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HEADLINES
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AP - The Hungry Are Fed, But Myanmar Survivors' Mental Anguish Goes On Two Months After Cyclone
Reuters - Myanmar blogger charged with offending generals
IRIN - MYANMAR: Thousands unable to return home
IRIN - GLOBAL: A dollar more for climate change adaptation, a dollar less for health
EARTHtimes - Myanmar business tycoon and Malaysian charges with drug trafficking
Nasdaq - Red Cross Hikes Appeal For Myanmar To $72.5 Million
Asia Times - Myanmar signs up energy partners
Bernama - Myanmar Plans Resettlement For 7,000 Cyclone Victims
Bernama - Special Committee Investigates Alleged Trafficking Of Myanmars
Xinhua - FAO to provide more emergency relief aid supplies to Myanmar
The Hindu - Indian company to start drilling gas in Myanmar
Mission Network News - Help for Myanmar farmers and children
KXRM, CO - Sports mission trip makes a difference in Myanmar
Cellular-News. com - 3G Network Launched in Burma
Gulf Times - Asean ‘emerges stronger after Nargis, rice crisis’
BBC News - Burma aid tents through at last
Irrawaddy - Regime Asks UN to Stop Press Conferences in Bangkok
Irrawaddy - Report Slams Beijing’s Burma Policy
Mizzima News - Prince Charles meets Burmese students
Mizzima News - G-8 leaders urge junta to free Aung San Suu Kyi
DVB News - 88 generation student leaders still in poor health

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The Hungry Are Fed, But Myanmar Survivors' Mental Anguish Goes On Two Months After Cyclone
AP - Wednesday, July 9

KUNGYANGON, MYANMAR: As the crowd gathered in the hall of a Buddhist monastery to receive their free lunch, Hnin Mya sat listlessly, oblivious to the smell of warm curry, the sounds of clinking utensils and the chatter of her compatriots.

Unlike most survivors of Cyclone Nargis whose lives have begun to return to normal, Hnin Mya has withdrawn into silence since the storm swept away her husband and two young children two months ago.
She tried to recount her loss, but words failed her. She started sobbing quietly, her body shaking.

"She sits and stares at the river the whole day. But she frantically searches for a place to hide whenever she hears strong wind or heavy rain," said U Kaitila, a monk at the monastery, which has provided shelter for Hnin Mya and 16 families made homeless by the storm.

The dead have been buried or cremated, the hungry fed and a massive effort to provide shelter has been launched since the 2-3 May cyclone. But the mental trauma affecting survivors like Hnin Mya may not be so easy to deal with, and it appears to be widespread.

"You can have the supplies, you can deal with a lot of practical problems ... but in the end people also need support to reconstruct their lives and make it worth living," said Kaz de Jong, a mental health specialist from the humanitarian group Medecins Sans Frontieres who traveled to some of the hardest hit areas in the country's Irrawaddy delta.

He recalled a woman telling him: "You know you are all worried about rice, and enough rice, that's important, but do you also worry that people must also have motivation to eat it? At this moment my life is not worth living. ... I've lost all my family members."

Some 80,000 people were killed in the storm, with another 50,000 unaccounted for, and hundreds of thousands of families had homes battered or destroyed.

Preliminary findings of a survey undertaken by the government, U.N. agencies and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations found that 22% of storm-affected households reported psychological stress.

Common symptoms among survivors include the inability to sleep, recurrent nightmares and flashbacks, apathy, absentmindedness and concentration problems.

Some victims also experience headaches, body pains and palpitations.

"Some people start avoiding places, people and conversations which remind them of the event," said de Jong. Others "become hyperactive, working nonstop to avoid their mind wandering off to what happened and what is lost."

"People report that they have (the) impression that everything takes a lot of effort and they've lost energy, in many cases also their motivation, to rebuild," he said.

Short-term psycho-social trauma is common after terrifying and life-threatening events, but some victims will suffer mental problems for months or years, said Surachet Satitniramai, director of Thailand's National Medical Emergency Services Institute, who headed a team of about 30 Thai health specialists who worked in the devastated area.

Even after concerns about displacement, separation from loved ones, poverty and livelihood are addressed, "some may never fully recover," Surachet said.

Myanmar government medical teams sent to the delta include mental health experts, but since the country has never before experienced a tragedy on this scale, they may not be as well-qualified as outsiders who have dealt with similar disasters, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

However, "it makes more sense for local doctors to deal with mental health issues since they understand the culture and how people react," said Surachet.

"Outside experts can help but there is a language barrier which makes diagnosis and treatment difficult," he said. "Myanmar people are very reserved and resilient and they may smile when they see a stranger, so it may be more difficult to detect cases of mental trauma."

Many of the same Buddhist monks who provided food and shelter in the storm's wake are able to offer spiritual comfort as well.

"It is our duty to give them courage to move on and rebuild their lives," said U Pinyatale, a 45-year-old abbot who provided shelter for some 100 villagers living along the Pyapon river. "Myanmar people are very spiritual and religious and that is where they find their strength to continue living."

Healing is difficult, though.

Nyo Nyo Than, 35, said she still hears the screams of her four-year-old son _ swept away by the waters _ every time she tries to close her eyes. Two months after the cyclone, she still has difficulty eating or sleeping.

"He kept screaming that he didn't want to take a bath when we were floating in the river," she said, her face covered with tears. "He was really scared so he pretended we were just taking a bath before I lost my grip on him. I still cry every time I look at the river."

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Myanmar blogger charged with offending generals
Reuters - Wednesday, July 9

YANGON, July 9 (Reuters) - A Myanmar court has charged popular local blogger Nay Phone Latt with causing "public offence" by posting caricatures of the country's ruling generals on the Internet, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

His friend Thin July Kyaw was also charged on Tuesday with violating video and electronic laws in the former Burma, where the media is tightly controlled by the military government.

Nay Phone Latt, a former youth member of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) ran three Internet cafes in the former capital Yangon. He was arrested with his friend were arrested in January.

The two were charged under section 505 (b) of the Penal Code for "inducing public offence to the state or against public tranquillity", their lawyer Aung Thein told Reuters.

He said Nay Phone Latt was also charged under the Electronic Act "for posting caricatures of regime leaders on his blogs".

The junta was caught by surprise last year when bloggers and citizen journalists relayed pictures and video to the outside world of the regime's crackdown on monk-led protests against military rule and economic hardship.

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Thousands unable to return home
09 Jul 2008 11:43:14 GMT

LABUTTA, 9 July 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of cyclone survivors living in displaced persons camps in Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Delta worry about the prospects of returning to their villages, many of which were devastated by the category four storm.

There are 9,000 internally displaced (IDPs) in three camps in Myanmar's southern Labutta township, a significant drop over earlier numbers, when up to 40,000 people were staying in 45 camps of varying sizes.

"We've been told we can stay one more month. After that we don't know what we will do," said Phu Gyi, a 33-year-old fisherman from Shwe Kyun Tha village, about three hours by boat from Labutta. He lives in a tent at the government-run "3 mile" IDP camp - a reference to its distance from the town centre.

The government is reportedly offering incentives to encourage residents to return, including covering transport costs, as well as a number of food and non-food related items. In addition, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper announced the construction of some 4,000 homes in the area.

However, returning now could prove difficult.

Phu Gyi's village was devastated by Cyclone Nargis, which left more than 138,000 dead or missing on 2 and 3 May, and affected some 2.4 million.

The UN now estimates that just under half this number will need assistance for the next six months.

According to the World Food Programme (WFP), some 724,000 people in the delta alone will require food aid for at least six months.

In Labutta, one of the worst-hit areas, just over half the 374,000 inhabitants were severely affected by the cyclone and half its 500 villages destroyed.
Bleak prospects

In Shwe Kyun Tha, 800 of the village's 1,000 inhabitants perished, Phu Gyi said. He worries about looking after his five children in the months ahead. "How am I supposed to feed my family?" he asked - a question echoed around the camp.

"I have five children. Is it reasonable to expect that I will be able to care for them?" asked one woman.

"My village was washed away completely. I have nothing," chimed in another.

Such stories of loss are common among camp residents. Two months on, most do nothing more than while away the hours in their tents in a bid to escape the stifling heat or the torrential rains that accompany it.

While conditions in the camps are far from ideal, residents at least have access to regular food as well as water and sanitation facilities.

WFP distributes a two-week ration of rice, beans, salt and oil to camp residents.

Sitting under the blue tent he shares with three other families at the camp, Phu Gyi knows things could be worse – particularly if he returns prematurely.

Having lost his home, his boat and his fishing nets, his prospects for restarting his life at this early stage look all but impossible.

"If we can, we will try to restart our lives. Perhaps I can return to fishing, but I lost everything in the storm. I will need help," he said.

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A dollar more for climate change adaptation, a dollar less for health
GLOBAL:

JOHANNESBURG, 9 July 2008 (IRIN) - The decision by the Group of Eight (G8) countries to divert money from their Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) funds to help poor countries adapt to climate change has been slammed. The eight industrialised countries have also come under fire for failing to fix short- and medium-term targets to cut dangerous greenhouse gas emissions, which scientists say are warming up the planet.

"This [diversion of ODA funds] is terrible news - every ODA dollar diverted towards climate adaptation would mean a dollar less for health and education [programmes] in developing countries," Antonio Hill, senior policy advisor at Oxfam, the UK-based development agency, told IRIN.

The G8 countries met this week in Hokkaido, Japan, where they pledged US$6 billion as part of their ODA to new Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), which is to comprise two funds: one to help provide clean technology, the other to build adaptive capacity in poor countries. Both funds will be managed by the World Bank.

The Group of Five, representing the emerging economies of China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, which met outside the G8 forum in Japan, called for "new" and "innovative financial mechanisms" to mobilise "additional" money without diverting ODA and other multilateral resources to alleviate poverty.

Oxfam said the money pledged to the CIFs was a "drop in the bucket", and pointed out that Ethiopia's immediate climate adaptation needs alone would cost $800 million.

The development agency also highlighted the funding imbalance between the G8-backed CIFs and the United Nations adaptation fund.

The CIFs had drawn the disapproval of civil society ahead of the Hokkaido meeting, as money under both its funds will be provided in the form of loans, which non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Oxfam say is a violation of the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP). PPP is widely acknowledged as a general principle of international environmental law and is one of the fundamental principles of the European community's environmental policy.

"Pathetic" long-term vision

At the last G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, the rich countries agreed to consider a global target of at least a 50 percent cut in emissions by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.

"Confirming the results of last year's summit in Heiligendamm is hardly a remarkable outcome," said Kim Carstensen, Director of Global Climate Initiative of the conservation NGO, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), in a statement. "So little progress after a whole year of ministerial meetings and negotiations is not only a wasted opportunity, it falls dangerously short of what is needed to protect people and nature from climate change."

The world has until the December 2009 climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, when a new agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions, to become effective after 2012, is expected to be approved.

A new agreement is needed because the first commitment phase of the Kyoto Protocol - made by developed countries in 1997 to cut their discharge of harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and also to help poor countries cut theirs - ends in 2012. Scientists and environmentalists say time is running out.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a scientific intergovernmental body set up by the World Meteorological Organisation and the UN Environment Programme, has suggested cuts of between 25 and 40 percent by 2020 to avoid a 2°Celsius increase in global temperature, which is expected to destroy 30 to 40 percent of all known species, generate bigger, fiercer and more frequent heat waves and droughts, and more intense weather events like floods and cyclones.

At the last UN meeting on the Protocol in December 2007, Oxfam's Hill pointed out that at least four European G8 members had agreed on the need for cuts ranging from 25 to 40 percent by 2020. But "Canada, the US and Japan are holding the world hostage on 2020 targets – and poor people are paying the price," he said.

The US, which has refused to endorse the Kyoto Protocol, says that growing economies such as China and India, which are among the world's biggest emitters of dangerous gases, should also make mandatory cuts.

Hill said the G5 countries had said they were willing to take on mandatory 50 percent cuts in emissions by 2050, if the rich countries would agree to at least take on 25 to 40 percent cuts in emissions below 1990 levels by 2020.

"The G8 are responsible for 62 percent of the carbon dioxide accumulated in the Earth's atmosphere, which makes them the main culprit of climate change and the biggest part of the problem," said the WWF's Carstensen.

Scientists have in fact called for reductions of 80 percent to 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The UK, in a bilateral agreement with South Africa this week, announced that it was willing to commit to the higher emission cut target of between 80 and 95 percent by 2050.

"To get there, global emissions have to peak and decline in 10 to 15 years, and rich nations must reduce emissions by 25 to 40 percent by 2020. These crucially important necessities are not reflected in the G8 communiqué," said Carstensen.

Hill said negotiations would have to continue at the next big UN climate meeting in Poland in December this year.

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FAO to provide more emergency relief aid supplies to Myanmar
www.chinaview. cn  2008-07-09 10:20:49

YANGON, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations will provide more emergency relief aid supplies to storm survivors in two cyclone-hard- hit regions, the state newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.

The FAO's emergency aid project, which will help storm survivors in Yangon and Ayeyawaddy divisions with the resumption of their agricultural and fishery production, was signed between the UN agency and the Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, the report said.

The FAO has earlier planned to donate 600 cows and cattle for four cyclone-hit areas in Myanmar to help restart agricultural cultivation, according to the Livestock Breeding Department.

The four cyclone-hit regions, to be donated with such cows and cattle under the FAO program involving Myanmar Livestock Breeding Association and the UNAID, are Kungyankon, Mawlamyinegyun, Ngaputaw and Phyapon.

The FAO purchased the cows and cattle from lesser-cyclone- hit region of Bago and cyclone-free northern region of Mandalay for the donation.

According to other local reports, altogether nearly 1,400 domestically- donated draught buffaloes and cows have been distributed to the cyclone-hit areas for recultivation.

These cattle were supplied by well wishers from other divisions and states of Kayin, Mon, Bago, Rakhine, Shan.

Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states -Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on last May 2 and 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.

The storm has killed 84,537 people, leaving 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured according to the latest official death toll.

Altogether 300,000 cows and cattle died in cyclone-hard- hit Ayeyawaddy and Yangon divisions.

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Myanmar business tycoon and Malaysian charges with drug trafficking
EARTHtimes -
Posted : Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:36:02 GMT

Yangon - A well-known Myanmar business tycoon with close ties to the military, and a Malaysian national have been arrested for drug trafficking and are facing trial, police sources confirmed Wednesday.

Maung Weik, the 35-year-old founder of the Maung Weik & Family business group involved in trading and real estate, was arrested on May 31 on charges of trafficking in Ectasy and Ketamine, catering to Myammar's wealthy youths who include many offspring of the ruling military junta.

Malaysian national Peter Too, was also arrested, and is standing trial along with five other Myanmar nationals including Aung Min, Nay Tun Lwin, Kyaw Phone Naing, Kyaw Hlaing and Kyaw Kyaw Win for engaging in drug trafficking since 2003, sources said.

The trial of Maung Weik, who like most successful Myanmar businessmen has close ties with the military, started on June 10, police said.

News of the arrests and trial has been kept out of the state- controlled Myanmar media. Drug trafficking in Myanmar carries a life sentence.

Drug addiction is rife in Myanmar, once one of the world's main suppliers of opium and its refined derivative heroin, but now a major producer of methamphetamines.

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Red Cross Hikes Appeal For Myanmar To $72.5 Million
Nasdaq -
07-09-080528ET

GENEVA (AFP)--The Red Cross on Wednesday said it was increasing its appeal for Myanmar to $72.5 million to help victims recover from the destruction wrought by Cyclone Nargis.

The programme covered by the revised appeal would last three years and would include longer-term disaster reduction plans, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

These would involve activities such as mapping out most vulnerable regions, preparing emergency evacuation routes as well as helping communities with emergency evacuation drills, IFRC spokesman Zach Abraham said.

In the immediate aftermath of the cyclone which left over 138,000 dead or missing, the IFRC had sought $50 million for immediate aid action.

The aid agency's head of the Asia Pacific zone Alistair Henley said: "Hundreds of thousands of poor people lived precarious lives long before the cyclone hit them."

With the cyclone having "left them weaker and more vulnerable than ever", Henley said: "We must ensure not only that they regain what they lost but have improved and safer lives in the future."

As of July 8, the group had delivered short-term aid to over 500,000 people.

Red Cross teams are also producing and delivering clean water to the communities, and helping them clean up polluted water sources such as wells and ponds, said the IFRC.

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Myanmar signs up energy partners
Asia Times - Jul 10, 2008
By Brian McCartan

CHIANG MAI, Thailand - As Myanmar's ruling generals this week seek billions of dollars in emergency aid from international donors in New York, at home they are cashing in with big new energy deals with trusted regional trade partners.

As media attention fades from the death and devastation wrought in Myanmar by Cyclone Nagris in May, India, China, South Korea and Thailand have provided the military government a financial lifeline at a time when Western criticism of the military regime's perceived inadequate response to the natural disaster still runs on high.

An estimated 135,000 people are believed to have died in the storm and relief organizations have said that 2.4 million have been affected. A recently released interim report by the tripartite core group comprised of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United Nations (UN) and Myanmar authorities estimates that 40% of the country's food stocks were destroyed, 380 villages were leveled and 90% of the affected population is still in dire need of assistance.

The junta will take that joint assessment to international donors with the aim of helping to drum up cash for reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in the devastated Irrawaddy Delta and other affected areas.

The junta's initial request for US$11.7 billion was spurned in late May by donors who were not satisfied that the government's search and rescue operations had been satisfactorily concluded. Before donors reach for their check books with ASEAN's and the UN's endorsement, they would be wise to consider the funds the junta has earned from recent foreign investments in the country's fast-growing energy sector.

Chief among Myanmar's foreign suitors are India and China, both of which refrained from issuing strong statements against the regime for its perceived poor handling of post-cyclone relief efforts. China, which has a permanent seat and veto power on the UN's Security Council, let it be known that it would veto any motions to censure or unilaterally force aid on Myanmar through UN mechanisms. Thailand and South Korea likewise remained mum while international opinion turned against the generals. In recent weeks they have apparently been rewarded in kind for their diplomatic reticence.

India was among the first countries to extend emergency aid to Myanmar in the wake of the cyclone disaster and has in recent weeks led the way in resuming large-scale investments the country. Indian Minister of State for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh made a four-day visit to Myanmar from June 22-25, during which he signed several new deals with Myanmar's Minister for National Planning and Economic Development U Soe Tha.

Included among the deals was a bilateral investment promotion agreement that entailed new preferential provisions for both promotion and protection of investments, the extension of national treatment to Indian firms, the repatriation of profits and easier immigration regulations for technical and managerial personnel to cross borders.

A second credit line agreement was signed between India's Exim Bank and the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank to provide for the extension of $64 million to finance three 230 kilovolt electricity transmission lines. The lines are to be built by the government-owned Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL). Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), another partially state-owned Indian company, was given the nod and extended a $60 million line of credit to build a 120 megawatt power project at Thatay Chaung in Myanmar.

Another $20 million was extended by India's Exim Bank to build a wire manufacturing facility, from which materials will be sourced for electrical transmission lines to expand Myanmar's woefully outdated power grid. Banking arrangements supporting a previous pact which covered trade between the border towns of Moreh and Manipur were also signed between the United Bank of India and the Myanmar Economic Bank, Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank and the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank.

Ramesh also reportedly expressed interest in two proposed hydropower projects along the Chindwin River in Sagaing Division and an acceleration of the previously signed bilateral Kaladan River multi-modal transit project, bringing forward the previously scheduled completion date by one year to 2012. The ambitious project aims to provide an alternative trade route for goods from India's northeastern regions through Myanmar's western Sittwe port.

Before the cyclone, the two sides in April signed an accord where India agreed to invest $130 million to expand the Sittwe port's facilities, make the Kaladan River navigable for 225 kilometers to Kaletwa in Myanmar's Chin State, and build a 62-kilometer road from Kaletwa to the Indian-Myanmar border at Mizoram. Myanmar's Vice Senior General Maung Aye, number two in the junta's hierarchy, oversaw the signing of that agreement.

Commercial diplomacy

Up until the mid-1990s, India was a staunch supporter of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and diplomatic efforts to establish democracy in the military-run country. Since then, successive Indian governments have pursued a policy of economic engagement with one eye towards tapping Myanmar's huge energy and trade potential and another towards hedging China's more established diplomatic and commercial influence.

Bilateral trade between India and Myanmar reached $590 million in 2005-2006, according to Indian foreign ministry statistics. Last year New Delhi pledged to invest $150 million in Myanmar for new gas exploration activities, with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh (ONGC) and the Gas Authority of India Ltd leading the way. The two Indian companies hold respectively 17% and 8.5% stakes in the Shwe Gas project in the Bay of Bengal, a field energy analysts estimate contains 4.53 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The Shwe Gas project is led by Daewoo of South Korea, which has a 51% share in a consortium that includes the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and Seoul's Korea Gas Corporation. On May 28, Daewoo signed a preliminary agreement with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to expand joint exploration for oil-and-gas resources including in so-called block AD-7, one of four the company has earned the concession rights from Myanmar’s government to explore.

Daewoo said recently that it expects to earn $10 billion from the Shwe Gas project over the next 25 years. The Shwe Gas Movement, a grouping of human rights and environmental organizations opposed to the project, has said the junta will earn between $12 billion and $17 billion over the life of the project. The group has criticized Daewoo officials who were charged and later convicted in 2006 for selling weapons technology to the military regime in violation of South Korean government embargoes.

An agreement signed between the Shwe Gas consortium and CNPC on June 23 covers the production, transportation and sale of natural gas from the A-1 to A-3 gas blocks off Myanmar's coast to China. Meanwhile Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise decided last week to exercise its rights to claim 15% of the gas field's yield once discoveries are made, allowing the state-run energy producer to begin earning as soon as production begins.

Plans are now underway to construct oil-and gas pipelines from Myanmar to China's southwestern Yunnan province. State-run PetroChina will reportedly oversee the pipeline project, which will transport gas from the Shwe gas fields and pipe fuel from Chinese tankers unloading their Middle Eastern cargoes on Myanmar's western coast. An agreement towards that end was reportedly signed on June 10, though neither government has made details of the deal public.

Thailand, which has served as a hub for aid distribution throughout Myanmar's cyclone crisis, has also secured new energy deals with the junta. PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) signed a deal with Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise on June 23 to pump gas from a yet-to-be-developed offshore field known as M9 in the Gulf of Martaban. The M9 field, which PTTEP holds in a 100% concession through Myanmar's government, is believed to hold 1.76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The Thai company said in August 2007 that it plans to spend $1 billion developing the field and was seeking financial and technical partners to help share the costs.

The project is expected to come on-stream in 2012 and will supply 300 million cubic feet of gas per day with 240 million cubic feet going to Thailand and 60 million to Myanmar. Initial profit-sharing agreements were first signed between PTTEP and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise for the M9 block and another offshore block, M7, back in 2003. Thailand is currently receiving gas shipments in take-or-pay contracts from the Yadana and Yetagun gas fields in the Andaman Sea, making it Myanmar's largest gas customer.

Sean Turnell, an expert on Myanmar's economy at Australia's Macquarie University, said in a recent interview with The Irrawaddy magazine that over half of the junta's declared $8.7 billion export income for 2007 was derived from gas sales. A recently released report by the Myanmar Ministry of National Planning and Development said that foreign investment in oil-and-gas ventures last year more than tripled to $474.3 million, representing over 90% of the $504.8 million of total foreign investment received and well over the $134 million foreigners poured into energy-related projects in 2006.

Even those figures are widely viewed with skepticism, as the secretive government is known to under-report foreign investment earnings and stash the funds in secret accounts used for weapons purchases or prestige projects, including the recent construction of a new capital city at Naypyidaw.

Foreign donors will certainly take all of this into account when military representatives arrive hat-in-hand later this week in New York seeking billions of dollars in donations to rebuild cyclone-hit areas which Myanmar's secretive and apparently cash-rich military government had before the disaster long ignored.

Brian McCartan is a Chiang Mai-based freelance journalist. He may be reached at brianpm@comcast. net.

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Myanmar Plans Resettlement For 7,000 Cyclone Victims

YANGON, July 9 (Bernama) -- The Myanmar authorities are making arrangements to resettle 7,000 cyclone victims temporarily accommodated in three relief camps in Laputta, one of the hardest-hit townships in the Ayayawaddy delta region.

The 7,000 victims will be repatriated from these relief camps to their native villages with 10-day ration and be resettled at allocated houses under a lucky-draw system, China's Xinhua news agency quoted a local daily's report on Wednesday.

As part of its cyclone victim resettlement plan, the Myanmar authorities are building permanent houses for homeless storm victims in two cyclone-hard- hit regions, assigning some 18 private companies and bankers to implement the special project, which involves the building of some 4,000 permanent houses in Bogalay, Phyapon, Dedaye and Laputta in Ayeyawaddy division. The builder companies include Htoo, CB Bank, the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), Asia World, Yuzana, Zaykaba and Tet Lan.

Myanmar is also reclaiming land plots in the cyclone-hit areas to build up to 100,000 other low-cost provisional housings for homeless storm victims. These low-cost housings at 500,000 Kyats (US$450) each will be constructed for surviving villagers in the same Ayeyawaddy delta region's four townships.

So far, a total of 30 private companies have been assigned by the government's National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee to undertake reconstruction work in 17 disaster-affected areas.

Meanwhile, a Japan Platform Foundation was reported to help build 2,500 to 3,000 houses for Myanmar cyclone victims in two divisions of Ayeyawaddy and Yangon, and the project will be implemented with the cooperation of the UMFCCI.

Laputta, which lies near the mouth of sea and comprises 63 wards and villages, was totally devastated by a recent severe cyclone storm in early May, which resulted in more than 30,000 victims being evacuated to lesser-affected nearby areas for shelter.

All schools, offices and hospitals are being reconstructed in the township with an orphanage also being set up. More than a month after the disaster, Myanmar started land reclamation in the Laputta township. With government loan disbursed and paddy seeds and fertilizer supplied to farmers in the area, restoration work in agricultural had resumed in the area.

Meanwhile, the World Food Program (WFP) said it will continue its ration aid supply to survivors in Laputta until September. The WFP has been distributing the ration aid supply to the area among others since late May in cooperation with the UN Development Program (UNDP) and some international non-governmental organizations after the cyclone storm hit Myanmar.

Due to the storm, over one million acres (405,000 hectares ) of farmland in 7 townships in Ayeyawaddy division, 3 in Yangon division, 2 in Bago division and 3 in Mon state were flooded by sea water with more than 200,000 cows and cattle killed, according to earlier reports.

In last June, farmers in cyclone-hard- hit areas such as Bogalay, Laputta, Ngaputtaw, Mawlamyinegyun and Dedaye in the Ayeyawaddy delta and Kungyangon in Yangon division reportedly started ploughing monsoon paddy after paddy strains and cattle-substitute powered tillers were provided to the local farmers.

With an area of 13,525.88 square-miles (35,018.5 square- kilometers), Ayeyawaddy division, which is known as Myanmar's 'rice bowl', comprise 26 townships with Pathein as its main city and most of the townships lie in the delta region. The division has a population of less than 6.5 million after disaster, according to official statistics.

Deadly cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on last May 2 and 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructure damage, estimated at US$10.67 billion with 5.5 million people affected.

Latest official report indicated that 84,537 people were killed, 19,359 injured and 53,836 missing as a result of the storm.

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Special Committee Investigates Alleged Trafficking Of Myanmars

KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 (Bernama) -- The Immigration Department has set up a special committee to investigate allegations that its officers trafficked Myanmar refugees and sold them at the Malaysian-Thailand border.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said however up till now the department has determined that none of its personnel were involved.

He said this in the Dewan Rakyat in a written reply to Charles Anthony R. Santiago (DAP-Klang) who asked what action had been taken against Immigration officers alleged to have trafficked refugees for RM300 per person.

The issue was raised by private TV station NTV7 recently in a programme titled 'Refugee for Sale'.

Syed Hamid said the Immigration Department will meet the station's management to get further information on the matter as it could tarnish the image and integrity of the department if not addressed urgently and transparently.

"However, the Immigration Department will continue to investigate the allegations and if found to be true appropriate action will be taken against officers involved," he said.

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Indian company to start drilling gas in Myanmar
The Hindu -
Wednesday, July 9, 2008 : 1215 Hrs

YANGON (Xinhua): An Indian oil company, the Essar, will start drilling test well at an inland block in Myanmar's western coastal Rakhine state to explore natural gas in the coming open season later this year, news journal 7-Day reported on Wednesday.

The drilling will take place at block-L covering Sittway and Maungtaw regions of the state.

Block-L stands one of the two blocks which the Indian company is to explore gas under a contract signed with the state-run Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise in May 2005. The exploration on another block A-2 lying off the Rakhine coast will follow later, earlier report said. The Essar is another Indian company engaged in oil and gas exploration in Myanmar after the ONGC Videsh Ltd of India and the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL), both of which are being involved in similar activities since 2000 at Block A-1 and A-3 in the same offshore area in partnership with South Korea's Daewoo International Corporation and South Korea Gas Corporation. The consortium is led by Daewoo.

Myanmar has abundance of natural gas resources especially in the offshore areas. With three main large offshore oil and gas fields and 19 onshore ones, Myanmar has proven recoverable reserve of 510 billion cubic-meters out of 2.54 trillion cubic-meters' s estimated reserve of offshore and onshore gas, experts said, adding that the country is also estimated to have 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil reserve.

Statistics revealed that foreign investment in Myanmar's oil and gas sector had reached 3.243 billion dollars in 85 projects as of the end of 2007 since the country opened to such investment in late 1988, standing the second in the country's foreign investment sectorally after electric power.

In 2007, foreign investment in the oil and gas sector more than tripled to 474.3 million U.S. dollars compared with 2006, accounting for 90 percent of the total during the year which stood 504.8 million, according to the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development. More statistics show that natural gas topped Myanmar's exports in 2007-08 with 2.594 billion dollars, up 27.7 percent from 2006- 07's 2.03 billion dollars, representing 42.9 percent of the total exports during the year.

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Help for Myanmar farmers and children
Mission Network News -
Posted: 9 July, 2008

Myanmar (MNN) ― Farmers in Myanmar need to plant their crops by the end of July, and Vision Beyond Borders is going to help. Its contact in Myanmar is purchasing $90,000 worth of rice seedlings so the crops can be planted in time.

If the farmers do not get the seedlings in time, the contact said, "It will be too late, and this will even make [it] harder next year for them as this is their only way of making their living."

The farmers are determined to press on, but they face serious challenges. Cyclone Nargis killed more of the women and children than the men, and the loss of family members will make farming more difficult. Also, much farmland has been flooded, and the farmers must plant at higher elevations.

Another Vision Beyond Borders contact in Myanmar plans to build at least four children's homes that will house 100 children each. The contact was able to purchase the land for these homes with $50,000 of donated funds. The fencing wall around the worksite has already begun to go up. The homes will be located near a school and a hospital.

A current children's home is also being expanded with the addition of a new dormitory.   60,000-80,000 children were orphaned by Cyclone Nargis.

Vision Beyond Borders teams have also distributed rice, oil, blankets, medicine, school supplies, and water purification resources to cyclone survivors. 

Some churches have been inspired to fund the construction of a children's home and sponsor the children living there. Church members may also have the opportunity to travel to Myanmar with Vision Beyond Borders and visit the home they sponsor.

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Sports mission trip makes a difference in Myanmar
Local woman helps in midst of devastation
KXRM, CO -
By Rachel Welte
Tuesday, July 08, 2008 at 4:04 p.m.

On May 2, 2008, the country of Myanmar caught the attention of the world when a massive tropical cyclone devastated parts of the country.

Cyclone Nargis is the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar. Experts said winds topping 90 kilometers per hour ripped through the county's largest city for at least 10 hours.

Tens of thousands of people were killed and many more are still missing. Despite the death and devastation, pockets of hope still flourished.

"We were actually in and around the capital city of Yangon, and that is north of where the major part of the cyclone hit," Wendy Yantis said. "The most affected part was the delta, near the southern tip of Myanmar."

Yantis is the Southeast Asia representative for Sports Life. Her team teaches softball to youth and adults in poor and underdeveloped countries. Their last trip was to the Third Word country of Myanmar. Wendy said they arrived just weeks after the deadly cyclone.

"In Yangon there were a lot of visible effects from the cyclone--just huge trees completely uprooted," Yantis said.

She said when they packed up to go, her team did not know if they were even going to be working on softball development or helping with relief efforts.

"We did a mix of softball, trauma counseling, we got to help at an orphanage, so we did a whole mix of things," Yantis said.

She said Myanmar is slowly trying to develop softball and baseball as national sports, adding this is the second time she has been invited to help teach the game.

"When you do that, you really get to know people super well," Yantis said. "We work with the same group of girls everyday."

In the midst of the devastation Yantis said it was hard to think about sports, but she said it was still important to her team.

"It really provided a relief for them, something for them to do in the midst of a lot of craziness and difficulty that they are going through," Yantis said. "Sports can provide normalcy during troubled times."

She said she will never forget her days in Myanmar and the relationships she made.

"Over and over again the gals that we worked with said, 'Please do not forget us. Please do not forget Myanmar.' "

Yantis said she plans to go back for a third visit with her family sometime in the fall.

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3G Network Launched in Burma
Cellular-News. com -
9th July 2008

It has been reported that a 3G network has been launched in Burma (Myanmar) based on the WCDMA standard. However, only 50 handsets have been issued - usually to the military junta according to an unnamed official from the Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) Department. Previous reports had suggested that a 3G network was being built covering Yangon but was expected to have a capacity for 30,000 subscribers.

About 200,000 mobile phones will be distributed across the country once the infrastructure is in place, the official told the Mizzima news agency.

The 3G phones are selling for 2.8 million Kyat (US$ 2150), while a GSM costs about 2.3 million Kyat (US$ 1800). A CDMA costs about 2.1 million Kyat (US$ 1615). The prices put the phones out of reach of ordinary citizens and limits them to the government or favoured business contacts.

Government and military contacts tend to find it easier to get the paperwork to own a mobile phone - but often then rent out those phones to business users.

The state owned operator doubled its network capacity during the year - although it was not clear who provided the equipment. The original GSM network was provided by Siemens and ZTE.

The number of mobile phones in Burma reached 265,912 at the end of 2007.

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Asean ‘emerges stronger after Nargis, rice crisis’
Gulf Times -
Published: Wednesday, 9 July, 2008, 01:52 AM Doha Time

Manila: The Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) has emerged stronger in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis that whipped Myanmar and the rice crisis that plagued several member countries, a senior official said yesterday.

Asean Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said the quick response of the 10-nation regional group in leading the international humanitarian effort to help millions of cyclone victims gave the grouping “a sense of community and confidence.”

“The Asean was baptised by Cyclone Nargis,” he told reporters in Manila where he was on a visit. “We have shown to the world that we are an effective organisation.”

Surin said that an assessment meeting on the ongoing humanitarian efforts in Myanmar, where more than 140,000 people were killed or missing and displaced at least 2mn, was slated next week in Singapore.

“The level of support from the international community is extremely encouraging and giving us encouragement that more can be done not only for the victims of Nargis but also to pockets of poverty and underdevelopment in other Asean countries,” he said.

Surin also noted that Asean’s cohesiveness as a group was highlighted with the quick action of rice-exporting countries within Asean to help rice-importing countries in the group amid the grain shortage.

“There is enough rice stock to take care of the region and to also share with the world in times of need,” he said. “The panic is over, the rice (prices) have gone down.”

Surin said the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar and the rice crisis also provided an impetus for Asean members to ratify the group’s first rules-based charter.

Surin said six Asean countries have already ratified the charter and the remaining four countries were expected to ratify it in time for the leaders’ summit in Bangkok in November.

“I’m hoping that in Bangkok we will be able to celebrate the full ratification,” he said.

Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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BBC News - Burma aid tents through at last
Tuesday, 8 July 2008 14:39 UK

Cornwall-based disaster aid charity Shelterbox has just received the first pictures of its aid helping victims of the Burma cyclone.

Hundreds of tents have been erected as part of the international response to the 2 May cyclone which left more than 130,000 people dead or missing.

Shelterbox had struggled to get its tents into the country.

But about a month ago Burma's military rulers opened the Irrawaddy Delta to international aid workers.

Shelterbox aid worker Mark Pearson has just sent back pictures of the tents in use from Labutta in the Irrawaddy.

'Good position'

The charity's boxes include tents, tools, stoves, cooking pots and ground sheets.

Mr Pearson said: "I found Three Mile Camp which is home to 5,250 survivors of the cyclone.

"There are around 700 Shelterbox tents there all arranged perfectly there is camp security, hospital, clean water, food and schools all run by the government.

"The Shelterbox kit was in a good position above sea level and a cool breeze all day and most importantly shelter from the heavy monsoon downpours which happen most days and night."

He said that a member of aid group Medicins San Frontier had told him that there were also 300 Shelterbox tents on the Burma island of Heignyi.

Sally Grint, Shelterbox's fund-raising manager, said the pictures vindicated the charity's persistence in trying to get aid into Burma.

The charity is sending another 200 tents, 2,000 mosquito nets, 2,000 tool kits, 600 woodburning stoves, 600 cooking pots, 4000 ground sheets and educational equipment to Burma.

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Regime Asks UN to Stop Press Conferences in Bangkok
The Irrawaddy - Wednesday, July 9, 2008
By VIOLET CHO

Burma’s military government has asked the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other UN agencies not to hold press conferences in Bangkok but in Rangoon, according to sources in the former Burmese capital.

Since Cyclone Nargis slammed Burma on May 2-3, the Bangkok-based Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) has hosted several press conferences by UN agencies. The FCCT confirmed that the UN suddenly canceled its planned weekly press briefings on Wednesday last week without giving any reason.

The UN’s decision to suspend its regular press conferences in Bangkok reportedly came after Burma’s military rulers indicated that they preferred Rangoon as the venue for future briefings.

Burmese authorities rarely allow accredited journalists to enter the country, except to cover carefully orchestrated events that highlight the regime’s accomplishments. Local journalists are also prevented by draconian press laws from covering sensitive issues.

Recently, Burmese journalists faced hurdles reporting on international relief efforts after they were told they could not attend a press conference by Surin Pitsuwan, the secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), a member of the Tripartite Core Group which is coordinating the relief effort. The group consists of the regional grouping plus the UN and the Burmese junta. 

Earlier this week, a spokesperson for a UN agency praised the regime for its contribution to the humanitarian mission in cyclone-hit areas. “The government has allocated a lot of money to relief and recovery,” said UNICEF spokesperson Zafrin Chowdhury, speaking in Rangoon on Monday.

In May, the regime was widely condemned for refusing to issue visas to foreign relief workers. On May 23, after a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the junta finally agreed to allow an international relief effort, although it continued to impose restraints on the movements of foreign aid workers.
 
The Irrawaddy contacted OCHA spokeswoman Amanda Pitt and UN spokesman Richard Horsey about the suspension of press conferences in Bangkok, but they declined to comment on the reason for the move. OCHA representatives Rangoon also had nothing to say about the change.

Critics of the relief effort say that it is still moving far too slowly. Until recently, OCHA situation reports stated that the aid mission had reached 1.3 million out of an estimated 2.4 million affected people—a figure that remained unchanged through the entire month of June.

In its latest report, released on July 7, OCHA omits the number of people who have so far received aid.

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Report Slams Beijing’s Burma Policy
The Irrawaddy - Wednesday, July 9, 2008
By WAI MOE

A US-based rights group called “8-8-08 for Burma” has released a report condemning the Chinese government for its support of the Burmese military junta just one month ahead of the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony.

Released on July 2, the five-page report, titled “Sinking: China’s Soft Diplomacy on Burma,” details the pitfalls of Chinese foreign policy toward Burma in recent years and slams Beijing for its response to the cyclone disaster in the Irrawaddy delta.

The report says the Chinese government has advocated a “soft approach of consultations” with the Burmese military junta, and has voiced support for the regime’s so-called “seven step roadmap to democracy,” a policy criticized by Burmese opposition groups and international observers as a sham.

The report noted that that although Beijing says there is no “special relationship” between China and the Burmese military regime, China is nonetheless Burma’s largest trading partner and is expected to sign a US $1 billion deal in 2008 for an oil and natural gas pipeline through Burma into western China.

China has also sold a $2-3 billion package of weapons and military equipment to the Burmese junta while at the same time defending the junta at the United Nations, says the report.

In response to the Chinese foreign policy that “pressure would not serve any purpose” in Burma, the report said that the Burmese regime has demonstrated that it does not respond to soft measures, except with “superficial developments meant to curb international pressure and continue repression, abuses and atrocities.”

The 8-8-08 for Burma report also notes that although Chinese officials have pledged support for the [United Nations] secretary-general’ s good offices, as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (Asean’s) leading role in the Burmese issue, the reality is that the Beijing government has consistently undermined the ability of the UN and Asean to effectively address the Burma issue.

The report alleges that while thwarting attempts by the UN to address the Burmese junta’s abuses and atrocities, the Chinese government is constantly looking at increasing trade with Burma.

The report said, “China’s goals as the Olympic host are in direct conflict with Beijing’s Burma policy, promoting repression and atrocities instead of the fundamental principles of the Olympics—human dignity, peace and brotherhood.”

In the aftermath of the May 2-3 cyclone disaster, the Chinese government appealed to the international community not to “politicize” the crisis.

However, the report concluded that “in contrast to its timely and appropriate reaction to its own May 12 earthquake, China facilitated the denial of life-saving aid to the 2.4 million people affected by Cyclone Nargis in Burma.”

The rights group’s report called for China to take immediate action to help end Burma’s crisis before August 8—the 20th anniversary of the 1988 democracy uprising in Burma, and a date that also marks the commencement last year of demonstrations led by monks.

“August 8, 2008, can be a day to celebrate human achievement and perseverance— in China, in Burma, everywhere. But only if China takes action now,” the report said.

The 8-8-08 for Burma campaign is a project of Res Publica, a community of public sector professionals in the United States who say they are dedicated to promoting good governance, civic virtue and deliberative democracy.

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Prince Charles meets Burmese students
Mizzima News - Wednesday, 09 July 2008 22:22

New Delhi - For the first time, Britain's Prince Charles on Wednesday met students, alumni and staff from Prospect Burma, an educational trust that funds the education of young Burmese students.

Prince Charles, next in line for the British throne and future king of the United Kingdom met about 20 Burmese students and staff members of Prospect Burma at Clarence House in London.

Zoya Phan, a former student who attended the meeting, said, "The meeting was significant, Prince Charles showed a lot of interest about Burma."

The Burmese students were able to explain the current political, social, arts and cultural situation of Burma to the Prince, Zoya Phan said.

"During our meeting, Charles said he will raise the Burma issue in every way that he can," Zoya Phan told Mizzima.

Burma's Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, now under house arrest in Rangoon, supports Prospect Burma with the award money she received from the Nobel Prize.

UK has maintained a critical stand against Burma's military rulers and had supported the United States' call for a UN Security Council Resolution, in January 2007. The proposed UNSC resolution includes the demand for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and respect for human rights.

But the proposed resolution was turned down by veto wielding China and Russia.

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G-8 leaders urge junta to free Aung San Suu Kyi
Mizzima News - Wednesday, 09 July 2008 15:15

New Delhi - Leaders of the Group of Eight, meeting in Japan, on Tuesday urged the Burmese military junta to free all political prisoners and usher in political transition to democracy.

Leaders of eight industrial powers - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States – in a statement called on Burma's military junta, "to immediately release all political detainees, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to foster a transition to a legitimate, democratic, civilian government."

Ignoring international calls and pressures, Burma's military regime in May, extended the house arrest term of pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for another year.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese democracy icon has spent over 12 of the last 18 years in solitary confinement at her lakeside villa in Rangoon. She was last arrested in May 2003, after a brutal attack by junta-backed mobs during her political tour in upper Burma.

The leaders of G8, in its statement, also called on the Burmese junta to allow free access to foreign aid workers in order to provide assistance to victims of Cyclone Nargis, which lashed the country's southwest coastal division of Irrawaddy and Rangoon in May 2-3, leaving more than 138,000 dead and missing.

G8 leaders said they are "committed to ensuring aid reaches those affected by Cyclone Nargis and called on the authorities in Burma to lift all remaining restrictions on access for foreign aid workers."

The Burmese government on Tuesday, however, said it has granted more than 1,500 visas to foreign aid experts to deliver humanitarian aid to victims of the cyclone.

According to the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), as of 7 July, visas for 317 UN staff have been approved, while 13 requests remain pending.

"Visas are now issued within two to three days of the application being sent to the TCG. The majority of visas are given as single-entry visas with an initial duration of two weeks," UNOCHA said in a 'situation overview' report released on Tuesday.

Permission to allow travel to the cyclone affected regions has to be requested from the Burmese Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and the average processing time for such request takes about four to five days.

"More than 270 international UN staff and at least as many international staff from NGOs have travelled to affected areas as of 7 July," the UNOCHA said.

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88 generation student leaders still in poor health

Jul 9, 2008 (DVB)–Families of 88 generation student leaders currently being held in Insein prison are growing increasingly concerned about the deteriorating health of their relatives in detention.

Ko Myo Yan Naung Thein, one of the leaders of the 88 generation students group, was brought onto Insein prison court yesterday for a hearing on a stretcher, according to a member of his family.

Another prominent leaders of the group, Ko Ko Gyi, has been suffering from a weak digestive system, and has only been able to eat boiled rice for the past three months, his younger brother Ko Aung Htun told DVB.

"He can only eat boiled rice or other very soft things such as noodles and bread," said Aung Htun.

"His liver is also getting weak again."

Ko Ko Gyi has previously suffered from liver stones and hepatitis B, but recent tests by Insein prison doctors showed that his hepatitis infection had not recurred.

"But they assumed his digestive problem was due to his weak liver and they gave him some medicine for it," Aung Htun said.

"He has been very careful with his own health and diet because he has not been provided with adequate medical attention."

Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet

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