Mandalay authorities arrest people for using old bags

IMNA, Asah

The local authorities in Mandalay arrested some residents who used old plastic bags to carry vegetables and meat from the city market.

The Mandalay traffic police stopped people with already used rubber bags. They have been arrested and fined, according to witnesses.

“They made us pay a fine of 5000 kyat, because we were carrying the goods we bought in old bags. Another 10 people were arrested with us”, a source close to those arrested previously revealed.

The authorities in Mandalay city announced that people couldn’t use any more old plastic bags. The reason is the bags contain a virus which could harm the health of the people and could spread a disease.

“I noticed 4 or 5 persons paying each a fine of 10 000 kyat to police officers. They all were using old bags”, a witness said.

A new plastic bag costs 50 kyat. The police usually impose a fine between 5000 and 10 000 kyat to those who breach the regulations. Most of the people in Burma prefer to use bags as it is easy to bring anything.

The announcement which bans the use of the old plastic bags was made in June 2009, the “New Light of Myanmar” reported. There are more than 30 spots where the residents of the city can buy new bags from.

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Burma buys electricity from China

by May Kyaw

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – In an ironic twist, Burma is said to have bought 300 megawatts of electricity from the Sino-Burma border town of Ruili in China, to meet the energy requirements of its second largest city of Mandalay.

“Mandalay Division Electric Power Department Divisional Head, Daw Aye Aye Min said that they have sought electricity from China but they don’t know when it will be available,” an official at the Industrial Zone in Mandalay told Mizzima.

The electricity supplied from China will be distributed in both Mandalay Industrial Zone and the Mandalay urban area, which are currently receiving inadequate power supply.

The authorities said, once the electricity is supplied, Mandalay Industrial Zone, currently receiving five hours of power supply per day, will receive it for 10 hours.

The Mandalay Industrial Zone, where cars and vehicles are produced, has a demand for a minimum of 40 megawatt of electricity. But, it is suffering from a deficit of 20 megawatts.

To meet its electricity needs, the Mandalay Industrial Zone is said to be preparing to set up its own electric generation and distribution network at a cost of Kyat 300 million [approximately USD 300,000].

‘Sein Pan’, the industrial area, which was later turned into an industrial zone, over the past 10 years, received regular supply of electricity for the first three years. But later it came down to five hours a day.

“The power supply to our area is from 7 a.m. to noon for the first half of the day and from noon to 5 p.m. in the second half,” Myint Swe, the Chairman of the Industrial Zone said.

While the current electricity tariff is 50 Kyat per unit, it is still not clear how much will be charged for a unit of electricity, once power is bought from China.

Even as Burma buys electricity from China, it has signed agreements with Chinese companies to invest in 10 hydropower projects.

Despite the government’s claim that it will provide 24 hours electricity in 2009, all the cities including former capital Rangoon still face power cuts except newly built Naypyitaw, the jungle capital of Burma.

Even during the monsoons when electricity supply is normally high, residents of Burma’s former capital Rangoon, face shortage of power and receive it for only six hours daily. The city, under blackout, has to put up with sound and carbon pollution from private electric generators.

Chinese Hydroelectric power projects in Burma:

(1) Ye Ywa hydroelectric power project

(2) Paung Laung hydroelectric power project

(3) Salween hydroelectric power project

(4) Seven hydroelectric power projects on Irrawaddy River

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Canal dam breaks, flooding villages

by May Kyaw

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The left canal of Kinda dam in Myitha Township, Mandalay Division, cracked on the 16th of May, inundating 12 villages.

Incessant heavy rainfall is thought responsible for the collapse.

Following the break, four-foot high water cut off communication to the villages and damaged roads. Only after three days of the incident, was relief work able to commence.

People in Myitha have started providing relief materials such as food parcels and rice, but the exact amount of damage caused by the dam breaking has not been ascertained.

"We have started sending rice bags today but they have not yet reached the flooded villages. We are sending these rice bags via three-hand tractor trailers. Some villages are accessible but some as yet are not," a local resident told Mizzima.

On the same day a pond used by villagers from Nyaungbin village, in Nahtogyi Township near Myitha, overflowed its banks.

The overflowing of the pond flooded some villages in Nahtogyi Township and damaged roads in the area, preventing any relief efforts to date.

The left Kinda dam canal, which became operational in 1985, is a major hydroelectric, multi-purpose canal.

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Firearms stolen from military armoury used in robbery

(DVB)–An armed robbery on a gold shop in Mandalay division that left one dead and two injured was carried out using firearms stolen from a government armoury, according to Burmese military intelligence.

The robbery took place on 6 May on a shop in Mandalay’s Yamaethin town. According to the brother of the shop owner, who was shot in the shoulder, three masked men entered around 3.45pm.

“They waited until the street was clear before coming into the shop,” said Myo Thein.

“Then they fired three shots in the air and walked in but people in the shop thought they were just some kids playing around with firecrackers."

Myo Thein said that the men started shooting at the glass counter holding the jewellery.

“Our youngest sister, named Daw Cho Pyone, noticing that they were holding only one gun, jumped up and tried to wrestle the person holding it,” he said.

“He dropped the weapon but managed to grab it back and then shot her on her thigh.”

Cho Pyone, who suffered a broken thigh bone, remains in Mandalay hospital in Mandalay.

The government’s Military Affairs Security in Magwe division’s Yesagyo town confirmed that the weapon and ammunition used in the robbery were stolen from an army stockpile on 4 April.

A Yesagyo resident last week voiced suspicion that the army were involved in the break-in.

“It is impossible to do it without the participation of at least family members of the army,” he said.

“Outsiders dare not come to this kind of territory. They are afraid, as you could be shot if you are too close to the army [camp].

“It is possible that they want to smuggle weapons for sale.”

Senior police and intelligence officials in Magwe are investigating the incident.

Reporting by Naw Say Phaw

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Divide and Conquer, Than Shwe Style

By Buffalohair Gazette

With dissention throughout Burma over Than Shwe’s latest attempt to legitimize his criminal reign with his proposed 2010 election. It is all too obvious his new publication, The New Lie of Myanmar, is in need of fodder to spread vial propaganda. Already there is news of old rivalries and religious differences springing up around Burma. Clearly this is a tactic to keep a suffering nations divided with old fears and past intercessions. With everyone arguing over forgotten differences his campaign of hate can continue while people are at odds with one another. The Roman’s called it “Divide and Conquer”.

The New Lie of Myanmar already tried to smear the KNU to UN Human Rights emissary Tom Quintana with total falsehoods and blatant lies. This propaganda machine tried to place blame for the rape and murder of the Karen’s on the KNU when in fact it was committed by Than Shwe’s death squads who rape and kill with impunity. With eye witness accounts, volumes of photos and video identifying Burmese Troops as the true perpetrators, it is still odd to me why Quintana needed to go to Burma and investigate. Shades of Gambari I fear.

But nothing highlights this act of divide and conquer than an event that took place on February 10. A military unit of 70 well armed soldiers dressed in camouflaged uniforms, AK-47’s M-22’s and other Chinese ordinance, typical of the Burmese Army, robber a convoy of trucks on the bustling Mandalay-Muse border trade route according to an article in the *Kachin News. This event might have passed as a rouge group if it were not for the fact the Burmese Army has done this kind of operation time and time again. The only thing missing were the unite patches but they clearly were the same players who robbed this trade route before.

Obviously this was an attempt to cause animosity between the different ethnic groups by casting suspicions between them. There is no question The New Lie of Myanmar will identify Shan or Kachin troops or even the KNU in the blatant armed robbery. Maybe they will blame the Free Burma Rangers or me. No matter who this trash liner of a publication tries to identify, it is clear Than Shwe’s psychological warfare tactics will try to divide ethnic groups. With this in mind one must weigh the facts fore the truth will be known eventually.

With many people living in the big cities, this propaganda machine could possibly taint public opinion to show cause for continuing Than Shwe’s war on truth and democracy. The outcome would be the continued wholesale arrests and murders of all opposition to his 2010 election. There is a saying that if you tell a lie long enough people will accept it for truth. By poisoning public opinion and causing dissention between ethnic groups Than Shwe will effectively divide a country with his acts of terrorism and placing blame on others. He would also show the world that he is fighting criminals to keep the peace in Burma and justifying his holocaust. Maybe this is just a show for Quintana and the rest of the UN or an excuse the UN needed to qualify the 2010 elections. We must stand vigil since there will be more events such as the one on the Mandalay-Muse trade route. If it smells like a rat, it most probably is. And we all know Than Shwe will stoop to any level to fool the public and the world.

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Gold miners head for the hills

by Maxwell Smith
20 November 2008

Magway (Mizzima) – One decade ago the hills near the town of Yamethin in Mandalay Division were free from human settlements. There were no huts, no satellite televisions, often no human beings; only brush-covered terrain and the local flora and fauna.

But that all changed eight years ago when villagers discovered gold in the foothills 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of the town.

Now, this area, 500 kilometers north of Rangoon, is a hive of activity, with miners coming from all over Burma to dig for the precious yellow metal with single-minded enthusiasm. And many of them do not like outsiders scrutinizing their activities.

"Last month a group of gold diggers attacked a visitor who snapped some photographs," said Tun Kyaw, 34, himself a gold miner.

"They don't like people shooting photographs or video about what they are doing. They don't care who they are. What they care about is the gold," he said.

Tun Kyaw, who comes from Theikbeikkyinn Township, where the mines are located, said his once quiet native area is now famous throughout the country for its gold.

"You can see there are now thousands of people living here hunting for gold. The area is famous. They say nine out of ten people who come here can find gold," he said.

Local estimates put the number of miners at more than 100,000, many of them living in the collection of 800 or so huts that have been erected along the banks of several creeks that wind through the area.

The thousands of workers fulfill a number of different duties, with some digging 24-meter tunnels into the hillsides with the help of manual mining equipment, while others carry or crack stones.

"I moved here from Shan State to work as a carrier. I carry bags of gold nuggets for three miles and earn 5,000 kyat (US$ 4) for one small bag," said 20-year old Maung Lay.

Still others, like Moe Thwe from Shan State, work panning for gold in area creeks.

"We work by commission and get one-third the value of the gold we find. So we can earn more than 100,000 kyat (US$ 80) a month," she said.

More than 60 gold companies work in the area, each of them allotted 20 acres of land. Most of the 3,000 or so workers employed by each company are paid according to the one-third commission scheme.

According to mining experts, each company can expect to extract at least five to ten viss (one viss equals 3.6 lb) of gold from each mine.

Since 2004, numerous companies have commenced work in the area. "Many companies wanted to dig at the old block. Some of them gave five million kyat (US$ 4,000) to the guards to dig at the block for one hour. It's risky but the return is double," said Myo Win, a 29-year old who used to work for a foreign mining company.

But others say the practice is not quite so lucrative, including Myo Thein from Singu Township in Mandalay Division, who said he has lost 30 million kyat (US$ 24,000) searching for gold in prohibited areas.

"Our group found such a small amount of gold we were unable to make back our investment," he said.

"There are still a lot of gold hunters working near the Ivanhoe blocks, gnawing like rats to try to get to the gold veins that foreign experts working for Ivanhoe had identified," he said.

Aside from panning, many miners in the area still use cyanide extraction techniques despite the fact that the method has been banned by the government because of its negative impact on human health and the environment, especially water resources.

Many companies have built 9-square-foot ponds using tarpaulin sheets in which the powder of gold-bearing stones, lime, water and cyanide are mixed and soaked for a week. The gold is then absorbed by carbon cylinders as the mixture passes through pipelines, while the cyanide and other toxic by-products are leeched into the ground.

"If we use the simplest process of panning for gold we cannot make a profit. So we use the cyanide process like everyone else," said Aung Kyaw, a worker whose company recently discovered five viss of gold.

"It is dangerous for people because the cyanide can make them sick and damage the environment. That's why the government has banned the method, but miners still use it," said 29-year old gold hunter Han Kyaw.

Moe Moe, 30, who runs a food shop near a creek that flows from the mining area, said no one dares to drink from local wells because of the presence of cyanide and other toxins.

"Even the people who work in the mines do like we do – they drink bottled water," she said.

But some miners apparently did not get the message. Moe Moe said that just a couple months ago a number of miners suffered from cholera after drinking contaminated water and a team of doctors and nurses had to be brought from town to the mine to treat the victims.

Compounding the problem is the fact that most of the leeching ponds are located near creeks that flow into Kyee Ni Lake in Yamethin Township or into the Paung Laung River. Villagers who live near the creeks, including children, use the water for washing and bathing on a daily basis.

"We use it for bathing because it is the main source of water, but we don't drink it," said Ma Mya from the village of Kindar, about six kilometers (4 miles) away from the mining area.

Aung Kyaw said cyanide wasn't the only danger that miners had to contend with.

"There are also lots of robberies in the area. We all carry knives to protect our gold and our lives," he said.

In an effort to deal with this Wild West atmosphere, the government has appointed about 60 staff – half of them police officers and the other half from the Ministry of Mining – to maintain law and order in the area.

"We often educate the miners not to commit crimes and not to use cyanide for mining," said a high-ranking police officer in Mandalay Division on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media.

"We also have three checkpoints where we inspect people coming into the township because we don't know who they are, where they are from or whether they are trying to smuggle cyanide into the area," he said.

He said the police used to keep those who used cyanide or other illegal mining techniques in custody for 15 days.

"It didn't work because the people we caught just viewed the punishment as a 15-day vacation for their relaxation," he said.

"In September we changed the punishment to seven years in prison. However, we're still making nearly 100 arrests a month because every day more migrants move into the area and keep breaking the law," the police officer said.

He said they have even arrested people who have impersonated military officers by donning uniforms and carrying toy guns.

"They pretend they have the authority to stop people and inspect their goods on their way to the gold mine. When they have confiscated enough goods they take them away to resell them," he said.

"We are also trying to curb the increase of migration into the area by turning away people who are coming to work in the mines," he added.

However, many locals said that Yamethin Township has benefited from the influx of mine workers, which has fuelled a business spurt that has seen the opening of new restaurants, teashops and beer pubs, as well as the development of the transportation and telecommunication sectors.

Locals also said rental prices have increased fivefold since 2000 as demand for housing has skyrocketed.

"Many residents are now making money by renting out rooms and houses to newcomers," said Daw Khin, who rents her house out for 60,000 kyat (US$ 48) a month.

People who own vehicles have also benefited said driver Ko Tun, who uses his small tractor to carry workers up to the mining village.

"Every day I drive more than 20 workers to the mining area. There are a lot of people aside from me making money this way," he said, adding that the fare was 15,000 kyat (US$ 12) each way.

"It costs so much because the road to the mine is in such terrible shape," he explained.

In a country where many estimates place per capita income at less than 200 dollars per year, the prospect of gold in the hills around Yamethin Township has turned this isolated pocket of Burma into a surrealistic bonanza town.

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