BurmaNet News, July 4-7, 2008

[Editor]

July 4-7, 2008 Issue #3505


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: NLD challenged to contest 2010 election
DPA: Cyclone Nargis leaves at least 400 orphans in Myanmar
Mizzima News: Security beefed up in Rangoon on July 7 Anniversary Day
Xinhua: U.N. sets up emergency telecommunication center in Myanmar
AHN: Boat sinking kills 38 in Myanmar
DVB: Some progress in cyclone relief but help still needed
AP: Court sentences Myanmar protesters to jail

ON THE BORDER
Narinjara News: Commodity prices on border increase after road block
Bangkok Post: Third of Burmese fail to return home

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Employment agencies hit with taxes
San Francisco Chronicle: Chevron's dilemma over its stake in Burma
Mizzima News: Aid groups face soaring rent prices

HEALTH / AIDS
Irrawaddy: Dengue fever outbreak feared

DRUGS
SHAN: Truck caught with drug chemicals released after bribe

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Bush urges Myanmar to free Suu Kyi

OPINION / OTHER
Washington Times: Burmese generals surfing the internet – Peter J. Brown
Irrawaddy: The UN must set the agenda – Editorial
DVB: Junta's information black-out – Tai Kyaw



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 7, Irrawaddy
NLD challenged to contest 2010 election – Saw Yan Naing

The Burmese opposition group, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was
challenged by the military government on Sunday to form a political party
to contest the 2010 national election and to forget the results of the
“illegal” 1990 election.

An article, “Goodbye 1990 Election Results,” published in the state-backed
New Light of Myanmar, said the landslide victory of the NLD in the 1990
general election is now “illegal,” because it “has been ditched by the
entire people [sic] who are desirous of the emergence of a new,
modern-developed democratic nation.”

“This being so, the NLD’d better join hands with the people and then stand
for the 2010 election in line with the laws instead of longing for the
result of the 1990 election,” the article said.

In the 1990 election, NLD candidates won 82 percent of the parliamentary
seats, but the results were not honored by the military government which
continued to retain power. Articles of a political nature that appear in
the newspaper are considered to have the approval of the military
government.

The government has officially said that 92.48 percent of people who cast
ballots in the constitutional referendum held in May voted “yes” for the
state-drafted constitution.

The NLD does not recognize the referendum results. Prior to the vote,
voicing opposition to the referendum process or the draft constitution was
declared illegal by the junta.

NLD party officials dismissed the article as junta-sanctioned propaganda.

Thein Nyunt, an NLD spokesperson who is also a lawyer, said, “Lawfully,
the results of the 1990 election cannot vanish. Politically, it [the
results] reflected the will of Burmese people. It insults the will of the
people to say the result is illegal.”
“An election is meant to reflect the future of the country,” he said. “The
authorities should have honored the election’s result.”

Aye Thar Aung, the chairman of the Arakan League for Democracy and
secretary of the Committee Representing the People's Parliament (CRPP) “We
can’t accept the ‘seven-step road map’ including the state constitution.
We also don’t agree with the coming election or the formation of political
parties.”

The CRPP was formed in September 1998 and includes the 1990-elected
parliament members and ethnic leaders in Burma.

“The junta can hold the election by force,” he said, “but it will not
really benefit the people.”

Aye Thar Aung said national reconciliation was needed between the
government, opposition groups and ethnic groups before conducting a
national election.

____________________________________

July 7, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Cyclone Nargis leaves at least 400 orphans in Myanmar

Two months after Cyclone Nargis smashed into Myanmar's central coast
leaving at least 138,000 dead or missing, the number of children still
searching for their parents exceeds 400, the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF) announced Monday.

"The most serious issue in child protection in the aftermath of the
cyclone is the problem of separated and unaccompanied children," said
UNICEF, one of a host of UN agencies and non-governmental organizations
that have participated in the Cyclone Nargis relief operation.

"There were 428 children separated from their parents by the cyclone, of
whom 15 have been reunited with their families," said UNICEF's
spokesperson Zafrin Chowdhury.

According to government figures Cyclone Nargis, which hit Myanmar on May
2-3, killed more than 84,000 people and left 54,000 missing, most of them
washed away by a tidal wave that accompanied the storm.

UNICEF identified children left orphaned or separated from their parents
as the most vulnerable victims of the natural disaster.

The UN agency, in collaboration with the social Welfare Ministry, has set
up 51 child-friendly spaces in temporary settlements to help children find
their parents and aims to establish 100 in the Yangon and Irrawaddy
provinces, that were hardest hit by the storm.

Remarkably, to date there has been no major outbreak of dengue, cholera or
typhoid in the cyclone-hit region, despite the tardiness of the
international relief efforts that were initially delayed by the
government's reluctance to allow aid and foreign experts in to the areas.

UNICEF claimed to have distributed medical supplies including oral
rehydration salts, antibiotics, infusion, vaccines and Vitamin A enough to
treat 600,000 people, including children, against diarrhea, malaria and
dengue over the past two months.

"We anticipated outbreaks in the affected areas and tried out best to
prevent them," said Chowdhury. "I was also impressed by local communities'
response to the disaster, especially by the monks who helped to organize
the villagers," she added.

____________________________________

July 7, Mizzima News
Security beefed up in Rangoon on July 7 Anniversary Day – Phanida

The authorities in Rangoon have beefed up security in townships today on
the occasion of the July 7 Anniversary Day.

The government backed 'Swanahshin' has been deployed at crowded junctions,
near the university campuses and in front of the NLD headquarters today
the 46th anniversary July 7 day. Soldiers are patrolling the city in
vehicles.

"The security is tight today. But we could not find the police. There were
about 50-60 'Swanahshin' personnel in front of the NLD headquarters in
four Toyota Dyna light trucks.  There were another 30-40 'Swanahshin'
personnel at the Sule pagoda", Ko Naing Ngan Linn, a NLD Youth in-charge
said.

"The soldiers have been patrolling the city since last night in police
cars. Today security personnel were deployed in an unusual move in mufti
by the 'Swanahshin' at many crowded junctions and key places in the city,"
an undercover reporter of Mizzima said.

About 20 'Swanahshin' personnel were deployed at the town hall in the city
centre today by the Police Col.  in a Mazda jeep and a riot police truck,
he added.

Police personnel, soldiers and 'Swanahshin' in plain clothes were deployed
at many crowded junctions such as Kokkai, Shwegondaing, Sule, Thingangyun,
Kyimyindine, Sanchaung, Hledan, South Okkalapa, Lanmadaw and Latha
townships, a Rangoon local resident said.

The Dawbon Township 'Peace and Development Council' (PDC) asked for about
80 'Swanahshin' from the township to deploy them at Dagon University and
'Tarwa' University campuses in Rangoon Division for security, it is
learnt.

The Revolutionary Council led by Gen. Ne Win who grabbed power in a coup
brutally killed unarmed students who were staging demonstrations for
freedom in education on July 7, 1962 -- 46 years ago.

"They are always scared of student demonstrations. The 'All Burma
Federation of Student Union' (ABFSU) launched a poster campaign in almost
all university campuses today," Ko Myo Tayza, spokesperson of ABFSU, said.

The copies of  the ABFSU statement called 'Revolting against enslavement
by military, Let's fly fighting peacock flag' were found pasted on the
walls of Arts and Science University, Computer College, Government
Technical College (GTC), Government Technological University campuses.

"The best and smoothest way for a breakthrough in the current political
impasse is to release all political prisoners including students, monks
and nuns who are unfairly imprisoned unconditionally and immediately, and
enter into a dialogue with the opposition", the statement said.

"Education is politics. Without freedom of education, we cannot achieve
political freedom. We are at the forefront of this struggle and leading
the students to encourage them to express their will and desire freely and
for freedom of education", Ko Myo Tay Za said.

"Resolving the current political crisis through coercion and bullying
unilaterally by using arms and thugs will not be successful and will
exacerbate the situation in the future. It will also ensure many more
protests, calamities and unrests which will lead the country to utter
devastation and finally to a failed state," the ABFSU statement added.

The University Student Union building which was a historical monument of
anti-colonial and anti-fascist struggles was dynamited by the
'Revolutionary Council" led by Gen. Ne Win in the early morning of July 8,
1962.

____________________________________

July 7, Xinhua
U.N. sets up emergency telecommunication center in Myanmar

The United Nations has set up an emergency telecommunication center (ETC)
in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon to improve quick communication access
in disaster relief and restoration works, reported the local Biweekly
Eleven journal.

Some Myanamr staff have been trained by the UN Emergency Communication
Group operating the center, the report said.

The UN group has been rendering assistance for some social organizations
based in Bangkok to bring in their relief aid supplies to cyclone-hit
areas in Myanmar's Ayeyawaddy division and Yangon division, the report
added.

Meanwhile, the World Food Program (WFP) of the U.N., in cooperation with
the UN Development Program (UNDP) and some international non-governmental
organizations, has been distributing ration aid supply to such storm-hit
areas as Laputta ,Bogalay, Phyapon, Mawlamyinegyun and Pathein soon after
the cyclone storm hit Myanmar in early last May.

According to the WFP, a total of 29,000 survived population of 9 village
tracts out of 50 in Ayeyawaddy's Laputta alone have been benefited by the
UN program, earlier report said.

Laputta township suffered the biggest damage out of those in the
Ayayawaddy delta, a preliminary assessment of a tripartite core group
involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Myanmar and the U.N.
said.

Deadly cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five
divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on last
May 2 and 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest
casualties and massive infrastructure damage.

Myanmar estimated the damages and losses caused by the storm at10.67
billion U.S. dollars with 5.5 million people affected.

The storm has killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 missing and 19,359
injured according to the latest official death toll.

____________________________________

July 4, All Headline News
Boat sinking kills 38 in Myanmar – Siddique Islam

At least 38 people were killed after a boat carrying over 80 passengers
capsized in the country's southwest Irrawaddy region earlier this week.

The motorboat was traveling on the Yway River in the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy
Delta when it was sank on early Tuesday, the New Light of Myanmar, a
state-run newspaper, reported on Friday.

The delta region was largely devastated by Cyclone Nargis, which struck in
early May killing over 80,000 people.

A total of 44 passengers of the 82 have been saved and the remaining died,
according to the newspaper reports.

The boat had been heading to Myaungmya town, about 99.82 miles from the
country's commercial capital, Yangon.

____________________________________

July 4, Democratic Voice of Burma
Some progress in cyclone relief but help still needed – Htet Aung Kyaw

United Nations officials have said that progress is being made in
delivering aid to victims in Burma two months after Cyclone Nargis
devastated parts of the country, but help is still not reaching all areas.

Aye Win, a spokesperson for the UN Information Centre in Rangoon, said a
lot more assistance was still needed.

"The situation is not yet perfect, but it is at a satisfactory level now –
there is still a lot needed to be done to help the cyclone victims on our
targeted scale," he said.

"It is true that help is not reaching some areas as it's supposed to be
but the situation has improved a lot compared with how things were
before."

Aye Win cited a recent example where aid groups worked quickly to help
villages that had not yet received assistance.

"Recently, some aid groups working in the Irrawaddy delta found about five
villages that had still not received help,” he said.

“They immediately reported the matter to Rangoon and aid supplies were
brought there in a helicopter and boats within a short time."

Aye Win estimated that cyclone victims would need help in terms of food
aid and other support for about another six months.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said in a press conference in Tokyo on 1
July that it was “encouraging” that the regime had opened up more to
international aid workers.

“At this time, things seem to be moving toward the right direction, even
though there is still some slowing down as well as some administrative
hindrances,” the secretary-general said.

“
as far as I know, as of today, the international aid workers, UN staff,
have been able to carry out their humanitarian assistance as had been
agreed between myself and senior general Than Shwe.”

Ban called on the international community to hold the Burmese authorities
to their commitments to allow aid to be distributed freely.

The secretary-general also reaffirmed his commitment to democratisation
efforts in Burma.

The World Food Programme said yesterday that the devastation caused by the
cyclone could still be seen in the flooded farmlands and damaged
infrastructure, but praised the response of the Burmese people to the
disaster.

“[T]he people of Myanmar have proven resilient, picking up the pieces of
their lives with a quiet determination,” the organisation said in a
statement.

____________________________________

July 4, Associated Press
Court sentences Myanmar protesters to jail

Four members of Myanmar's main pro-democracy party who campaigned against
a constitution proposed by the military government have been jailed for
one year.

Nyan Win, a spokesman for the National League for Democracy, said Friday
that a court had sent the four to prison "for trespassing with intent to
commit offense."

They were arrested at Tounggok in western Rakhine state in March for
distributing leaflets urging voters to reject the draft charter, Nyan Win
said.

The new constitution was adopted after it won overwhelming approval in a
national referendum held in May. Critics said the referendum was conducted
in an unfair manner, with opportunities to oppose it restricted and
irregularities in voting.

Nyan Win said the four were sentenced on June 27 by a court in Tounggok
township, and that they were the first people to be imprisoned for
opposing the constitution.

The Tounggok area is noted for militant opposition to the junta.

The NLD, which is led by detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, had
strongly opposed the draft constitution, which they and other critics
charge will perpetuate military rule beyond a general election supposed to
be held in 2010.

Several other party members and activists who opposed the charter were
beaten up and intimidated in the run-up to the referendum.


____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

July 7, Narinjara News
Commodity prices on border increase after road block

Commodity prices have skyrocketed on the western Burmese border after the
primary connecting motor road between Buthidaung and Maungdaw was blocked
by a landslide and collapsed bridges, said resident of Maungdaw on the
Burmese border.

Some important bridges along the road have collapsed and parts of the road
have been blocked by mud after heavy rains in the region.

The resident said, "Yesterday the price of normal rice went up from 19,000
kyat to 24,000 kyat, while the price of high standard rice increased to
34,000 kyat from 29,000 kyat. Other kitchen commodity prices in Maungdaw
Township increased 30 percent in one day."

Another source said the standard rice will increase to 40,000 kyat if the
road can not be repaired.

"It is a result of the road block because the transportation was totally
stopped between Buthidaung and Maungdaw. Rice is transported by rice
traders from Buthidaung to Maungdaw and the traders can't transport their
rice, so the price is increasing," the resident said.

The Buthidaung-Maungdaw road is a key link on the western border, as it is
the only motor road to connect with Bangladesh via land. The road was
constructed during British rule in Arakan.

The border trade has also stopped, and many commodities have piled up on
the two sides between Bangladesh and Burma after the road block prevented
business as usual.

According to a local source, the road will be impossible to repair in a
month, and will require at least six months to be fixed because it has
been completely destroyed in parts by the heavy rain.

____________________________________

July 7, Bangkok Post
Third of Burmese fail to return home – Supamart Kasem

Nearly one-third of the Burmese who entered Thailand through Mae Sot
district this year did not return to their home country.

The provincial immigration office reported that 298,847 Burmese nationals
crossed from Myawaddy to Mae Sot district over the Friendship Bridge in
the first half of this year, and 86,517 had not gone back.

In May and June alone, a total of 29,150 Burmese people did not go back
through the same checkpoint.

The two-month period coincided with the disaster caused by Cyclone Nargis,
which devastated the Irrawaddy delta and Rangoon in May.

Provincial immigration chief Pol Col Tassawat Boonyawat said some of them
might have crossed back through other checkpoints or outside normal
channels. Others might have overstayed their border pass and faced being
arrested and deported.

"Illegal immigrants will remain an issue so long as the two countries
differ economically and politically. We don't have enough funding,
manpower or equipment to properly guard the border, which is more more
than 500 kilometres long," he said.

In the first six months the province deported 72,124 Burmese who entered
Thailand illegally, worked without a permit or overstayed their border
pass.

A border security officer, who asked not to be named, said most illegal
Burmese were fleeing economic hardship at home.

He attributed the rise in illegal Burmese to the government policy to
bring long-term illegal residents into the house registration system.

Deputy district chief Kowit Kruewong said the project, approved by cabinet
in January 2006, was aimed at addressing the unresolved status of those
living in Thailand prior to January 2005.

Village heads and kamnan would list the name of eligible residents in
their communities and present the list at a public hearing by September,
before seeking the Interior Ministry's approval.

"Illegal immigrants may submit an application, but they must pass a strict
screening process," he said.

The education office responsible for Mae Sot area said foreign students in
five border districts rose from 7,000 to 10,000 after the cyclone struck
Burma.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

July 7, Irrawaddy
Employment agencies hit with taxes – Aung Thet Wine

Employment agencies in Rangoon have been hit with new measures aimed at
curtailing the industry’s notorious tax-dodging schemes, according to
members of the city’s business community.

Economic hardship, rising commodity prices and high unemployment in the
country force many Burmese to look overseas for jobs. In recent years,
many employment agencies that can offer work abroad have become lucrative
businesses and, as a result, more agencies have sprung up around the
country, a Rangoon businessman said.

In 2007, there were 70 employment agencies operating under licenses from
the Ministry of Labor. However, this year, more than 40 more agencies have
been issued licenses.

In order to evade taxes, many of the agencies have, in the past, run two
sets of accounts— one for the authorities showing their business making a
loss, and one for themselves with a true balance of accounts, an
employment agent from Rangoon said.

The agencies have to cheat in order to evade the high taxes imposed on
them and the large amount they have to pay in bribes to corrupt officials,
he said.

Under the Burmese military regime, no consistent policy on tax codes has
been put in place, and rates have fluctuated year to year depending on
budgetary demands. Businesses operated by close relatives or cronies of
the generals can often evade taxes entirely, members of the business
community in Rangoon said.

“Even among the employment agencies, the companies owned by senior
government officials or operated by their close relatives can evade taxes,
while others have to pay millions of kyat a year in taxation. Nobody wants
to pay these taxes,” the manager of a job agency in Kyauktada Township
said.

“I am willing to pay tax,” he said. “But these extra taxes are unjust and
a burden to us. They make it very difficult for us to run our businesses.
We have to kowtow to senior officers from the Labor Ministry, calling them
a ba (senior uncle), and bribing them,” he added.

On June 6, the Department of Labor Management in Naypyidaw issued a new
directive stating that employment agencies which send less than 300
workers abroad annually will not get their licenses extended.

“The Labor Ministry sent a directive to licensed employment agencies
stating that each agency must account for 300 workers sent abroad,” the
Rangoon employment agent said. “Most agencies are able to make that quota,
but they are reluctant to show this amount on their books as they will be
burdened with taxes and other levies. It’s a Catch-22 situation.”

An employment agency officer in Tamwe Township called it a “dilemma,”
adding that if he were to submit his true accounts, we would have to pay
an excessive amount in taxes.

“But if we don't submit our full figures, our license may not be
extended,” he said.

Apart from annual licenses to extend, employment agencies must submit 5
million kyat (more than US $4,000) to the Labor Ministry as a deposit when
opening for business and millions of kyat in kickbacks thereafter, he
added.

“While I applied for a license, I had to pay almost 20 million kyat (more
than $16,500),” another agent said. “Then I have to extend it annually and
must bribe these officials all over again. It’s a vicious circle.”

In addition, each agency must pay 50,000 kyat ($42) to the Labor Ministry
for every worker they send abroad, the agents said.

Of course, the costs inevitable get passed down to the workers themselves.

The employment agencies in Rangoon that spoke to The Irrawaddy said that
they take a fee equivalent to between $650 and $1,500 from a worker to
find him or her a job in Malaysia, and around $1,690 to $2,000 for fixing
a Burmese worker with a general job in Singapore. For more advanced
positions, such as an engineer who wants to work in Singapore, a payment
of between $2,650 and $3,675 is demanded. Burmese workers who take jobs in
the United Arab Emirates pay around $800 to the agencies, say the sources.

____________________________________

July 5, San Francisco Chronicle
Chevron's dilemma over its stake in Burma – Zachary Coile

Ever since Burma's leaders engaged in a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy
protests last fall, Congress has pushed to tighten sanctions against the
country's ruling generals. And that's put Chevron Corp., the largest U.S.
investor in Burma, in the crosshairs.

The San Ramon-based energy giant has a 28 percent stake in the Yadana
natural gas field and pipeline, which feeds Asia's growing energy appetite
but also helps prop up the Burmese junta. In December, the House passed a
bill by the now-deceased Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, that would have
revoked a tax benefit for Chevron to pressure the company to divest from
Burma.

"This legislation will turn off a huge cash spigot for the thuggish
Burmese regime," Lantos said last year.

But Chevron now appears to have caught a break: As House and Senate
negotiators put the final touches on the Burma Democracy Promotion Act,
their aides and human rights groups say they plan to drop the provision,
which was not in the Senate version of the bill. The legislation will
instead focus on slashing the leadership's revenue from its trade in
gemstones and timber and establishing a new position of U.S. envoy for
Burma.

In place of the House-passed Chevron measure, lawmakers are pushing
compromise language that would encourage Chevron to voluntarily divest
from Burma. It would be a slap on the wrist from Congress, one unlikely to
sway Chevron executives.

The battle over the Chevron provision has been the last sticking point to
passing a bill that has broad support on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers of both
parties were shocked by the scenes of monks being beaten in the streets of
Rangoon. The junta's refusal to accept foreign aid after a deadly cyclone
in May only reinforced the efforts to put the squeeze on the leadership.

A divisive provision
But the provision affecting Chevron has split lawmakers and even divided
some human rights groups. The crux of the issue: Would the action against
a U.S. oil company have any impact on the junta?

The measure by Lantos, who died of esophageal cancer in February, sought
to pressure Chevron by revoking its ability to deduct from its U.S. taxes
the tax payments it makes to the Burmese junta as part of the Yadana
project. The goal was to make it more costly for the firm to do business
with Burma - or Myanmar, as its military rulers call it. Congress used the
same tactic in the 1980s to battle apartheid in South Africa, and some U.S
companies divested.

But Chevron is only a minority stakeholder in the Yadana project, which is
managed by France's Total, which holds a 31 percent stake, along with
Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, a Burmese state entity, and the Petroleum
Authority of Thailand.

Chevron's position
Chevron officials have argued that if it were forced to sell its stake,
China, India or another energy-hungry nation would gobble it up, with
revenues flowing unimpeded to Burma's military leaders.

"It's pretty clear that this is a very attractive asset and other people
would be interested," Chevron Vice Chairman Peter Robertson told The
Chronicle last year.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Howard Berman, D-Los
Angeles, has been pushing Lantos' bill, arguing that Chevron should not
benefit from a tax deduction for its payments to a repressive government.

But Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a lead sponsor of a 2003 bill that
set stiff sanctions against Burma, has taken an opposite view. In a recent
interview with Politico, she warned that forcing Chevron to divest could
be counterproductive. "Other countries are going to take it over and, most
particularly, the Burmese government will take it over. So what is gained
by doing this?" she said.

Compromise in works
Feinstein spokesman Scott Gerber said this week that the senator has not
been actively involved in the negotiations, but she backs the compromise
that's likely to be announced soon. The bill "will strengthen and expand
existing sanctions against Burma," he said.

The issue has relevance to the presidential race. The GOP's presumptive
nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, introduced an even tougher bill last
fall that would have forced Chevron to divest from Burma. But the Senate
coalesced around a different bill, sponsored by Senate Foreign Relations
Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell, R-Ky., which did not include the Chevron provision.

Jennifer Quigley, who's been lobbying the bill for the U.S. Campaign for
Burma, said leaving the House's Chevron tax provision in would probably
have doomed chances to get a bill through the Senate this year. Her group
was more worried about winning other key provisions, including a crackdown
on imports of Burmese rubies and jade into the United States, which could
cost the junta hundreds of millions in revenue each year.

"Some people wanted to take a stand on Chevron. Other people said let's
just get this through," Quigley said. "For us, we want the bill. It's very
nice to take a stand, but for us what is most important is getting rid of
this regime. Priority No. 1 is how to get legislation that is most
effective at targeting the regime."

Quigley said the final bill also is likely to include language to help
reduce illegal imports of wood products from Burma, especially teak,
another key source of income for the junta.

Main revenue source
Still, natural gas remains the Rangoon government's chief source of
revenue, totaling about 45 percent of its $8.7 billion in declared exports
in 2007. Despite U.S. and European Union sanctions, the junta has been
able to cut lucrative energy deals with its neighbors, including Thailand,
China, South Korea, Malaysia and India.

Chevron acquired its stake in the Yadana and Sein offshore gas fields in
the Andaman Sea when it bought its rival Unocal in 2005. Congress banned
new investments by U.S. companies in Burma starting in 1997, but Unocal's
ownership stake was grandfathered in because its venture began in 1993.

Marco Simons, legal director for EarthRights International, which has been
critical of Chevron over human rights abuses linked to the Yadana
pipeline, said he agrees that it's unlikely that forcing Chevron to divest
would hurt the junta.

"The fact of the matter is whether Chevron is there or not, those dollars
are still going to flow to the generals as long as Thailand is still
paying the bills (for the natural gas) and the banks are still processing
the payments," Simons said. "It may send a signal that the United States
is taking democracy in Burma more seriously, but it's not going deprive
them of any money, which is really what these projects are all about for
the regime."

____________________________________

July 4, Mizzima News
Aid groups face soaring rent prices – Solomon & Myint Maung

House rents in Burma's cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta has hit an all time
high as a result of humanitarian groups including United Nations aid
agencies taking based in the area to help cyclone survivors.

A local resident of Laputta town said rent for a simple one flat house has
rise to more than 100,000 Kyat (approximately US$ 80) per month from what
use to be about 20,000 to 30,000 (US$ 23), after several aid groups have
been deployed in the town.

"Usually, house rents are never so high and landlords don't always have
people to rent their houses," the local said.

Two storey RC buildings are now being rented at a price of more than
400,000 kyat (US$ 300) per month, said the local, adding that the demand
for renting houses is soaring as more non-governmental organizations and
aid groups are wanting to take based in the town.

According to him, there are at least 6 International NGOs and several
other national NGO beside private donors, taking based in the town.

Two months after the deathly Cyclone Nargis hit Burma's coastal regions,
aid workers said emergency relief is yet to be reached to all survivors
while reconstruction is just beginning to take place.

According to the UN's World Food Programme it has open warehouses in
Bogale, Laputta and Pyapon towns, from which it is redistributing food
supplies to cyclone victims.

"Everyday we see a lot of aid workers moving in the town and there seems
to be a huge number of them," a teashop owner in Pyapon town told Mizzima.

While helping cyclone survivors, humanitarian groups including the UN aid
agencies do not only meet with soaring high price rents, but are also
having to deal with the high cost of logistic support including renting of
vehicles and boats to carry aid supplies.

Renting a small boat, which can carry about 30 to 40 rice baskets, cost
about 50,000 kyat (US$ 38) per day and large boats that could carry at
least a 100 baskets of rice cost about 100,000 kyat (US$ 80), a local aid
worker in Laputta town.

He added that renting trucks or four wheeler vehicles is about 10 million
to 20 million kyat (US$ 1,500) per month and is only possible for INGOs
and UN agencies due to the high rent charges.

Despite the high charges, the aid worker said, both boats and vehicles are
being continuously rented as boats and vehicles are the only way to reach
to cyclone survivors in remote areas.

"We are renting large boats with 100,000 kyat per day," said the aid worker.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

July 7, Irrawaddy
Dengue fever outbreak feared – Violet Cho

Dengue fever—a mosquito-borne disease that peaks during the rainy
season—is likely to strike harder this year in Burma due to Cyclone
Nargis, according to sources within the medical community in Rangoon.

Some medical staff in Rangoon said that cases of dengue fever have already
broken out in populated areas of the city, especially cases involving
children. A doctor who asked not to be named said that 80 percent of
children admitted to her downtown Rangoon clinic were diagnosed with
dengue fever.

“More babies, children and old people are affected by dengue this rainy
season,” said the doctor. “Poor people from cyclone-hit areas are
especially affected. Some of them cannot even afford mosquito nets to
protect themselves from this fast-spreading disease.”

Dengue fever is a flu-like illness spread by the bite of an infected
mosquito. Unlike mosquitoes that cause malaria, those carrying dengue bite
during the day. The disease is especially dangerous in children and the
elderly, who have little resistance and often die of internal bleeding. It
normally takes its greatest toll in Burma in the rainy season, which began
in June.

To date, however, no deaths from dengue fever have been reported this
rainy season.

According to medical staff in the former capital, a serious outbreak of
dengue fever could follow if the municipality fails to destroy the
mosquitoes’ breeding grounds—mainly pools of stagnant water.

Mee Mee, an assistant nurse working at a private clinic in Yankin Township
in Rangoon said, “Almost all the main drains in Rangoon are clogged up by
debris after the cyclone, but the authorities don’t appear to have any
plan to clear them up.”

One of Burma’s official newspapers, The New Light of Myanmar, reported on
Monday that authorities have begun prevention work against outbreaks of
dengue fever in two populated Rangoon townships.

The report said that measures are being taken to combat dengue fever and
that government medical teams are providing education and awareness on the
disease at primary schools and community centers in Thakayta and Dagon
Myothit-South townships.

According to the Burmese health ministry, dengue fever killed almost 100
children in the country in the first seven months of 2007.

Meanwhile, international health organizations such as the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in cooperation
with the Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association and the Myanmar
Red Cross, have launched a US $700,000 anti-dengue-fever campaign in 11
storm-hit townships in Rangoon and Irrawaddy divisions.

According to the WHO, there were 781 registered dengue patients in Rangoon
Division and 481 in Irrawaddy Division as of the end of May.

The state media reported no outbreak of other contagious and epidemic
diseases in the storm-hit areas, saying that a total of 206,039 cyclone
victims had received medical treatment since early May.

Meanwhile, Burmese local doctors and medical workers are being invited by
the Myanmar Medical Association (MMA) to provide free long-term medical
treatment to cyclone victims, according to The New light of Myanmar.

____________________________________
DRUGS

July 4, Shan Herald Agency for News
Truck caught with drug chemicals released after bribe – Hseng Khio Fah

After bribing the authorities, the truck which was seized with drug
production facilities and precursor chemicals by Central Committee for
Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) in Tachilek, eastern Shan State was released
two weeks ago, reports Shan Herald correspondent from the Thai-Burma
border.

The truck owned by 40-year old Sai Maung was seized by the drug
authorities on the way from Tachilek to Mong Toom, Monghsat township, at
the Ponghtun checkpoint, according to a source.

After investigation, it was found out that the materials belonged to Lahu
militia led by Kya Ngoi (Ja Ngoi). Sai Maung was hired to transport them
from Tachilek to Mong Toom where three drug refineries are reportedly
located.

The three drug refineries are owned by Kya Ngoi, Ai Long and Ar Zaw,
according reliable sources from the border. The materials on the truck
were said to have been owned by Kya Ngoi’s sons Kya Saw and Kya  Shipi.

“There were three cars to ship the materials. They let Sai Maung’s go
first,” said a local.

However, both sons denied the materials were theirs and told the officials
that they were owned by Sai Maung.

“Sai Maung was released with his car after a relative of him bribed the
authorities,” said the villager.

After two days of his release, the authorities confiscated all the
properties belonging to his family including his house, the source said.

Sai Maung, a member of Kya Ngoi’s group, is a resident of Wan Kart
village, Mornghsat township.

There are three checkpoints in Mong Toom on the way to the refineries,
according to informed sources. The first one is currently manned by
Burmese soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 554, and the other two by
members of Lahu militia.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 7, Agence France Presse
Bush urges Myanmar to free Suu Kyi

US President George W. Bush on Sunday renewed his call for Myanmar's
military regime to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house
arrest.

Bush said he intended to raise concerns about Myanmar as he opened talks
in Japan ahead of a summit of the Group of Eight major powers starting on
Monday.

"I'm deeply concerned about that country," Bush told a joint news
conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the host of the
summit.

"And we urge the regime to free Aung San Suu Kyi," Bush said.

The junta, defying international pressure, in May extended the house
arrest of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of
the last 18 years confined to her home.

The military government also came under criticism for waiting weeks before
accepting international relief workers after Cyclone Nargis, which left
more than 138,000 dead or missing when it pounded ashore on May 2.

"Their response to the recent natural disaster was unwarranted, at best,"
Bush said.

The Group of Eight includes Britian, Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, Russia and the United States.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

July 5, Washington Times
Burmese generals surfing the internet – Peter J. Brown

With the push of a button, the generals in Burma can instantly access the
Internet, thanks to a U.S.-built and U.S.-financed satellite. The generals
and their cronies have been doing this for months as the Export-Import
Bank of the United States (U.S. Ex-Im Bank) and the U.S. State Department
which together made it possible, stand by silently.

In this instance, the U.S. government was apparently more than eager to
see a U.S. company, Loral, build and deliver a sophisticated broadband
satellite to a Thailand-based telecommunications company known as Thaicom,
formerly Shin Satellite.

At first glance, there appears to be nothing wrong here, but scratch the
surface and the Thaicom-Burma connection quickly appears. It was
well-established and well-known to all parties concerned long before the
satellite in question even reached the launch pad in 2005.

Keep in mind that the White House including first lady Laura Bush, and the
U.S. Congress have been quite vocal in condemning the government of Burma,
officially called Myanmar. In 2007, for example, President Bush extended
for another year the national emergency first signed by President Clinton
in 1997. Add to the list the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003,
and the executive order signed by President Bush that same year.

So the message to Burma has been clear, while the gap that divides the
United States and the government of Thailand when it comes to Burma grows
larger. Unlike Thailand, engaging Burma has not been the preference of the
American government, and U.S. companies are strictly forbidden from doing
any business with the government of Burma, although these rules simply do
not apply to businesses in Thailand.

More than six years ago, as the human-rights record of the junta in Burma
was steadily deteriorating, American taxpayers quietly provided financial
backing for construction of the broadband satellite for Thaicom via $190
million in loan guarantees provided U.S. Ex-Im Bank. The French government
stepped up and provided loan guarantees for launch services.

America's dislike for the junta did not prevent Thaicom's ties to the
government of Burma from strengthening. In 2004, for example, the Ex-Im
Bank of Thailand rolled out a massive, multimillion-dollar loan to Burma
that helped finance telecommunications equipment for the Burmese generals,
including a substantial number of broadband satellite terminals to enable
Thaicom's services to be delivered throughout Burma.

The government of Burma and all the assorted businesses run by Burmese
generals no doubt constitute the largest pool of satellite broadband
customers for Thaicom in Burma, before and after the cyclone. The fact
that former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra created and ran
Thaicom's parent company, Shin Corp., cannot go unmentioned. Shin Corp. is
now owned by Temasek Holdings of Singapore, which holds a 41 percent stake
in Thaicom and remains its largest shareholder.

Since the satellite itself was launched in 2005, Thaicom has steadily
expanded its presence in Burma. And in early 2008, Myanmar Posts and
Telecommunications and Thaicom signed a new pair of contracts. This was
followed by news that the final remaining portion of the above-mentioned
2004 Ex-Im Bank of Thailand telecom loan is to be handed over to the
generals in Burma this year as well.

The response of the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Ex-Im Bank while
all this has unfolded has been to say absolutely nothing. Apparently, when
the government of Burma gains access to U.S.-funded satellite broadband
technology, the official U.S. response is to simply look the other way and
ignore everything that is happening.

So the generals in Burma and their buddies go on surfing the Internet,
casually using a U.S.-built satellite in the process while knowing that
what truly represents a dark stain on U.S. policymaking in Southeast Asia
will no doubt be ignored altogether.

Peter J. Brown is a Maine-based free-lance writer who writes frequently
about satellite industry trends and developments in Asia.

____________________________________

July 4, Irrawaddy
The UN must set the agenda

Six weeks have passed since Burma’s military leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe,
promised United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that he would grant
international aid workers full access to the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy
delta. Faced with a potential humanitarian tragedy that could have forced
the UN to act upon its “Responsibility to Protect,” Ban was quick to
welcome the concession. But doubts about the value of his “breakthrough”
remain.

This was not the first time the UN has found itself at the mercy of the
Burmese regime’s intransigence. When Ban sent his point man on Burma,
Ibrahim Gambari, to meet with the generals earlier this year, they treated
him like a whipping boy, venting their outrage at the world’s supposed
bias against them. In Ban’s case, however, a strictly apolitical agenda
and pledges of substantial financial assistance helped to smooth the way
for a less confrontational encounter.

But the success of Ban’s mission must ultimately be measured in the number
of lives saved, not in promises made by a notoriously untrustworthy junta.
And it remains far from clear that the relief efforts being conducted by
the Tripartite Core Group, consisting of representatives of the UN, the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the Burmese junta, are
making any significant headway.

According to a report released by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on June 30, more than a million cyclone
victims have yet to receive any help at all. Even more disturbing,
comparison with earlier reports shows that these figures remained
unchanged for nearly a month. A report released on June 13 by the UN’s
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) states that “As of June 4,
preliminary estimates indicate that 1.3 million beneficiaries, out of the
estimated 2.4 million people affected, have been reached.”

Why, after more than a month of national and international relief
operations, are nearly half the victims of Cyclone Nargis still not
receiving any aid? Although a number of factors come into play, including
weather and the scale of the devastation in the delta, it is clear from
various independent reports that a large part of the problem has been the
Burmese regime, which has done as much to hinder as to help relief
efforts.

UN agencies have been careful to avoid pointing the finger at the junta,
but they have indicated a number of difficulties that can be traced
directly to local bureaucratic hurdles or military interference by the
regime. The OCHA report, for instance, mentions “frequent population
movements” as a problem complicating efforts to target groups in need.
What it doesn’t say, however, is that in most cases, these movements have
not been voluntary, but coerced by military authorities intent on getting
villagers out of refugee camps and back to work in their fields.

There have been many other similar issues, including delays with getting
permission to send helicopters into the disaster area, a ban on sourcing
supplies of rice domestically, and logistical problems stemming from
restrictions on the flow of information. (“They [Burmese authorities]
obviously didn’t want us in the affected areas with telecommunications
equipment,” said a spokesperson for the emergency relief group Telecoms
Sans Frontieres, explaining why it was forced to abandon its efforts to
provide support requested by a UN agency.)

None of these obstacles should be acceptable to the UN, which now faces
the task of convincing international donors that a credible relief effort
has been carried out and that the stage has been set for the “early
recovery” phase of the mission.

This could prove to be a hard sell. Negative donor sentiment, fuelled by
the regime’s insistence on setting all the ground rules, has already begun
to adversely affect relief efforts. The UN’s World Food Programme has
warned that its helicopter operations could soon grind to a halt unless
more money is forthcoming. Ironically, these were the same helicopters
that the junta was so reluctant to allow into the country in the first
place.

The Asean-led Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) was supposed to help
make the case for more aid, but its role has been undermined by
grandstanding by a regional body desperate to show it can make a real
difference in Burma after a decade of having no positive impact on the
country whatsoever. So far, however, Asean has offered little more than
bland assurances that everything is going as planned. “The basic needs of
the victims are being met for their early recovery,” claimed Asean
Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, citing PONJA’s preliminary findings.

The only way to remove lingering doubts about the effectiveness of the
relief mission in Burma is for the UN to demonstrate that aid efforts are
not being held hostage to the whims of the regime. This will involve
making it clear to the junta that only complete cooperation will be
acceptable if it expects any further help in dealing with a humanitarian
crisis that could easily evolve into political unrest.

Later this month, UN special envoy Gambari will return to Burma for
another punishing round of reconciliation talks with a regime that sees no
need for compromise with the democratic opposition. His boss, Ban Ki-moon,
has made a “firm commitment and assurances [to] work very hard to help the
Myanmar people to enjoy genuine freedom and democracy.” But if he does not
do more to hold Than Shwe to his word, his own promises will sound as
hollow as those offered by the inveterate liars who run Burma.

____________________________________

July 4, Democratic Voice of Burma
Junta's information black-out – Tai Kyaw

Burma’s military regime is still keeping quiet about an incident following
Cyclone Nargis. It is a minor incident, but one that would surprise the
people of Burma and the international community.

Relief supplies provided for Burma’s cyclone victims from China included
2000 radios. They were handed over to the junta authorities. Low-ranking
officials were in a difficult situation when they received those cheap
radios because they were not sure if they should give them to refugees or
hold them back, so they asked their superiors what to do.

The information about the radios pushed high-ranking officials into a
tight corner. They seemed to be worried about affecting the relationship
with China if they did not give the radios out. On the other hand, if they
distributed the radios, the 2000 people who received them would be able to
listen to foreign broadcasting services such as BBC, VOA, DVB and RFA,
which they did not want their citizens to be able to access. Finally, an
order came through that radios should be distributed to cyclone victims
only after they had been adapted so that they could not be used to listen
to foreign broadcasting services.

As a consequence, engineers and officials at the Communication Department
faced a heavy workload. They had to remove the short wave tuning system
used by foreign broadcasting services to air their programmes from each
radio. Engineers working for the Communication Department in Rangoon
Division spent a lot of time on these radios worth US$ 5 each. After the
radios had been adapted, the authorities gave them out in Irrawaddy
division for people to listen to weather news, took photos of their
donations and then sent the photos back to donors in China.

When village headmen and others received the radios, they were unable to
tune into foreign radio broadcasts because the short wave system had been
disabled. They were also unable to listen to City FM since they were far
away from Rangoon. As a result, they all ended up only being able to
listen to programmes from Myanmar Radio and Television Department, the
state-controlled radio station transmitted on medium wave.

The way the military regime dealt with the donated radio shoes the lengths
to which it will go to black out information and stop its citizens
listening to news broadcasts.

The military regime was able to take preventive action because those
radios were given to them directly. However, they could not do anything
about aid directly provided to UN agencies and INGOs inside Burma by
international governments and organisations.

In an attempt to limit and control the movements of UN agencies and INGOs
working on relief efforts for cyclone victims, the junta issued 10
operating guidelines on 10 June. According to the guidelines, detailed
lists of the type and quantity of aid donated from overseas must be
submitted to the relevant government ministry, permission must be
requested prior to aid distribution and relief supplies must be stockpiled
in Rangoon. When permission to distribute aid is granted by the junta
another request must be made to township authorities where the aid will be
given out and supplies can only be distributed when permission from local
officials has been granted.

The regime still keeps imported communication apparatuses that are meant
for UN agencies and INGOs. None of those organisations have been allowed
to use satellite phones donated by the Thai government. This indicates
that the regime is trying to obstruct smooth communication and information
flow between the UN, NGOs and the people. Despite the restrictions,
private donors including comedian Zarganar distributed radios among
cyclone victims in Irrawaddy divisions, infuriating the junta, who later
arrested them.

Irrawaddy division had never been a restricted area for tourists until it
was devastated by the cyclone. Bassein, Ngwe Hsaung and Chaung Thar were
regular tourist destinations. Even a week after the storm stuck the delta
the military regime had not taken any special measures to restrict tourism
in the region. The junta only stopped allowing any foreigners to visit
Irrawaddy division when the international media carried news items about
the cyclone and displayed pictures of corpses.

The reason was simply to black out information. When the regime shut down
the area, they treated it as if it was a military zone. They placed many
more checkpoints on the Rangoon-Bassein road to check if there were any
foreigners in the passing vehicles. When foreigners were found, they were
questioned and sent back to Rangoon. As a result, international experts
and aid workers were unable to reach the affected areas to carry out
relief operations and the difficulties for cyclone victims were doubled.

Foreign journalists looked for alternative ways to reach the delta when
they were not allowed to use the main route, the Rangoon-Bassein road.
They tried instead to enter the region on the Rangoon-Kaw
Hmoo-Kongyankone-Daydaye-Pyarpon road. In response, the military regime
deployed thousands of riot police along the way, in addition to the
numerous checkpoints. In Rangoon, foreign journalists were under constant
surveillance. According to a special police officer from Rangoon airport,
at least 10 foreigners were sent to the airport from their hotels or the
streets and deported within the month after the cyclone ravaged the
country.

The junta not only restricts and keeps an eye on foreign journalists in
the country but also prevents them from coming in. It has even imposed
restrictions on the issuing of tourist visas. As a result, the number of
foreigners visiting the country in post-cyclone period noticeably
decreased. As a consequence, hotels in Rangoon received fewer tourists and
those dependent on foreign guests in Ngwe Hsaung and Chaung Thar had to
close down. Air Mandalay and Air Bagan also had to stop all their overseas
flights.

The military regime was still focusing on its mission to black out
information even after UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon visited Rangoon.
The regime issued visas for some UN and INGO officials but continued to
restrict their visits to Irrawaddy division. Those who were permitted to
go there were only able to visit a limited area. For instance, a Japanese
medical team could only stay in refugee camps in Latputta and was not
allowed to visit the surrounding areas. The team was told to leave within
10 days on the pretext that their visas had run out.

The military regime also cut cyclone-related information out of imported
newspapers and magazines on a large scale. They distributed the Times,
Newsweek, the Economist, the Straits Times, the Bangkok Post and others
only after they had torn out news about Burma’s cyclone.

One of the latest attempts by the military regime to restrict the flow of
information was its raids on satellite stores in Rangoon. Some store
owners were forced to sign papers promising to stop selling satellite
dishes. As a result, the reinstallation of satellite dishes in
post-cyclone Rangoon was temporarily halted.

The military regime in Burma has been seriously trying not to let the
people of Burma and the international community become aware of what is
happening in Irrawaddy division and the rest of the country. As for news
that is already in media, the regime tries its best to suppress it so its
own citizens, and particularly soldiers in the army, will not hear about
it.

It seems that the generals believe they can cling on power for a long time
by stopping the flow of information. However, as recent incidents have
shown, the military will not succeed in its endeavour to black out
information as long as journalists and citizens are brave enough and able
to use modern digital equipment to disseminate news and information.