Burma News International

Date: January 13, 2005

 

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(1) Border war gets in way of tourism

(2) Bangladesh- Burma Border Trade Turns Downward

(3) Military authourities destroyed cross erected (In Burmese)*

(4) Rice production decline this year in Arakan (In Burmese)*

(5) Campaigners Protest Trilateral Gas Meet

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* For Burmese Language stories please go to the BNI webpage, www.bnionline.net




Border war gets in way of tourism

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S.H.A.N

January 12

 

Some local authorities have tried to prevent reports of the ongoing

conflict right on the border at Maehongson from getting out, fearing

that the news would stop holiday makers from visiting the province,

according to local sources.

 

"They were mad when some TV channels covered the engagement between the

Karenni and Burma armies (on Doi Yamoo, 15 kilometers west of

Maehongson) and villagers fleeing from the shellings," said a reporter.

who asked not to be named. "They were afraid tourists who are coming to

see the Padaung long-necks would turn back instead."

 

Maehongson is known for the Padaung a.k.a Kayan tribe, whose chief

characteristic is the extraordinary neckband of brass coils worn by

their women.

 

"Thousands visit the Padaung each day," said another local reporter.

"Most of them, however, are Thais who, because of the Tsunami

catastrophe, redirected their holiday destinations from the south to the

north."

 

The 800-strong Burma Army and its allies that have arrived in border

areas opposite Maehongson since Dec. 24 began shelling Karenni positions

on Doi Yamoo (Nyan Moo in Karenni) on Jan. 6. More than 10 mortar shells

fell inside Thai territory on the evening of Jan. 10 when 168 villagers

of Mae Suay Oo in Phabong tract under Queen Sirikit's project were

forced to abandon their homes to seek refuge in neighboring villages

 

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Bangladesh- Burma Border Trade Turns Downward

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Kaladan News

 

Teknaf, January 12: Burma-Bangladesh border trade has turned downward

due to some dealings by a new administration body, according to our

source from Teknaf, a Bangladesh border town.

 

After the sack of prime minister Khin Nyunt  last Oct. 18,

administration is being conducted temporarily by customs, police,

immigration and the army, excluding Military Intelligence, in place of

the Nasaka Force, so administration changed a little, he said.

 

The new administrative body imposed restrictions on businessmen’s

movements in mid-December upsetting border trade between the two

neighboring countries, sources said.

 

Due to restrictions, revenue collection at the Burmese border declined

to around 550 million takas during the last six months, the custom

officer of Teknaf said.

 

It is also alleged that since the beginning of the border trade,

non-cooperation from Burmese authorities has affected normal trade

relations between the two countries.

 

At present, the new administration body is not issuing visas to Burmese

businessmen, Bangladeshi Businessmen are also not allowed to stay in the

country, a businessman from Maungdaw town said, seeking anonymity.

 

As a result, provisions for visiting and staying in Burma for business

purposes are being hampered seriously, sources said.

 

When asked, some local businessmen expressed their opinions that traders

of both countries should be allowed to carry out business as per an

agreement signed earlier for the sake of existing border trade between

Bangladesh and Burma.

 

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Campaigners Protest Trilateral Gas Meet

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Mungpi

Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)

January 11, 2005

New Delhi

 

In protest against a tri-state gas pipeline meeting in Burma's capital,

Rangoon Jan. 12-13, an exile Burmese campaign group has sent a

memorandum to the Indian embassy in Rangoon urging India to postpone

extraction of Shwe natural gas from Burma until a democratically elected

government is installed.

 

The memorandum, dated Jan. 9, urged the Indian Government to" postpone

extraction of Shwe natural gas deposits until a time when the affected

people... can participate in the decisions about the use of their local

resources without fearing persecution."

 

Speaking to Mizzima News, Mr Kim, coordinator of the Shwe Gas Campaign

Committee (India, said that given past experience, the military regime

in Burma will implement the projects using force labor, forced

relocation and large military deployment to protect the gas pipeline.

This will result in rape and other human rights violations, therefore,

as a free and democratic country, India should postpone this project, he

said.

 

"We want India to see the suffering that the project will cause to the

people of Burma,” Kim said.  “It's not that we do not want India to have

a relationship with Burma, but we are simply asking India to wait until

Burma gains democracy."

 

Despite the protest, India, Burma and Bangladesh are holding a

trilateral meeting Jan. 12-13 in Rangoon to explore possibilities of

laying natural gas pipelines from Burma to India via Bangladesh.

 

India last week struck a 25-year deal to import 7.5 million tons of

liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Iran starting in 2009, but is still

looking for more fuel as demand is expected to rise to 400 million

standard cubic meters per day by 2025 from 90 million per day available

now. Domestic production of fuel meets only half of the demand.

 

Reportedly, Burma agreed to supply gas to India, but a bottleneck in

negotiations remains with Bangladesh which the proposed pipeline would

passthrough.

 

Determined as it is, India is ready to import gas through the proposed

pipeline either by crossing Bangladesh or by-passing the country

altogether. In the 1990s, the Burmese military junta, in contract with

transnational oil companies, Unocal (US) and Total(France), constructed

gas pipelines in southern Burma.

 

The companies also contracted the military junta to provide security for

the projects. Thus, the Burmese army engaged in a pattern of systematic

human rights abuses and environmental degradation to fulfil its

contractual responsibilities to Unocal and Total. There have been

reports of extra-judicial killings, torture, rape, forced relocations,

forced labor and extortion by pipeline security forces.

 

According to analysts, gas reserves in the Shwe field are estimated to

be as much as 14 trillion cubic feet. Gas from Shwe field in block A-1

is expected to be imported to India by 2009.

 

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Burma News International is a network of nine exiled media groups

such as Mizzima News, Shan Herald Agency for News, Kao Wao News Group,

Khonumthung News Group, Narinjara News, Kaladan Press Network,

Independent Mon News Agency, Karenni Information

Network Group and Network Media Group.

 

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