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Tuesday,October 8, 2002

Saving Energy

The generals in the State Peace and Development Council kicked off an energy saving drive in September. No less than five top military officials and ministers were heard on different occasions during the month urging ministries and government departments to save energy. In a recent editorial The New Light of Myanmar said, "Head of State Senior General Than Shwe has laid down three guidelines for every sector--practicing thrift, minimizing loss and wastage and boosting production." As a result Burmese television has been televising meetings taking place in darker conference halls and meeting participants keeping themselves cool with paper fans in presumably air-conditioned switched off rooms, and Lieutenant General Kyaw Win, chairman of the newly formed "Supervisory Committee on Electricity and Fuel Consumption", was seen checking meter boxes of ministries and government offices to ensure lights are switched off in the buildings and energy saving measures are being enforced as ordered. A new order was also issued about what was described by the Burmese press as "dry days" when cars and motorcycles in Rangoon belonging to the government are ordered off the road "on the second and fourth Sundays of every month except in emergency cases." The editorial says, "In Rangoon Division only, there are 5,408 departmental petrol-use vehicles, 560 diesel-use vehicles and 389 petrol-use motorcycles totaling 6,357. If one vehicle uses two gallons less than usual per month, 12,714 gallons of fuel can be saved in the month. It means 12,714 dollars in foreign exchange can be saved."

The initiatives come at a time when diesel oil prices are soaring between 1,400 and 1,800 kyat per gallon and gasoline at 1,100 kyat as compared to 180 kyat at government subsidized price and 625 kyat at private gasoline stations.

'Private' petrol stations raided

As a fallout from the rising gasoline prices, authorities were reported to have raided more than 100 "Nilar Yoma" gasoline stations run by the private sector [mostly high ranking military officials and the rich] which have been given permits by the SPDC-sanctioned military-run Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings [UMEH]. NewsDesk was informed that during the raids at the end of September, all staff personnel were ordered out of the stations while sale receipts and related documents were seized by the authorities who were out to check diesel and gasoline sales. The action taken against "Nilar Yoma" company was because its stations were said to be illegally selling diesel and gasoline oil at around 1,200 kyat, double the government's earmarked price of 625 kyat.

UMEH in trouble?

Sources also reported that military officers working at the UMEH's Fuel Oil Sales Department were arrested and that plans were being made to take action against other officials in other sections. Unconfirmed reports said with the exception of the Cement Division, the Palm Oil and other divisions has been ordered to suspend trading and transactions because of corruption and other commercial activities that run counter to SPDC orders. The military-run UMEH has the monopoly over export and import of all popular and essential commodities and also undertake major joint ventures with overseas investors.

Goods distributed at subsidized rates to control prices

U Aung Thaung, Minister for Industry-1, has been appointed chairman of the Price Control Committee to cope with rapidly rising commodity prices. Under the newly appointed chairman's arrangement, authorities are now distributing oil, rice, and other goods like soap at subsidized prices in different residential areas in Rangoon.

Rangoon 'Bright' Again

At a press conference held in Rangoon on 25 September, U Yan Naing, managing director of the Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise, said, "the supply of electricity was 262 megawatts at the peak hours of demand in Rangoon and that with the availability of additional 90 megawatts, electric power supply has now increased to 352 megawatts. This increase of 90 megawatts is distributed to industrial zones during daytime hours. Of the 31 townships in the city, 21 townships now get a 24-hour supply. For the 10 remaining townships, and the 13 townships outside the city, electrical power supply and distribution remains on a rotation basis."

Downer given assurances with no promise of action soon

Australia's Foreign Minister Mr. Alexander Downer visited Burma last week and met all the three top generals--Senior General Than Shwe, who as an Australian journalist covering the event described as "the man responsible for keeping opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for almost eight of the past 14 years"; Vice Senior General Maung Aye ("a hard-drinking army commander whose soldiers massacred an estimated 10,000 civilians while crushing a pro-democracy uprising in 1988 and who have since press-ganged hundreds of thousands into forced labor teams"); and General Khin Nyunt, ("whose political allies in the ethnic Wa State Army are responsible for producing most of the heroin that floods Australia's cities").

During the talks. the generals assured Mr. Downer that democracy was still on track and that "the National League for Democracy (NLD) had become more reasonable and constructive and they wanted to continue the dialogue with them and they wanted to continue the process of constitutional reform and slow, steady moves towards democracy." In response to a journalist as to when the reforms would take place and the talks resume, Mr. Downer, said, "I have absolutely no idea ...when it will happen, how it will happen and where it will happen, I was given no indication of that."

Mr. Downer, however, told a journalist, ""My message to the generals is they should release political prisoners, that they should move towards constitutional reform and the democratization of Burma, that they should engage in constructive dialogue and negotiation with Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy and that in those circumstances, the Burmese economy will have a good chance of achieving some degree of recovery. But until there is political reform in Burma, international investors are not going to show a lot of interest in going there."

In terms of achievement, Mr. Downer's visit was not much different from what was achieved by his Japanese counterpart and the UN Special Envoy Mr. Razali Ismail two months ago. The two earlier visitors were given the same assurances from the generals but five months after releasing Daw Aung Suu Kyi, freeing small numbers of other political prisoners and allowing a limited resumption of political activity by the NLD, the generals still show no sign of moving quickly towards reform. As an Australian journalist commented what the generals did was "no more than a cynical exercise designed to buy more time."

Talks with 'Determined' Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Australia's Foreign Minister Mr. Downer also had a 90-minute meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and officials of the NLD during his visit to Burma, The meeting was not reported by the Burmese press but Thai press quoted Mr. Downer as saying "she was skeptical about the junta's commitment given her experiences in Burmese politics, including its refusal to accept the results of a general election in 1990." Mr. Downer also said "she recognizes the urgency of action to ease the country's plight." Her concern for the country's worsening socioeconomic conditions is reflected in the offer she made to the generals in a recent speech marking the NLD's 14th anniversary. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said, "We will never hesitate to cooperate with the armed forces, based on sincere goodwill...There must be reconciliation and understanding between the politicians and the armed forces for the benefit of the people." No response has been made so far.
Mr. Downer in talks with "determined" but "skeptical" Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

In an interview with the Australian media, Mr. Downer said, "She is very determined and obviously she does very much hope that the representations that we have made and the Japanese in support of the United Nations will encourage the generals to engage in dialogue."

Mr. Downer also said Aung San Suu Kyi supports continued Australian aid programs but as long as they benefit ordinary people and not the military. Her view was that "while there was scope for increased, carefully targeted humanitarian aid, there should be no let-up on the international pressure that has been the most important factor in driving the regime towards compromise." NLD officials said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had reinforced her long-standing view that Australia's engagement with the regime and its failure to back the full range of US and EU sanctions was not helping that process. In particular, she remained critical of a scheme under which Australia has, for several years, been providing human rights training courses for middle-ranking government officials, a program recently extended without consultation with the NLD.

NLD spokesman U Lwin told Australian press, "These courses won't work and they are a waste of money...The people they are giving training to, like the jailers, the magistrates and the police, are not stupid. They know what human rights are. But they are taking their instructions from those above. Australia should be offering training courses to Khin Nyunt and the others."

Australia has sponsored human rights awareness workshops for judicial and government officials. Now Mr Mr. Downer is asking to expand the program to include key leaders in the opposition National League for Democracy.

Making Room at the Top

There has been some speculations about all the military top brass in the State Peace and Development Council getting promotions. Some observers say that occasion which was celebrated with a grand banquet at Mya Yeik Nyo in Rangoon was to keep the military leaders quiet over the court action that was about to be taken against the family of former dictator Gen. Ne Win. But the fact is the self-congratulatory move took place since a year ago. As reported in earlier NewsDesk issues, the military officials--from General Maung Aye to regional commanders of brigadier general rank were already officiating in their newly promoted positions since last year. As per regulations, officers in the Burmese Defense Services who get promoted are required to spend an officiating period of one year in their newly appointed military positions before the new rank is officially confirmed.
The actual promotions came when the military was restructured after the dismissal of two high-ranking generals, Win Myint and Tin Hla. It was also the time when commanders of Bureaus of Special Operations and new regional commanders were appointed. The advancements at the top are more to make way for the promotions at the lower echelons than for any other reason.

The Promotions

According to news agency reports, the promotions included: Senior General Than Shwe who is now a Field Marshal (But Rangoon press continues to refer to him as Senior General), General Maung Aye (below left) is a deputy Senior General, and Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt (below right) is a full General.
According to the Patriotic War Veterans Organization of Burma, among other officers also promoted are Brigadier General Myat Hein who was appointed as the Commander in Chief of Air Force; Brig. Gen. Khin Zaw, commander of Triangle Region Command; Brig. Gen. Tha Aye, commander of Coastal Military Region; Brig. Gen. Sann Sint, Military Appointment General; and Colonel Hla Tun, Director of Ordnance Ser-vices (Ministry of Defense).

Food Scarcity Linked to Militarization

Burma is currently facing rice shortage and pricing problems. The crisis has raised prices of rice to levels beyond the reach of the common people. The problems, according to findings by the "People's Tribunal on Food Scarcity and Militarization in Burma," convened by Asian Human Rights Commission, "details how Burma's ongoing civil war and militarized economy are gradually starving the nation." The findings published last year said, "food scarcity is widespread and serious in Burma today. Provisionally, we find Burma to be militarized, and that a causal nexus links militarization to food scarcity."

Appeasing the State/Army

"Farmers are not free to choose when, how and what to cultivate...(those) in armed conflict zones are prevented from using their labor, land and...in non-conflict zones (they) are compelled to appease the state first, and feed themselves second. Regardless of their own economic well-being, farmers and others are required to provide goods and services to state institutions, especially the army."

Paddy Procurement

The findings said by law Burma's government is empowered "to purchase for redistribution or resale a percentage of all paddy. A compulsory nation-wide program conducted by a government agency, buying substantially below market price... The rationale for the low price paid, about half of market value, is to feed the armed forces and provide discounted rice to civil servants...In remote areas, the army conducts virtually all paddy procurement, arbitrarily and with force...Given the uniform evidence detailing how paddy procurement siphons rice from rural households, and the economic hardship this system creates for farmers, the Tribunal judges it a significant factor in food scarcity."

Forced Labor

Forced labor has been Burma's most widely documented and roundly condemned human rights violation. "Under threat of violence, civilians must work on roads, railways, dams, military installations and a variety of other infrastructure projects" and the practice "is a major drain on Burma's rural economy and a significant cause of food scarcity."

On Militarization

The study found "two major causes of food scarcity to be paddy procurement and public works projects. In theory, paddy procurement is a contract between farmers and the state and there is no apparent institutional need for the army. Nevertheless, the paddy quota has been militarized through coercive military force. Evidence showed that soldiers took rice from farmers late for the quota, and that military officials physically and verbally assaulted farmers for not producing enough paddy for quota." The Tribunal found that "buying paddy, building dams, increasing production and selling rice on the world market all put military interests above food security." Militarization in Burma "is not mere militarism, for two reasons. First, it is a thorough, systematic and nation-wide orientation towards military control of agriculture, replete with violence, intimidation and military fanfare. Second, and perhaps more telling, is that military structure and ideology take over government, abrogating farmers' self-sufficient way of life. It was nearly impossible for farmers to participate in decisions about agriculture. Militarization's values-build-up of the armed forces, hierarchy, and blind obedience-seem incompatible with agrarian living."

Normalizing Relations

U Win Aung, SPDC minister of foreign affairs, recently visited Thailand. Following "friendly and fruitful" talks with Thai leaders, he promised that the border--shut since a diplomatic row in May this year--will be reopened "in a few weeks." In return, Thai Foreign Minister Mr Surakiart will visit the Burmese capital soon to work on the details of the border agreement.

Under the present circumstances, the reopening of the Thai-Burma border, it appears, would be in the interests of both the countries. With border gates presently remaining closed official border trade between the two countries has come to a standstill. NewsDesk found the usually bustling border towns remaining strangely quiet. Though unannounced, Thailand has also reacted to Burma's unilateral closing of the border by stopping fuel oil and gasoline shipments to Burma. The price of gasoline, which is officially sold at 180 kyat per gallon at public stations, has now risen to between 1,400 to 1,800 kyat at Burma border towns.