Myanmar regime mouthpiece seeks private partner
AFP January 31, 2013, 2:31 am
YANGON (AFP) - The New Light of Myanmar, the fiery
mouthpiece of the former junta, is seeking a private partner as the country's
reformist government loosens its grip on state media, an official said
Wednesday.
While details remain vague, the move raises the
possibility that the government could cede at least some editorial control over
the English-language daily, which for years railed against hostile opposition
and foreign forces.
"We have agreed with the (information) ministry to
invite interested persons for the tender of running the New Light of Myanmar
English version," a member of the Public Service Media Governing Body told
AFP on condition of anonymity.
"It will not be possible for the ministry to run a
daily paper efficiently in terms of human resources. We could expect it to
become a quality paper," said the member of the body, set up in October
when Myanmar's three state newspapers announced a plan to transform into
"public service media".
The New Light has already toned down its rhetoric
considerably since decades of military rule ended in early 2011.
Gone are the old slogans lambasting foreign media such as
the BBC for "killer broadcasts" and "sowing hatred", along
with phrases such as "Anarchy begets anarchy, not democracy".
Instead the publication now includes copious amounts of
Hollywood gossip.
The Myanmar Times weekly, which has voiced hopes of going
daily, is interested in teaming up with the New Light, according to its
co-founder, Australian Ross Dunkley.
"It's a great opportunity at this moment to help
reshape the state press in this country," he said.
Since taking office last year, President Thein Sein has
overseen a number of dramatic moves in Myanmar such as the release of hundreds
of political prisoners and the election of democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi
to parliament.
In August the regime announced the end of pre-publication
censorship, previously applied to everything from newspapers to song lyrics and
even fairy tales. Private journals will also be allowed to publish daily from
April 1.
Thanks to the "dramatic changes", Myanmar rose
to 151st out of 179 in the 2013 World Press Freedom Index, an improvement of 18
places, the Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said on
Wednesday.
***********************************************************
Japan canceling $3.58 billion in Myanmar debt
Japan to write off $3.58
billion in Myanmar debt to encourage reforms
Associated Press – 12 hours
ago
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Japan says it is canceling 326.3
billion yen ($3.58 billion) in debt owed by Myanmar to encourage reforms.
A Japanese Embassy statement Wednesday says the move is
intended to help Myanmar's efforts in democratization, national reconciliation
and economic and social reform.
Myanmar accumulated $8.4 billion in foreign debt during
the socialist regime of the late Gen. Ne Win from 1962 to 1988, and $2.61
billion under the military junta that took over in 1988. An elected government
took power in 2011.
The World Bank announced Sunday that the Japan Bank for
International Cooperation, Japan's overseas development bank, will provide a
bridge loan to Myanmar to cover outstanding debt to the World Bank and the
Asian Development Bank totaling about $900 million. That will allow them to
provide new development loans.
***********************************************************
Bangkok Post - Myanmar robber tries to rape woman
Published: 30 Jan 2013 at
21.09
Online news:
A Myanmarese man was arrested in Pattaya on charges of
attempting to steal a 50-year-old woman's purse and attempting to rape her,
police said on Wednesday.
Pol Capt Wissanu Chaiyasuwan, deputy chief of Pattaya
Police, said the suspect was named as Jamie (surname not given).
The victim, Sujittra Penthep, said the man was riding a
bicycle towards her and snatched her purse in Chon Buri's Banglamung district.
Ms Sujittra said the suspected purse snatcher then
dragged her to a forest nearby and used a knife to threaten her.
She said she pleaded for her life and continuously
screamed until villagers heard her and rescued her on time.
Police said Jamie illegally entered Thailand and
struggled to speak Thai.
***********************************************************
MP: Myanmar needs more reforms
Published: Jan. 30, 2013 at
12:17 PM
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A lawmaker in Myanmar
welcomed the lifting of a ban on public gatherings but said more was needed
from a government keen on political reform.
Myanmar President Thein Sein lifted a 25-year-old ban on
public gatherings in the latest political reform. Myanmar has received
international praise for reforms that began with general elections in 2010.
Parliamentarian Thein Nyunt was quoted by The Irrawaddy,
a Myanmar newspaper published in Thailand, as saying the latest decision lifted
a "burden on civilians."
"I welcomed that they abolished such an unnecessary
order," he said.
The government decided to lift the ban after ruling the
martial order wasn't in line with the country's constitution.
The lawmaker, however, said the government needed to do
more, however. He said the government was still restricting "the free flow
of information" on the Internet.
Human Rights Watch pressed Myanmar's government on
demonstrations early this month when charges were filed against nine activists
for protesting in September without a government permit.
Phil Robertson, director of Asia programs at Human Rights
Watch, said the government needs a "mental reset" in order to
re-assess its stance on democracy given recent political reforms.
***********************************************************
PR Newswire - Digicel Submits Expression Of Interest In
Myanmar
Press Release: Digicel Group
– 13 hours ago
YANGON, Myanmar, Jan. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- With
current mobile penetration well below 10% in Myanmar, Digicel is interested in
rolling out a world-class mobile telecommunications network and has submitted
an expression of interest to the Government of Myanmar.
Digicel has been successful in driving mobile penetration
in a number of underserved countries across the globe, most notably in Haiti
where mobile penetration was just 5% prior to Digicel's 2006 launch and now
stands at approximately 50%.
Digicel is already one year into a two year sponsorship
of the Myanmar Football Federation and recently made a commitment to Special
Olympics Myanmar which will see Digicel supporting all of the organisation's
preparations and fund raising activities as it readies its athletes for the
World Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2015. This is the first time in its
history that Special Olympics Myanmar has received corporate support and is an
extension of Digicel's commitment to support the organisation in all of the markets
where Digicel operates.
Digicel Group CEO, Colm Delves, comments, "Digicel
is known across the globe for being much more than a telecommunications
company. Wherever we do business, we ensure that the people of that country
benefit from our presence and significant investments in infrastructure. There
is so much potential in Myanmar and, by offering first class and first world
communications services that enable the people of Myanmar to achieve
extraordinary things in their day to day lives - and supporting individuals and
communities - we can help them as they affect positive change."
ABOUT DIGICEL
After 11 years of operation, Digicel Group Limited has
over 13 million customers across its 31 markets in the Caribbean, Central
America and the Pacific. Total investment to date stands at over US$4.5 billion
worldwide. The company is renowned for delivering best value, best service and
best network.
Digicel is the lead sponsor of Caribbean, Central
American and Pacific sports teams, including the Special Olympics teams
throughout these regions. Digicel sponsors the West Indies cricket team and is
also the title sponsor of the Digicel Caribbean Cup. In the Pacific, Digicel is
the proud sponsor of several national rugby teams and also sponsors the Vanuatu
cricket team.
Digicel also runs a host of community-based initiatives
across its markets and has set up Digicel Foundations in Jamaica, Haiti and
Papua New Guinea which focus on educational, cultural and social development
programmes.
Visit www.digicelgroup.com for more information.
***********************************************************
New York Times - Myanmar Police Used Phosphorus on
Protesters, Lawyers Say
By THOMAS FULLER
Published: January 30, 2013
BANGKOK — A group of lawyers investigating a violent
crackdown in Myanmar in November that left Buddhist monks and villagers with
serious burns contends that the police used white phosphorus, a munition
normally reserved for warfare, to disperse protesters.
The suppression of a protest outside a controversial
copper mine in central Myanmar on Nov. 29 shocked the Burmese public after
images of critically injured monks circulated across the country. It also gave
rise to fears that the civilian government of President Thein Sein, which came
to power in 2011, was using the same repressive methods as the military
governments that preceded it.
Burmese lawyers and an American human rights lawyer
gathered material at the site of the protest, including a metal canister that
protesters said was fired by the police. It was brought to a private laboratory
in Bangkok, which found that residue in it contained high levels of phosphorus.
Access to the canister and a copy of the laboratory report were provided to a
reporter.
“We are confident that they used a munition that
contained phosphorus,” said U Thein Than Oo, the head of the legal committee of
the Upper Burma Lawyers Network, which helped investigate. “They wanted to warn
the entire population not to protest. They wanted to intimidate the people.”
White phosphorus has many uses in war — as a smoke screen
or incendiary weapon — but is rarely if ever used by police forces.
Reached on Wednesday, Zaw Htay, a director in the office
of Mr. Thein Sein, declined to comment on what kind of weapon was used. “I
can’t say,” he said. “I can’t answer.”
John Hart, a senior researcher at the Chemical Weapons
Program of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said by e-mail
that although white phosphorus was not considered a chemical weapon under a
1993 international convention, it was banned from uses that “cause death or
other harm through the toxic properties of the chemical.”
One of the monks injured at the protest, Ashin
Tikhanyana, 64, has burns over 40 percent of his body and was flown to Bangkok
by the government because Myanmar does not have the facilities to treat such a
serious case.
Two months after the crackdown, Mr. Tikhanyana remains in
intensive care. In an interview on Wednesday in his hospital room, Mr.
Tikhanyana described the moment that the police came to disperse the crowds
before dawn on Nov. 29.
“I saw a fireball beside me, and I started to burn,” he
said. “I was rolling on the ground to try to put it out.”
Dr. Chatchai Pruksapong, a burn specialist treating Mr.
Tikhanyana, said it appeared that the monk was seared with something “severely
flammable.”
Mr. Tikhanyana’s wounds are similar to those Dr. Chatchai
said he saw on soldiers injured by bomb blasts in Thailand’s southern
insurgency.
“Tear gas would definitely not cause this kind of deep
wound,” Dr. Chatchai said.
Myanmar government officials were initially quoted in the
local news media as saying that police officers had thrown “smoke bombs” at
protesters.
The canister found at the protest site appeared to have
“smoke” stenciled on it and looks similar in appearance to smoke hand grenades
once manufactured by the United States, said a security expert and former
colonel in a European army who asked to remain anonymous because he has dealings
in Myanmar. Such smoke grenades emit burning particles within a radius of about
55 feet, he said.
Roger Normand, the American human rights lawyer who
helped investigate the crackdown, said a report from the lawyers would be
released in the next few days.
Mr. Normand arranged to have the canister brought to the
Bangkok laboratory, which is run by ALS, an Australian company that specializes
in testing samples for their chemical content.
In an interview, Mr. Normand said it was “unheard-of” for
highly volatile and dangerous weapons to be used by police forces. “This raises
serious questions about who in the military chain of command could have given
the order to use these weapons,” he said.
The report prepared by Mr. Normand and the Burmese
lawyers has been submitted to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate and
opposition leader, who was appointed by the government soon after the crackdown
to lead a separate, official commission of inquiry. The precise mandate of the
commission is unclear, as is the timing of the release of the commission’s
findings.
The government initially announced that the commission
would report its work on Dec. 31, but that was delayed by a month. It may be
further delayed because Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is on a five-day visit to South
Korea.
The controversy over the copper mine centers on the
government’s effort to relocate villagers in order to expand the mine, which is
co-owned by a Chinese company and the Burmese military. The government ordered
the dispersal of protesters after several months of intermittent
demonstrations. The controversy received widespread coverage in the Myanmar
media partly because land rights have become a major issue as the country opens
up to the world.
But it is a measure of the villagers’ resolve that even
after the violent crackdown they say they are refusing to back down. Aye Net, a
villager who has helped lead the protest movement, said Wednesday by telephone
that villagers were calling for “justice for all those wounded in the
crackdown.”
“And we still want the total abolition of the project,”
she said.
Wai Moe contributed reporting from Yangon, Myanmar, and
Poypiti Amatatham from Bangkok.
***********************************************************
Sin Chew Jit Poh - Myanmar bucks slide in Asia media
freedom: RSF
Foreign 2013-01-30 14:10
BANGKOK, Jan 30, 2013 (AFP) - Myanmar's "paper
revolution" has brought a sharp improvement in freedom of information in
the former pariah state, bucking a general deterioration across much of Asia, a
report said on Wednesday.
Thanks to "dramatic changes", Myanmar rose to
151st out of 179 in the 2013 World Press Freedom Index, an improvement of 18
places, according to Reporters Without Borders.
"There are no longer any journalists or cyber
dissidents in the jails of the old military dictatorship," RSF (Reporters
Sans Frontieres) said.
In August, Myanmar announced the end of pre-publication
censorship that was a hallmark of decades of military rule which finished in
2011.
"Legislative reform has only just begun but the
steps already taken by the government in favour of the media, such as an end to
prior censorship and the permitted return of media organisations from exile,
are significant steps towards genuine freedom of information," RSF said.
The blossoming of media freedom stands in stark contrast
to worsening repression elsewhere in Asia, according to the Paris-based media
watchdog.
Japan suffered an "alarming fall" from 22nd to
53rd place because of censorship of news related to the nuclear accident at a
tsunami-stricken power plant in Fukushima, the report said.
North Korea (178th), China (173rd), Vietnam (172nd) and
Laos (168th) also languish near the bottom of the table as they "refuse to
grant their citizens the freedom to be informed", RSF said.
"Kim Jong-Un's arrival at the head of the Hermit
Kingdom has not in any way changed the regime's absolute control of news and
information," it noted, referring to state control by Pyongyang.
Malaysia fell 23 places to 145th, its lowest-ever,
"because access to information is becoming more and more limited".
The Indian subcontinent also saw a sharp deterioration,
with journalists around the region facing the threat of violence.
In India (140th), "the authorities insist on
censoring the Web and imposing more and more taboos, while violence against
journalists goes unpunished and the regions of Kashmir and Chhattisgarh become
increasingly isolated".
After the "Arab springs" and other protest movements
that brought many changes in the index in 2012, this year "marks a return
to a more usual configuration", according to the report.
Turkmenistan (177th) and Eritrea (179th) joined North
Korea again at the bottom of the table, along with Syria (176th), Somalia
(175th) and Iran (174th), while Finland, the Netherlands and Norway retained
the top three ranks.
***********************************************************
e27 - Telecom operators see high potential in Myanmar,
which recently opened for foreign investment
By Winnie Nelson
| e27 – Wed, Jan 30, 2013
In response to the Myanmar government’s recent plan to
invite foreign investors into the country, four operators have shown interest
in bidding for two national mobile licences in Myanmar. These four operators
include Singaporean operators SingTel and ST Telemedia, Malaysia’s Axiata and
Nordic group Telenor.
Following such vigour, four licences will be issued by
June. According to the government, each will run for 20 years with options to renew,
and a draft telecommunications law will be put before the Myanmar parliament
during the first half of 2013. These foreign investments aim to boost mobile
coverage up to 80% by 2016. Myanmar currently has around 5.5 million
subscribers which make up a mobile penetration of 9%.
According to Axiata, which sees high mobile market value
in Myanmar, it is a logical and interesting market while representing a
strategic market due to its high growth potential. SingTel wants to maintain an
interest in investment opportunities in under-penetrated markets such as
Myanmar, whereas a Telenor spokesman said that they are well-positioned to
contribute in developing a successful mobile industry in Myanmar. To date,
Myanmar’s mobile sector has been controlled by the state-owned Myanmar Posts
and Telecommunications.
According to consulting firm Thura Swiss Ltd., foreign
investors are allowed to set up a hundred percent foreign-owned company or a
joint venture with a Myanmar partner. As a result, Taiwan handset vendor HTC is
also looking to tap into the country and this could help drive the company’s
growth in the medium term. To attract local buyers, HTC has developed a new
input system for Burmese characters. Not only that, Thura Swiss also mentioned
that if more licenses are issued, this could lead to higher competition among
carriers, thus providing free SIM cards for users (which currently cost US$100
each). As a result, this creates a higher demand for mobile phones.
***********************************************************
Fuseworks - Otago partners with University of Medicine in
Myanmar
By Fuseworks Ltd. Jan 30 02:32pm
The University of Otago has signed an agreement with the
University of Medicine in Myanmar (also known as Burma) to collaborate on
research, training, and capacity building in areas including infectious
disease.
Myanmar is the second largest country in Southeast Asia
and home to more than 60 million people. In 2008 Myanmar embarked on a process
of reforms towards a liberal democracy, a mixed economy, and reconciliation.
These developments have opened opportunities for increased engagement with
international partners, including with New Zealand. Based in Yangon, the
University of Medicine is Myanmar’s oldest medical school. University of
Medicine plays a major role in the training of medical doctors and allied
health sciences professionals.
The Rector of University of Medicine, Professor Than Cho,
says "we are delighted to be embarking on this new relationship with
colleagues at the University of Otago.
"International partnerships help to strengthen our
ability to address pressing national health needs. Much can be achieved by
collaboration between the oldest and most distinguished universities in Myanmar
and New Zealand."
University of Otago Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene
Hayne welcomed the initiative saying that universities have a duty to assist in
reducing such health disparities worldwide through research, education, and
service.
"I am excited that Otago is able to contribute to
international progress by partnering with a major provider of health education,
research, and service in Myanmar," Professor Hayne says.
Professor John Crump, McKinlay Professor of Global Health
and Co-Director, Centre for International Health, says substantial, long-term
collaborations with institutions in low-resource settings are the fundamental
building blocks of global health initiatives by universities based in developed
countries.
"These form the basis for meaningful exchange and
activities in the areas of research, teaching, and service with a range of
benefits for both partners," he says.
The collaboration between the University of Medicine and
the University of Otago will have an initial focus on research, training, and
capacity building on infectious diseases and medical microbiology. However, it
is anticipated that the relationship will expand over time to engage with a
range of disciplines across the institutions both within and beyond the health
sciences.
***********************************************************
ABC Online - Australia and Burma sign development
agreement
Posted 2 hours 53 minutes ago
Australia and Burma's governments have signed an
agreement that will allow aid to be delivered through a direct relationship, as
the country pushes forward with political, economic and social reforms.
The Memorandum of Understanding on development cooperation
is the first to be signed between Burma and a western nation.
The agreement comes as Australia announced this week it
will inject $15 million into education programs that it hopes will reach
160,000 children.
Director General of Australia's official aid agency
AusAID, Peter Baxter, told Radio Australia's Connect Asia there is "an
enormous window of opportunity" to get behind Burma's reforms.
"What this MoU does is set the platform for an
ongoing dialogue with the government about its reform priorities," Mr
Baxter said.
"Sixty years of isolation and military rule has
meant the systems of government in Myanmar are very undeveloped and so...we
will be very cautious about how we put money through government systems."
Mr Baxter says the Australian government has committed to
increasing its program in Burma to $100 million by 2015.
Audio: Director General of AusAid, Peter Baxter, speaks
to Connect Asia (ABC News)
Australia and the United Kingdom this week opened a joint
office in Naypyidaw, which they say will allow them to work more closely with
Burma's government.
Mr Baxter says Australian authorities are pressing
Burma's government to resolve the ongoing conflict between government troops
and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) rebels.
***********************************************************
0 comments:
Post a Comment