FTUB Daily News for Feb-23-2012, English News - Evening

News Headlines with Brief (1) KNU lays out ceasefire plan, denies split | Source: DVB 23-Feb-2012 The opposition Karen National Union says it is concerned about any foreign investment in Karen state that may sweep in if it signs a ceasefire with the government, but denies there has been a split within its senior ranks over the rush to broker peace in the region. Read More….. (2) Fire tears through Burmese refugee camp | Source: DVB 23-Feb-2012 A major fire broke out on Thursday in a large Burma refugee camp in Thailand, destroying hundreds of homes, the local district chief said. The blaze, which started at around midday (0500 GMT), quickly spread around Umpiem Mai border camp which is home to thousands of refugees, Poth Ruwaranan, head of Phop Phra district in western Tak province, told AFP by telephone. Read More….. (3) Burma faces HIV and TB crisis after global funding cuts | Source: DVB 23-Feb-2012 Up to 85,000 HIV sufferers in Burma will go without life-saving treatment as donor governments slash support for global health programmes in the wake of the economic crisis. Of an estimated 9,300 people newly infected with tuberculosis (TB) each year in Burma, so far just over 300 have been receiving treatment, according to a new report by Medicins Sans Frontier (MSF). Read More….. (4) Burma's Parliament Says No To President Thein Sein | Source: Irrawaddy 23-Feb-2012 For decades in Burma, the headmen of villages and wards used to work as government informers and were usually on the payroll of those close to the military junta. Directly appointed by local authorities, these village heads have long played a key role in the state apparatus and in oppressing any form of political dissent. Read More….. (5) Shwe Mann Begins China Visit | Source: Irrawaddy 23-Feb-2012 Speaker of the Lower House Shwe Mann is leading a parliamentary delegation on a four-day official visit to China. The Burmese delegation arrived in Beijing on Wednesday evening. Shwe Mann, who is also deputy chairman of Burma's ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), is scheduled to meet several old acquaintances at the pinnacle of the Chinese state and Communist Party, according to a source close to the Chinese embassy. Read More….. (6) DKBA Ceasefire Breaks Down | Source: Irrawaddy 23-Feb-2012 The three-month-old ceasefire agreement between the Burmese government and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) has broken down as hostilities flare in Pa-an District, southern Karen State. Sources close to the DKBA said that fighting broke out on Feb. 19 following a raid on a DKBA military base by a joint force of Burmese army and border guard force (BGF) troops. The joint force allegedly seized a cache of weapons including AK-47s, AR-15 rifles and RPGs belonging to DKBA Brigade 5. Read More….. (7) Fire Destroys 1000 Refugee Homes at Thai-Burma Border | Source: Irrawaddy 23-Feb-2012 About 1000 buildings, including homes, schools and marketplaces were destroyed when a fire broke out on Thursday afternoon in Umpiem Mai Refugee Camp at the Thai-Burma border. No deaths have been reported. Eye-witnesses at the camp said the fire broke out at around midday in a house while a family was cooking over a coal fire. The blaze spread quickly around the wooden and bamboo-constructed buildings nearby, affecting Quarters 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, and was not put out until 2:30 pm. Read More….. (8) Surin optimistic on Burma’s Asean chairmanship | Source: Mizzima 23-Feb-2012 Asean General-Secretary Surin Pitsuwan told Rangoon journalist on Thursday that he has a positive view of Burma’s chairmanship of the Asian grouping in 2014. However, he told journalists at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Rangoon that much remains to be done. He said he is satisfied with Burmese leaders’ preparations for the necessary facilities and infrastructure necessary to house the thousands of people who will attend the Asean summit meeting in Naypyitaw. Read More….. (9) Website car buying-selling taking off in Burma | Source: Mizzima 23-Feb-2012 The latest twist in the auto business in Rangoon is online used car buying and selling websites, which dealers say has threatened the tradition way of doing business. The government has allowed a steady steam of newer models into the country in a program to replace older models, but a result is that many buyers were not satisfied with the traditional broker-dealer method. Read More….. (10) Onward to the Arctic Circle for Burma | Source: Mizzima 23-Feb-2012 On March 12, Robert Thein, whose Burmese parents moved to Britain before he was born, will compete in the grueling 200-kilometre Husky Trek in the Arctic Circle to raise funds for Burma Campaign UK. Despite living outside the country, Thein has visited Burma many times, and he says that what he has heard and experienced has inspired him “to do something to help my people.” Read More….. (11) Suu Kyi to campaign in Kachin State | Source: Mizzima 23-Feb-2012 Aung San Suu Kyi travels to Kachin State on Thursday to meet with members of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly (KNCA) and campaign in several cities. The KNCA is made up of more than 50 members including the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), businessmen and religious leaders. KNCA leaders are also trying to mediate the on-going peace talks between the Burmese government and KIO. Read More….. (12) HIV medicine crisis in Burma | Source: Mizzima 23-Feb-2012 Burma’s festering HIV-AIDs crisis has again captured the headlines, as some 85,000 HIV-infected people are at risk of not getting adequate medicine, according to aid groups. Despite the country’s political reforms, health care and medicine remain a near crisis in the country, aid groups said. Doctors Without Borders, a French humanitarian group, says two-thirds of HIV patients in Burma in need of anti-retroviral therapy cannot get it. The United Nations says between 15,000 and 20,000 people living with HIV die every year in Burma because they are not treated. Read More….. (13) Speak up or write it down | Source: Mizzima 23-Feb-2012 Shwe Mann, the speaker of the Burmese Lower House, has urged MPs to speak out for the people, and if they are afraid to speak out publicly then put it in writing. The speaker made his remarks during a meeting of the Law Affairs and Special Matters Study and Evaluation Commission at the Rangoon Region Assembly hall on Wednesday. Read More….. (14) BGF ordered to return DKBA arms | Source: Mizzmia 23-Feb-2012 The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) threatened to void its cease-fire agreement with the Burmese government this week unless its arms are returned by the Border Guard Force (BGF), which seized the weapons on Sunday. Information Department officer Saw Lone Lone told Mizzima that President Thein Sein reportedly issued an order for the BGF to return the weapons. The arms were seized from a DKBA outpost on Sunday, he said. Read More….. (15) While Tigers fielding two candidates in Shan State | Source: Shan 23-Feb-2012 The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), the party that emerged third in the 2010 elections, is fielding 4 candidates, 2 in Shan State, in the April Fool’s Day by-elections to fill up the seats vacated by MPs that had been appointed as union ministers. One of them is Sai Sam Min, 53, a native of Lashio, who is running for the National Assembly seat left by Dr Sai Mawk Kham, Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), who was elected as Vice President #2. He holds a bachelor degree in law (1992) but his profession is business. Read More….. (16) Karen religious leaders join hands for unity and peace | Source: KIC 23-Feb-2012 Attending the three-day seminar were monks and reverends from different religious dominations and members of Karen community based organizations – 95 people took part. The seminar was initially organized by Interior and Religion departments of the Karen National Union and was funded by a religious organization from Japan. During the seminar, KNU officials presented their ceasefire and peace talk process and explained the current situation to the participants who openly and freely discussed the raised issues. Read More….. (17) KNU ceasefire meeting with government behind schedule | Source: KIC 23-Feb-2012 Naw Zipporah Sein, general secretary of the KNU spoke to Karen News. “We are not sure if we can meet with Burma government this [February] month. At the moment, we haven’t yet finalized our delegation for the next meeting. We might be ready to meet them March.” Ms. Sein said that the KNU has been holding meetings and discussions at every level of its administration before they will meet again with the Burma government. Read More…. KNU lays out ceasefire plan, denies split http://www.dvb.no/news/knu-lays-out-ceasefire-plan-denies-split/20375 23-Feb-2012 The opposition Karen National Union says it is concerned about any foreign investment in Karen state that may sweep in if it signs a ceasefire with the government, but denies there has been a split within its senior ranks over the rush to broker peace in the region. The group yesterday released a four-stage plan for negotiations with Naypyidaw during a press conference at its 7th Brigade base in eastern Karen state that includes “preliminary” and “durable” ceasefire stages, and ends in “political participation”. It warns that “ceasefires alone will be insufficient to bring about … lasting peace”. The event was seen as a bid by the KNU’s leadership to clarify its position after conflicting reports over the signing of a peace deal with the government in January. However the two figures believed to be at loggerheads over what happened in the meeting last month – David Tharkabaw and David Htaw – the latter of whom is thought to be keen on pushing ahead with a quick deal, were not present. Zipporah Sein, general secretary of the KNU, said there had been “no split” over the speed at which the group should push ahead with agreeing to a ceasefire, but conceded there are “different ideas and strategies” at play. In an interview with DVB, she also expressed fear that any end to the six decade-long war could be exploited by business opportunists keen to cement a stake in the region, which is rich in hydropower and mining. Investors will be eyeing with particular interest the apparent discovery of Southeast Asia’s largest goldmine, which Zipporah Sein said encroaches on KNU territory. “If development projects are set up in KNU areas and if the military sends more troops for security then there will be more human rights violations,” she warned. “That is why we only want to see development when there is peace and stability.” She said however that there had not been any substantial discussion within the group over how to ensure post-conflict investment does not harm civilians. The Burmese regime’s energy and infrastructural ventures have historically been accompanied by heavy militarisation and large-scale displacement of civilians. Zipporah Sein continued that “mega projects should wait until peace and stability”, but there is a fear that while the conflict itself may soon end in Karen state, the by-products of the government’s hunger for natural resources there could prolong the abuses suffered for decades by its inhabitants. Fire tears through Burmese refugee camp www.dvb.no/news/fire-tears-through-burmese-refugee-camp/20388 23-Feb-2012 A major fire broke out on Thursday in a large Burma refugee camp in Thailand, destroying hundreds of homes, the local district chief said. The blaze, which started at around midday (0500 GMT), quickly spread around Umpiem Mai border camp which is home to thousands of refugees, Poth Ruwaranan, head of Phop Phra district in western Tak province, told AFP by telephone. Poth said there were no reports of casualties, but Sally Thompson of the Thai Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), which provides food and shelter at the border camps, said she had heard of children receiving burns. “It’s still raging. It’s still not under control,” Thompson told AFP. ”Patients in the clinic have been evacuated and are staying in the food warehouse.” Thompson said the number of houses damaged was more than 1,000 — “about a third of the camp” — while Poth put the figure at 300. “We believe that the fire started when they cooked. As the houses are made of bamboo and leaves, it spread too fast, especially with the hot and dry weather and strong wind,” the district chief said. The camp residents “cannot leave the camp as the regulations do not allow them, so those who lost their houses must stay with their relatives or friends inside the camp,” he added. According to the TBBC, a group of international non-governmental organisations operating along the border, as of December the Umpiem Mai camp held more than 17,000 displaced people from Burma. The 10 camps along the border held a total of about 136,000 people, who first began arriving in the 1980s. Many of the refugees have fled conflict zones in ethnic areas of Burma. Burma faces HIV and TB crisis after global funding cuts http://www.dvb.no/news/burma-faces-hiv-and-tb-crisis-after-global-funding-cuts/20379 23-Feb-2012 Up to 85,000 HIV sufferers in Burma will go without life-saving treatment as donor governments slash support for global health programmes in the wake of the economic crisis. Of an estimated 9,300 people newly infected with tuberculosis (TB) each year in Burma, so far just over 300 have been receiving treatment, according to a new report by Medicins Sans Frontier (MSF). In November, the Global Fund for Health, Tuberculosis and Malaria was forced to cancel its next round of funding after donors backtracked on a total of $2.2 billion in outstanding pledges. As a result there will be no opportunity to expand treatment for HIV/AIDS and TB until 2014. This move has hit Burma particularly hard as it is the least developed country in South-East Asia and still receives severely restricted humanitarian aid. The money was expected to provide HIV drugs for 46,500 people and help treat another 10,000 sickened by drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). “Yet again, donors have turned their backs on people living with HIV and TB in Myanmar [Burma],” said Peter Paul de Groote, Head of Mission, MSF Burma. “Everyday we at MSF are confronted with the tragic consequences of these decisions: desperately sick people and unnecessary deaths.” Between 15,000 and 20,000 people living with HIV die every year in Burma because of lack of access to lifesaving anti-retroviral therapy. TB prevalence is more than three times the global average. MSF has been forced to scale back many of its services and in some areas must reserve treatment for only its sickest patients. “For me, the worst part of my job is to have to tell people that they should be getting treatment but that we can’t give it to them. It really hurts to do this,” says an MSF worker in Burma. “MSF cannot yet provide me with ART,” explains 38-year old Maung Myint, who has HIV. “I’m only taking anti-TB treatment. But it is not enough. After two to three days I get diarrhoea again. After eating, everything is gone by diarrhoea. I have no energy.” Funding for global HIV/AIDS programmes has remained largely stagnant since 2009, leading to harsh condemnation from leading experts. “The reduction of, or failure to honour, pledged support to the Global Fund by donor governments must be understood for what it is – an abrogation of legally grounded human rights obligations,” concluded a statement by the UNAIDS Reference Group on HIV and Human Rights last month. While Burma recently signaled that it would increase health care spending in its 2012-2013 budget, MSF insists that it will need significant international support. “This is a defining moment,” says the report. “Recent political reforms in Myanmar [Burma] have been reciprocated by greater engagement from the international community. Donors have a real opportunity, and responsibility, to build on those foundations and help address the gap between need and access to treatment for HIV and TB sufferers.” Burma's Parliament Says No To President Thein Sein http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=23089 23-Feb-2012 For decades in Burma, the headmen of villages and wards used to work as government informers and were usually on the payroll of those close to the military junta. Directly appointed by local authorities, these village heads have long played a key role in the state apparatus and in oppressing any form of political dissent. But when MPs in the nominally democratic Parliament in Naypyidaw debated this week the new procedures in electing headmen, the country's reformist ex-general President Thein Sein suggested using an open vote system in a face-to-face meeting among locals because, he said, the process is cost effective, does not create unnecessary procedures, and can be done without much administrative upheaval. The presidential advice, which was stated in a letter to the Parliament, is essentially no different than the old procedures of appointing local headmen based on their presumed loyalty to the country's military rulers. However, in a majority vote of 236 out of 514 on Wednesday, both Houses of Parliament said “no” to Thein Sein by approving a secret vote. In doing so, the MPs said they are effectively trying to prevent the misuse of influence and fear of reprisal in the process—two issues which have been symbolic of the decades of military rule. “If we want want to practice a democratic system, we must employ a secret voting method in appointing public officials—from a local headman to the nation's president. These are all written laws too,” said opposition MP Thein Nyunt. The latest developments in Burma's Parliament are puzzling to many observers since a majority of legislators are former army generals while a quarter of MPs are directly appointed by the military commander-in-chief. On Wednesday, the speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, ex-general Thura Shwe Mann, openly complained about the slow progress of reforms under the new government and vowed to continue to implement his parliamentary proposal to increase the salaries of state employees—though that particular proposal was not approved by the government. The moves aroused skepticism in various quarters and led to some questioning if the former generals were creating an artificial facade of checks-and-balances; all the more so because these developments came shortly after a European Union delegation called for a stronger role for Parliament during its visit to Burma. Pe Myint, an editor at the respected People's Age journal in Rangoon, said he believed that most parliamentary officials, though former generals, are exerting influence in their new-found roles as the country's legislators. But Win Tin, a senior leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, said he viewed it as genuine discord among ex-generals, including Thein Sein and Shwe Mann, and warned it was a “bad sign” for the country. “This is a dangerous situation for the country,” he said. “Until recently, I only thought we would see the emergence of two groups ruling the country—the army and ex-army officials. Now we see they are split among themselves.” Shwe Mann Begins China Visit http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=23088 23-Feb-2012 Speaker of the Lower House Shwe Mann is leading a parliamentary delegation on a four-day official visit to China. The Burmese delegation arrived in Beijing on Wednesday evening. Shwe Mann, who is also deputy chairman of Burma's ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), is scheduled to meet several old acquaintances at the pinnacle of the Chinese state and Communist Party, according to a source close to the Chinese embassy. This is his seventh visit to Burma’s most important trade partner. The delegation is scheduled to visit Beijing and the nearby port city Tianjin. Shwe Mann and the parliamentary delegation are scheduled to meet with Wu Bangguo, second-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee after President Hu Jintao. Wu is also the chairman of the standing committee of China’s rubberstamp parliament, the National People’s Congress. They will also meet Jia Qinglin, the Politburo Standing Committee’s fourth-ranking member and chairman of the standing committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a national political advisory body. The former four-star general will also meet with China’s highest-ranking soldier, General Chen Bingde, chief of general staff of the People’s Liberation Army. Chen hosted Shwe Mann during his visit to Beijing in September 2010. Lastly, Shwe Mann will meet with Li Yuanchao, head of the Communist Party’s Organization Department, which oversees Party job placements and promotions. Li is widely considered an up and coming politician and expected to be promoted to higher echelons of power within the Party at the 18th National Party Congress in autumn. The Burmese general-turned-politician has maintained a regular contact with Beijing. Last year, he met with at least five high-ranking Chinese delegations visiting Burma. In April, he met with visiting Politburo grandee Jia Qinglin in Naypyidaw. Jia is widely expected to retire at the National Party Congress in autumn. “The old generation of leaders of both countries have personally created and fostered a Sino-Burmese friendship which has weathered the international and domestic changes,” Jia was quoted by the Chinese news agency Xinhua. In May, Shwe Mann met with visiting General Xu Caihou, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission. In June, he met with visiting Li Yuanchao. On Oct. 7, he held talks with Chinese ambassador Li Junhua to smoothen the rough waters after the suspension of the Myitsone Dam, a controversial multi-billion dollar dam construction project contracted to the Chinese company China Power Investment Corp. In November, he met with two separate Chinese delegations, both invited by the USDP. Shwe Mann told Beijing Party Secretary Liu Qi that he hoped to develop his party’s relationship with the Communist Party and thanked China “for its selfless assistance for Burma’s economic and social development,” according to a Xinhua report. He witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the USDP and the Chinese Communist Party on exchange and cooperation. On Dec. 9, Shwe Mann held a ceremony accepting the donation of computer equipment by Chinese ambassador Li for the Lower House of Parliament. They met again on Jan. 31 to discuss details of the upcoming visit to China, according to the director of South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies Zhao Gancheng. Shwe Mann will aim to clarify the “malign public opinion” in Burma, Zhao told the Shanghai-based Dongfang Daily. “Western public opinion has maliciously hyped a decline in Sino-Burmese relations,” Zhao said. Li hosted a farewell dinner on Wednesday for Shwe Mann. “Every time an incident occurs, China is on our side,” he said. “This visit serves to deepen our existing friendship.” DKBA Ceasefire Breaks Down http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=23086 23-Feb-2012 The three-month-old ceasefire agreement between the Burmese government and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) has broken down as hostilities flare in Pa-an District, southern Karen State. Sources close to the DKBA said that fighting broke out on Feb. 19 following a raid on a DKBA military base by a joint force of Burmese army and border guard force (BGF) troops. The joint force allegedly seized a cache of weapons including AK-47s, AR-15 rifles and RPGs belonging to DKBA Brigade 5. The Brigade 5 unit, led by Lt-Col Po Bi, responded later that same day with an attack on the joint force in Myaing Gyi Nyu Township in Pa-an District, killing three and injuring two soldiers. Then, after a lull in fighting but with tensions remaining high, DKBA leaders reportedly visited the Burmese army-BGF base in Pa-an on Wednesday to negotiate the return of the confiscated weapons. Brig-Gen Johnny, a commander with the main Karen rebel group, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the DKBA leaders “asked for the joint force to return their weapons, but the Tatmadaw [Burmese government forces] would not return them. That's why the DKBA declared a breakdown in the ceasefire.” A soldier belonging to the DKBA, however, said that negotiations with the Burmese authorities are continuing in Pa-an, the capital of Karen State. The DKBA's Brigade 5 is led by charismatic Brig-Gen Saw Lah Pwe. It launched a deadly attack against government troops in the border town of Myawaddy in November 2010 in response to government attempts to persuade it to join the BGF. However, it reached a formal ceasefire agreement in November 2011 with a government peace delegation led by negotiator Aung Thaung. The DKBA split from its mother organization, the KNLA’s political wing, the Karen National Union (KNU), in 1995. The KNU also recently signed a ceasefire agreement with the government, and plans to hold another round of talks in March. Fire Destroys 1000 Refugee Homes at Thai-Burma Border http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=23084 23-Feb-2012 About 1000 buildings, including homes, schools and marketplaces were destroyed when a fire broke out on Thursday afternoon in Umpiem Mai Refugee Camp at the Thai-Burma border. No deaths have been reported. Eye-witnesses at the camp said the fire broke out at around midday in a house while a family was cooking over a coal fire. The blaze spread quickly around the wooden and bamboo-constructed buildings nearby, affecting Quarters 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, and was not put out until 2:30 pm. Speaking to The Irrawaddy by phone, Lawi Mon Tamoi, an ethnic Mon refugee living in Quarter 10, said, “More than 1,500 people have been made homeless. “Many of the refugees were unable to grab their belongings,” he said. “Now they have no clothes and food. They don't know what they will eat or where they will sleep tonight.” Sin Thee Yar, a school teacher in Umpiem Mai refugee camp, said that every house in Quarters 8 and 9 was destroyed. She said that there were 150 houses in Quarter 8, and 187 houses in Quarter 9. She estimated that half the homes and buildings in Quarters 6, 7 and 10 were destroyed in the blaze. She said that one child was taken to hospital after being seriously injured with burns. As the fire broke out during school hours, many parents panicked and rushed to the schoolhouses to rescue their children. “It was a chaotic scene,” said Lawi Mon Tamoi. Umpiem Mai refugee camp has more than 15,000 refugees. The camp is one of nine along the Thai-Burmese border, where about 140,000 Burmese refugees live, most of whom are ethnic Karens. Surin optimistic on Burma’s Asean chairmanship http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6645-surin-optimistic-on-burmas-asean-chairmanship.html Thursday, 23 February 2012 20:41 Nyi Thit (Mizzima) – Asean General-Secretary Surin Pitsuwan told Rangoon journalist on Thursday that he has a positive view of Burma’s chairmanship of the Asian grouping in 2014. However, he told journalists at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Rangoon that much remains to be done. He said he is satisfied with Burmese leaders’ preparations for the necessary facilities and infrastructure necessary to house the thousands of people who will attend the Asean summit meeting in Naypyitaw. Surin ended his four-day visit to Burma along with eight delegates from the secretariat office, after exploring ways for Asean to cooperate with Burma in preparing and coordinating for the event. . “Myanmar’s chair in 2014 will be a critical landmark in the history of Asean,” Surin said. “I think the government is extremely aware about the opportunities, and also they know that they have a lot of work to do – every ministry,” he said. “Our message is that we’re willing to support and share our experiences.” He said that the Asean secretariat would take senior officials from each Burmese ministry to observe the Asean Summit in Cambodia this year and in Brunei in 2013. Surin said the cooperation will also extend to Asean dialogue partners comprising the U.S., E.U., Russia, China, Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. “There are about 2,000 journalists from all over the world who will attend the summit,” he said. “There are questions: does Myanmar have enough accommodations for them?” Other questions involve the state of Burma’s Internet communication network. On Wednesday, Surin met with Aung San Suu Kyi at her home. In an Asean statement, she urged the grouping to help Burma build bridges to the rest of the world. She expressed optimism that Burma could be a prosperous and advanced member of Asean with its help, despite the long and hard road ahead for reforms in Burma. Website car buying-selling taking off in Burma http://www.mizzima.com/business/6643-website-car-buying-selling-taking-off-in-burma.html Thursday, 23 February 2012 15:35 Mizzima News (Mizzima) – The latest twist in the auto business in Rangoon is online used car buying and selling websites, which dealers say has threatened the tradition way of doing business. The government has allowed a steady steam of newer models into the country in a program to replace older models, but a result is that many buyers were not satisfied with the traditional broker-dealer method. “Before I discovered some car trading websites, I had to rely on brokers and had to regularly telephone them to make single appointments to look at cars with buyers or sellers and then negotiate prices,” Aung Min Moe, a 34-year-old car broker in Rangoon told The Myanmar Times in an article published on Monday. Now Internet users are discovering what’s been known in the West for decades – shopping is quicker and more efficient online. Buyers and seller can now give a quick look at the model they’re interested in, and get a rundown on its features and price, all in minutes: no more using the often shaky telephone service and driving across town only to find that the salesperson over-hyped their cars. And of course, with a straight buyer-seller relationship, the middleman and his fee, is cut out. Now, of course, even the brokers are learning that two can play the game, and they’re putting their cars on a website to generate more business. Everyone is winning: in the West, it’s called productivity. One of the bastions of car dealing in Rangoon, the Hantharwaddy car zone, was often a frustrating place for buyers, said the newspaper. “If you wanted to buy a car and went to somewhere like Hantharwaddy you couldn’t just go up and ask the prices of the cars, even if they were right there. Instead, you had to approach brokers and ask them, which could take a long time,” Khin Win was quoted as saying. You can also thank the government for this new twist. The newspaper said that the car import substitution program gave many car buyers their first taste of online buying because they had to go the online car auction sites to find what they wanted. A spokesperson for the new myanmarcarsdb website said it had received more than 10,000 unique visitors since it was launched on January 4, with more than 328,000 views. By the second week of February, the site had 420 registered users and 180 advertisements. Onward to the Arctic Circle for Burma http://www.mizzima.com/news/breaking-and-news-brief/6642-onward-to-the-arctic-circle-for-burma.html Thursday, 23 February 2012 14:55 Mizzima News (Mizzima) – On March 12, Robert Thein, whose Burmese parents moved to Britain before he was born, will compete in the grueling 200-kilometre Husky Trek in the Arctic Circle to raise funds for Burma Campaign UK. Despite living outside the country, Thein has visited Burma many times, and he says that what he has heard and experienced has inspired him “to do something to help my people.” He is asking for donations to support his race in the Arctic Circle, as part of a Burma Campaign UK fundraising project. To make a donation that will go to support people in Burma, go to http://www.bmycharity.com/theiny. For more information about the Burma Campaign UK fundraising effort which is open to all, go to http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/fundraise for ideas and support. Suu Kyi to campaign in Kachin State http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6636-suu-kyi-to-campaign-in-kachin-state.html Thursday, 23 February 2012 11:42 Phanida Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Aung San Suu Kyi travels to Kachin State on Thursday to meet with members of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly (KNCA) and campaign in several cities. The KNCA is made up of more than 50 members including the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), businessmen and religious leaders. KNCA leaders are also trying to mediate the on-going peace talks between the Burmese government and KIO. Suu Kyi has said that peace in ethnic regions is essential for Burma to advance economically and politically, and she has offered to mediate in the talks. Suu Kyi will fly from Rangoon to Myitkyina to deliver a speech in a stadium in Namti village in Mogaung Township, where NLD members have built a special pavilion and will provide security, said Win Bo, a Namti Township NLD member. On Friday, she will deliver a speech at Manau Stadium in Sitapu Quarter in Myitkyina. Suu Kyi will also speak in Bhamo, said campaign manager Nyan Win. She will also meet with the abbot of the Wuntho Monastery in Myitkyina, according to sources close to the abbot. Unlike other ethnic armed groups, the KIO said it would not agree on a cease-fire first, but would first discuss political issues. As a result, sporadic fighting still takes place, despite an order by the government to halt all offensives. “A cease-fire is only the political consequences,” a KIO official told Mizzima. “We will focus on political talks which will be transparent, concrete and offer a clear path, and we will discuss how to resolve these political issues.” The trip marks Suu Kyi’s third visit to Kachin State. She visited in 1989 and 2003. During her visit in 1989, she met with Duwa Zau Rip, who was involved in drafting the Panglong Agrement with General Aung San, Suu Kyi’s father. In recent weeks, Suu Kyi has campaigned in Dawei (Tavoy), Pakokku, Pathein, Kawhmu, Helgu and Pyapon. On Wednesday, seven members of the Mandalay Region NLD, including senior leader Win Mya Mya, traveled to Myitkyina via train carry clothes and 10 million kyat (about US$ 12,000) to donate to Kachin war refugees. HIV medicine crisis in Burma http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6639-hiv-medicine-crisis-in-burma.html Thursday, 23 February 2012 12:59 Mizzima News (Mizzima) – Burma’s festering HIV-AIDs crisis has again captured the headlines, as some 85,000 HIV-infected people are at risk of not getting adequate medicine, according to aid groups. Despite the country’s political reforms, health care and medicine remain a near crisis in the country, aid groups said. Doctors Without Borders, a French humanitarian group, says two-thirds of HIV patients in Burma in need of anti-retroviral therapy cannot get it. The United Nations says between 15,000 and 20,000 people living with HIV die every year in Burma because they are not treated. Doctors Without Borders warned in a recent report that the situation could grow worse as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria unexpectedly cut funding worldwide because of a drop in funding. In 2009, the U.N. estimated 240,000 people were infected with HIV and about 18,000 were dying from it annually in Burma, which has one of the world's worst health systems. Peter Paul de Groote, who heads the Doctors Without Borders’ organization in Burma, told The Associated Press his group gives antiretroviral drugs to about 23,000 people at 23 clinics nationwide, funding more than half of all HIV treatment being provided to nearly 40,000 patients. Doctors Without Borders is the largest supplier of anti-retroviral therapy in Burma. The government devotes a tiny fraction of its budget to health care. “Regardless of what is happening in the country, the people that are in need of treatment, need treatment,” de Groote said told AP. Speak up or write it down http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6638-speak-up-or-write-it-down.html Thursday, 23 February 2012 12:29 Ko Pauk and Min Thet Rangoon (Mizzima) – Shwe Mann, the speaker of the Burmese Lower House, has urged MPs to speak out for the people, and if they are afraid to speak out publicly then put it in writing. The speaker made his remarks during a meeting of the Law Affairs and Special Matters Study and Evaluation Commission at the Rangoon Region Assembly hall on Wednesday. “People are still scared. People still fear the consequences of their words. Fear is a form of corruption, so I want to urge all MPs to speak out in written form if you are still scared and to avoid acts that could lead to corruption,” Shwe Mann said. Shwe Mann, himself, spoke out boldly on February 7 in a joint session of Parliament calling for a pay raise for all government workers, in a effort to reverse the endemic corruption that pervades the government throughout the country. Government Finance and Revenue Minister Hla Tun in a speech to Parliament on February 16 opposed Shwe Mann’s motion. On Tuesday, Shwe Mann again told Parliament members: “Only projects which will be beneficial to the people should be continued [in order to] give a pay increase for the government staff by cutting government spending.” He said on Wednesday that he would stick to his pay-increase proposal and not back down, which means that the Parliament will have to vote on his motion, according to parliamentary rules. About 150 businessmen, academics, legislators from of Rangoon Region Assembly and up to 30 foreign and domestic media representatives attended his talk. Shwe Mann said that Burma needed efficient and practical laws to revamp the outdated laws and regulations that prevent the implementation of a market economy in line with international standards. “We learn that there are investors who want to invest in our country,” he said. “These potential investors have difficulties in doing business under the existing legal infrastructure. We learn that they lack trust and cannot conduct their businesses in our country. So we urgently need practical laws,” Thura Shwe Mann said. He said that at the current pace of change it’s unlikely that amendments and new laws and regulations could be completed in the current five-year term of Parliament so the pace of change must be accelerated. He singled out the 1947 Provisional Imports and Exports Act that he said is not practical and must be amended urgently. “If our country does not follow through and exercise a Parliamentary democracy and the market economy correctly and efficiently, our country and our people cannot catch up with other nations, and we will continually lag behind them,” he said. BGF ordered to return DKBA arms http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6646-bgf-ordered-to-return-dkba-arms.html Thursday, 23 February 2012 21:00 Myo Thant Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) threatened to void its cease-fire agreement with the Burmese government this week unless its arms are returned by the Border Guard Force (BGF), which seized the weapons on Sunday. Information Department officer Saw Lone Lone told Mizzima that President Thein Sein reportedly issued an order for the BGF to return the weapons. The arms were seized from a DKBA outpost on Sunday, he said. “If we get back our arms because of this presidential order, the peace can be maintained as before,” he told Mizzima. Saw Lone Lone said that they received the information about the president’s order from former Lieutenant Colonel Saw Khin Soe, who helped broker the cease-fire deal. A joint force of the government’s BGF Battalions 1011 and 1019 seized more than 30 weapons from the DKBA’s Kalohtoolar military command center amid strained relations. To resolve the incident, DKBA Commander Major General Saw Labwe sent a delegation led by Bo Maung Lay to Pa-an on Tuesday to meet Bo Phar Nwee of the BGF and Major General Maung Maung Ohn, who commands BGF troops. In the meeting, DKBA delegates conveyed DKBA Major General Saw Labwe’s message: “What do you want, arms or peace? If you want peace, you must return the arms seized from us otherwise you will not get peace.” The DKBA also demanded that the area where Abbot Myanig Gyi Ngoo lives be designated an arms-free zone and DKBA personnel be allowed to stay in the zone to guard the influential abbot. Saw Lone Lone told Mizzima: “They replied to us that they were trying hard to resolve this crisis as soon as possible. We believe this will be resolved soon.” The DKBA and government delegations signed a cease-fire agreement at the home of the Karen State Chief Minister in Pa-an on November 3, 2011. Most DKBA troops are a breakaway faction of the Karen National Union (KNU) that separated from the KNU in 1994. They agreed to join the government’s BGF under the command of Burmese officers on August 18, 2010. While Tigers fielding two candidates in Shan State http://www.english.panglong.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4438:while-tigers-fielding-two-candidates-in-shan-state&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266 Thursday, 23 February 2012 10:20 S.H.A.N. The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), the party that emerged third in the 2010 elections, is fielding 4 candidates, 2 in Shan State, in the April Fool’s Day by-elections to fill up the seats vacated by MPs that had been appointed as union ministers. One of them is Sai Sam Min, 53, a native of Lashio, who is running for the National Assembly seat left by Dr Sai Mawk Kham, Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), who was elected as Vice President #2. He holds a bachelor degree in law (1992) but his profession is business. A drugstore owned by him stands in the main market of Lashio, the capital of Shan State North. He says he is pretty much confident of winning the seat despite the fact that he is facing two formidable opponents: Dr Nang Keng Phawng Tip, USDP Sai Myint Maung, NLD The other is Sao Tha Oo, 51, who is running for the vacant People’s Assembly seat in Kalaw, Shan State South. He comes from the former princely house of Loilong Panglawng. He had received B. Com (Eco) Q, D.A. from Rangoon in 1980. His profession: agriculture and tourism. A former leading member of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), that had won the most seats in Shan State in the 1990 elections, he was detained and sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2005, together with his bosses: and Khun Tun Oo, 93 years; Sai Nyunt Lwin, 85 years. A month after the court sentence, he was freed as a state witness, which has served as a blemish in his otherwise stainless life. However, he is claiming innocence. Friends also say his early release was a trick by the then military rulers to sow a seed of mistrust among SNLD members. “The upcoming by-elections will vindicate me,” he said. SHAN is still waiting for data from Sai Myint Maung, 1990 elections winner. SHAN will also gratefully accept bio-data, leaflets and comments from other candidates from Lashio and Kalaw constituencies. Karen religious leaders join hands for unity and peace http://karennews.org/2012/02/karen-religious-leaders-join-hands-for-unity-and-peace.html/ 23-Feb-2012 Attending the three-day seminar were monks and reverends from different religious dominations and members of Karen community based organizations – 95 people took part. The seminar was initially organized by Interior and Religion departments of the Karen National Union and was funded by a religious organization from Japan. During the seminar, KNU officials presented their ceasefire and peace talk process and explained the current situation to the participants who openly and freely discussed the raised issues. Saw Hla Ngwe, joint secretary of the KNU explained to Karen News. “All Karen members of the community have their religious leaders. Our aim is to be inclusive to all in building peace and unity. Our purpose is to get all religious leaders to be involved in the process and we fulfilled our purpose.” Saw Hla Ngwe said that it is important to have religious leaders’ involvement in building unity among Karen, building unity with Burma government and more importantly, to reunite all the Karen people who are divided by religion, territory, organization and groups. At the seminar, a decision was made to form a “Karen Unity Building Group” to reunite all Karen and help bring peace to Burma. The group is composed of 11 monks and 9 reverends, while its advisory board, will be led by Ashin Wizzana and Reverend Saw Robert Htwe. Naw Bu Poe, a woman religious leader of a Baptist Christian domination who attended the seminar told Karen News. “If we can’t bring unity among ourselves, it is impossible to build unity with others. Now, we are starting our step towards building unity. Unity in diversity is the best and it is long lasting.” Ashin Wathawaka from Taung Yatetha temple from Naung Kine village in Kawkareik Township expressed his views to Karen News. “It is important for our Karen to be reunited. We’ve now founded this group and as soon as we have our mandate, we will start the implementation process and then we will try to build unity among ourselves.” In a statement issued after the religious seminar, the newly formed “Karen Unity Building Group” called for all concern parties from the KNU and Thein Sein’s government to reassure their peace process and their agreement to civilians living in conflict zones and to resolve all the ongoing confrontation between KNU and Burma army effectively and to continue their peace process with credibility. Monks from the border region and from inside Karen State – Myawaddy, Kawkareik, Hlaingbwe and Papun – attended the seminar. In the past religious seminars about Karen unity were held but this is the first time a group has been formed to implement unity among Karen. KNU ceasefire meeting with government behind schedule http://karennews.org/2012/02/knu-ceasefire-meeting-with-government-behind-schedule.html/ 23-Feb-2012 Naw Zipporah Sein, general secretary of the KNU spoke to Karen News. “We are not sure if we can meet with Burma government this [February] month. At the moment, we haven’t yet finalized our delegation for the next meeting. We might be ready to meet them March.” Ms. Sein said that the KNU has been holding meetings and discussions at every level of its administration before they will meet again with the Burma government. The KNU’s peace talk delegation met with Burma government representatives on January 12 at Hpa-an town in Karen State where the KNU had reached to an preliminary ceasefire agreement with the State level government, and agreed to meet with central level government representatives within 45 days. During the initial ceasefire period, Burma army troops have yet to withdraw from KNU controlled areas in Brigade 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. The Burma Army also has continued to reinforce its troop numbers and to re-supply its soldiers with munitions and food supplies. The KNU doesn’t disclose any detail reasons of why they can’t meet with government within the 45 days. On February 8th to 10th , the KNU organized a two day workshop location on the border where participants included officials from KNU’s administration, army officers and leaders from Karen community based organization to discuss ‘political dialogue’. An army officer who attended the workshop spoke to Karen News. “We discuss in every detail about our 11 key points that we’ve raised to the government. The workshop is also a preparation for the coming meeting so it is useful.” The KNU has been struggling for equal right and self-determination since January 31, 1949 and has been fighting against the various Burma military regimes that have dominated Burma for more than 60-years. On January 12th, 2012 was the first time, the KNU had signed an initial ceasefire agreement.