their appeals are
ignored by the junta," he said.

Zaid urged ASEAN, especially members with close economic ties with
Mynamar, to press its military leaders to listen to their appeals.

"Perhaps they should be more assertive. There are a number of things they
can do. One example is they have a lot of business relations with Myanmar.
Can't ASEAN say we will suspend or slow down the ties?" he said.

Malaysia, a leading investor in the resource-rich country, had previously
signalled the region was frustrated with Myanmar, saying the military
regime had snubbed efforts to push for democracy.

Syed Hamid travelled to Yangon last March as an ASEAN envoy to check on
its claims that it was shifting towards democracy, but he was denied
access to Aung San Suu Kyi.

Asked if Malaysia or ASEAN made any direct appeals recently to Myanmar to
free Aung San Suu Kyi, Syed Hamid said: "We have made our position clear
and repeatedly urged Myanmar authorities to free her. This is a common
ASEAN position."

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.

The junta has launched a reform road map but critics have dismissed the
process as a sham because it does not include Aung San Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy, which won 1990 elections but was never allowed to
rule.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 6, Associated Press
Revised immigration rules could mean admitting foreign terrorists as U.S.
refugees - Matthew Lee

Washington: Today's foreign terrorists could become tomorrow's U.S.
refugees if the Bush administration gets its way.

The intent is to grant refugee status to rebels who have fought repressive
governments or advanced U.S. foreign policy objectives, particularly in
Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.

But proposed changes to immigration rules also could cover U.S. enemies
such as al-Qaida members and fighters for Hamas and Hezbollah.

To some U.S. lawmakers, the revisions under consideration by the Bush
administration are too broad and potentially dangerous.

Officials say the changes are meant to reverse the unintended consequences
of post-Sept. 11 restrictions that have kept thousands of otherwise
eligible people from a haven in the United States.

The Bush administration wants the authority to waive those restrictions so
it has as much flexibility as possible in deciding who can and cannot
enter the country.

Under current law, virtually all armed nongovernmental groups are
classified as terrorist organizations and the U.S. is prohibited from
accepting their members and combatants as refugees.

There is limited ability to grant waivers to supporters of those groups
who can prove they were forced to provide assistance. But more than 10,000
people have been barred. That includes many from Burma, Laos and Vietnam,
including some of whom fought alongside U.S. forces in Vietnam.

Last year, the government planned to accept 56,000 refugees; the actual
number was 12,000 less, primarily due to the restrictions.

In addition, about 5,000 people already in the United States as refugees
have been blocked from seeking U.S. citizenship because of the rules. Some
600 people asking for political asylum have had their cases put on hold.

"This has had a devastating impact on the admission of refugees and asylum
seekers," said Jennifer Daskal, U.S. advocacy director for Human Rights
Watch, which supports the proposed changes.

Amendments to the Immigration and Naturalization Act would permit the
government to waive the rules for active members and fighters of terrorist
groups on a case-by-case basis.

They would cover any foreigner who has engaged in terrorist activity, said
Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman.

"This amendment thus provides the executive branch with the authority to
admit aliens who have engaged in armed action against oppressive regimes
or in furtherance of U.S. foreign policy or both," he said.

Lawmakers, however, are skeptical of the need for such expansive changes.

"The provision in this bill would extend the waiver authority in current
law to groups that are definitely not friends of the United States," said
Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, who is leading an effort to revise the amendment.

"I do not think that there is a single member of this body who believes
that any member of al-Qaida, Hamas or Hezbollah should ever be considered
for admission to this country," he said.

Acting on behalf of a bipartisan group, Kyl in late March blocked the
amendment from appearing in the Iraq war spending bill that President
George W. Bush vetoed on Tuesday.

Kyl's office is working on wording that would cut out what he called the
bill's "excesses."

A new version, giving the executive more limited waiver authority, could
be ready as early as this week, according to aides.

The State Department and advocacy groups see no reason for concern, saying
that members of al-Qaida, Hamas or Hezbollah never would benefit.

"It is hard to envision what would be the compelling reason to even
consider exercising this authority on behalf a member of one of those
terrorist organizations," Gallegos said.
Daskal agreed.

"The fear of this opening the floodgates to al-Qaida and Taliban members
is completely ridiculous," she said.

The real problem, she said, is the scope of the post-Sept. 11 rules that
have kept out legitimate refugees whom the U.S. normally would have
accepted.

Among those whom the changes are intended to help are members of Burmese
rebel groups such as the Karen National Union and Chin National Front;
hill tribes in Vietnam and Laos; the now-defunct, anti-Castro Cuban Alzado
insurgency; Ethiopia's Oromo Liberation Front; and southern Sudan's
ex-rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement.

Without the broad language covering all terrorist groups, supporters of
the changes fear that former child soldiers, who may have been forced to
fight, never would become eligible for admission to the U.S. Nor would
medics or nurses who treated terrorists.

Some believe that members of terrorist groups, including al-Qaida, who
were coerced into violence should not automatically be denied entry.

"We feel strongly that some of these people take these actions under
duress," said Dawn Calabia of Refugees International.

"It is a legitimate concern that you don't want to aid and abet
terrorists, but on the other hand, some of these people being barred are
not terrorists," she said.