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Daewoo invest $5.6 billion in Burma gas

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Staff Reporter
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Aug 25, 2009 (DVB), South Korean company Daewoo International is waiting for the go-ahead from the Burmese government to invest nearly $US5.6 billion in Burma’s gas fields, with the produce destined for China.

If approved, the deal will see Daewoo supplying the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) over the course of 30 years with around seven percent of the country’s current gas consumption, although this is expected to grow rapidly.

Burma has huge offshore natural gas reserves in the Bay of Bengal which already cater for much of Thailand’s energy needs.

Advocacy groups have complained that the vast majority of Burma’s natural energy is being shipped out of the country, despite many of the major cities suffering frequent blackouts.

Daewoo will be leading a consortium of companies, which includes India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp and GAIL company, the Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise, and the Korea Gas Corp.

The project includes the construction of 2,800 kilometer oil and gas pipelines, known as the Shwe Gas Project, running from Burma’s western Arakan state to China’s southwestern Yunnan province.

Until now China has relied on the congested Strait of Malacca, between Singapore and Indonesia's Sumatra peninsular, to transport oil from the Middle East to its energy-hungry population. According to Reuters, Burma will be able to tap the pipelines once they are in operation.

In June the Korean government rejected a complaint from two environmental advocacy groups, EarthRights International (ERI) and Shwe Gas Movement, that allegedly exposed human rights abuses surrounding the project.

China and Korea are two of only a handful of countries that still invest substantially in Burma, with China being its main trading partner and political ally.

Burma is subject to sanctions from a number of Western countries, including the United States and European Union, although these do not block investment in Burma’s natural energy.

The EU recently ratcheted up its sanctions package on Burma, following the detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi earlier this month.

The United States is currently reviewing its policy towards Burma, following comments from some senior officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, that sanctions had failed.

Reporting by Francis Wade

SPECIAL: Digging the Tunnels, Part Three

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Staff Reporter
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2

Aug 25, 2009 (DVB), Burma is aggressively bolstering its defence in the event of an invasion, according to a series of leaked reports and testimonies that outline a myriad of projects ranging from tunnel digging to possible nuclear proliferation.

To read the full story, click here

Armed groups to step up resistance

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Staff Reporter
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Aug 25, 2009 (DVB), Burma’s armed ethnic groups will increase cooperation with ceasefire groups in an effort to strengthen resistance against government army forces, following a meeting of eight opposition groups.

The alliance of ethnic armed groups, the National Democratic Front (NDF), concluded its Central Executive Committee's three-day meeting on Sunday.

The eight-strong coalition, which includes the Karen National Union (KNU) and New Mon State Party (NMSP), two of Burma’s principle armed opposition groups, discussed the ongoing issue of government pressure to transform ceasefire groups into border patrol forces.

A number of the ceasefire groups, including the NMSP, have resisted the pressure to return to what the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) calls the ‘legal fold’, which would give them legitimacy as groups but significantly weaken their manpower and influence.

"We wholeheartedly support the decision of our brothers, the ceasefire groups, not to agree with the SPDC's plan to transform them into border militias," said Mai Phone Kyaw, general secretary of the NDF.

A statement released by the NDF said that ethnic groups "have a right to operate in their own regions to protect their own people".

Mai Phone Kyaw said the junta is attempting to distract from growing international pressure on it by stepping up confrontation against opposition groups.

The government’s latest offensive against the KNU, which began in June, has resulted in nearly 5000 Karen fleeing across the border into Thailand.

The conflict between the Burmese government and the KNU, which has stretched over 60 years, is thought to be one of the world’s longest running.

"We discussed in our meeting how to step up our resistance and to prepare for a combat," Mai Phone Kyaw said.

"We will continue our resistance against the SPDC junta by any means possible until we are granted our rights as the ethnic people of Burma."

Reporting by Aye Nai

Gay beauty contest for HIV/AIDS education

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Staff Reporter
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Aug 24, 2009 (DVB), A gay beauty contest is to be held at a top Rangoon hotel later this month to raise funds for HIV/AIDS education, according to sources from Burma’s entertainment world.

A journalist in Rangoon said that the event, known as Red Ribbon, may have been inspired by a similar event held recently in the country’s former capital that received high commendation.

"Last month a similar contest was held at Thingangyun [township's] Orange Supermarket and a lot of people showed up there despite fairly expensive ticket prices that stood around 15,000 to 25,000 kyat [$US15 to $US25] ," said the source.

"People are going to watch this one too , they've been waiting for it."

Red Ribbon has been organised jointly by Revlon Cosmetic and Thidar, the wife of business tycoon Tayza, who owns Htoo Trading Company.

Aung Myo Min, director of the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, welcomed the news as a positive sign that Burma has become more open in its acceptance of the homosexual community.

"I welcome such events that favour the gay community in Burma , this shows that society is beginning to accept them who, in the past, were left out," said Aung Myo Min.

"Before, people used bind the links between HIV/AIDS and homosexual people , they were reduced to a level nothing more than their wigs and their make-up.

"We would be more satisfied to see them being regarded as a part of the society which is becoming more open and accepts people the way they are," he said.

It is only in the last ten years that the government has acknowledged the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Burma.

Aid groups have criticised the regime for not investing enough money to tackle the epidemic, with only 0.3 percent of the annual budget being spent on healthcare.

It is estimated that 240,000 people are infected by the HIV virus in Burma and 76,000 are in need of life-saving anti-retroviral treatment.

Of those, only 18,000 are receiving proper medical treatment and as a result 25,000 people are dying each year.

Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat

Rangoon factory fire kills three

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Staff Reporter
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Aug 24, 2009 (DVB), Three people have died after a fire broke out last week in an alcohol factory in Rangoon, causing nearly $US7 million worth of damage.

The cause of the fire, which broke out on 22 August in a distillery belonging to the International Beverages Trading Co. Ltd in Rangoon’s satellite district of Hlegu, is unknown.

According to a company official, the fire, fueled by highly inflammable materials used for distilling liquor, spread first to other parts in the factory compounds and it took some 30 fire trucks about six hours to completely suppress it.

"Some people speculate that it started from a boiler room where a lot of the materials stored there are highly inflammable," said the official, adding that "the whole factory was completely destroyed".

An official on duty at Hlegu police station said three people were killed in the incident while one was missing. Six people were sent to hospital with burn injuries. One fire truck that arrived at the scene also caught on fire, he said.

The IBTC's produces Grand Royal Whisky, one of the most successful brands in Burma.

The company's managing director, Aung Moe Kyaw, is the founder and owner of Ukthar United Football Club, representing Bago division in the country’s Myanmar National League Football competition.

Reporting by Min Lwin

Elections could take Burma ‘in unexpected directions’

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Staff Reporter
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Aug 21, 2009 (DVB), The elections in Burma next year will herald a complete transformation of the country's political landscape, with an opportunity to influence Burma's future direction, says a think tank report.

While many Burma observers have criticised the looming elections as a means to entrench military rule, an International Crisis Group (ICG) report, Myanmar: Toward the elections, says the outcome is unpredictable.

The elections, scheduled for March next year, are "significant because the controversial constitution on which they are based involves a complete reconfiguration of the political structure", says the report.

The introduction of a presidential system and fourteen regional governments constitutes the "most wide-ranging shake-up in a generation", it says.

The constitution, ratified in May 2008 only weeks after cyclone Nargis hit Burma, appears to guarantee 25 per cent of parliamentary seats to the military even prior to voting.

The government claimed that 92 per cent of the Burmese population backed the constitution, although reports of voter intimidation and vote rigging have been documented.

"The change will not inevitably be for the better, but it offers an opportunity to influence the future direction of the country," says ICG.

"Ultimately, even assuming that the intention of the regime is to consolidate military rule rather than begin a transition away from it, such processes often lead in unexpected directions."

Last week's sentencing of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months under house arrest means she will not be able to participate in the elections, with many seeing her trial as a ploy to ensure this.

The sentencing "further undermined what little credibility the [elections] may have had," said the report, adding however that "All stakeholders should be alert to opportunities that may arise to push the new government toward reform and reconciliation".

Senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) today agreed to urge regional foreign ministers to appeal to the Burmese junta for the release of Suu Kyi, marking a break with its policy of non-interference in internal affairs of member countries.

Reporting by Francis Wade

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