anti-military dictatorship in myanmar - volume 493

Polaris Burmese Library Collections Vol. 493
The Fight For Freedom in Burma
Democracy and Human Rights Without Borders

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Half Of Myanmar's Jade, Worth Billions Of Dollars
Each Year, Is Smuggled To China Without Taxes

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FOR DEMOCRACY LEADERS IN MYANMAR
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO

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493. Polaris Burmese Library – Singapore – Collections - Vol 493
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WE WILL BRING DICTATORS TO JUSTICE


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2013
A5 SIZE
Index: Polaris Burmese Library, LPK Library, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Bo Than Shwe, Myanmar Current History, Myanmar Politics, Myanmar Junta, Myanmar People, Myanmar Students, Insein Prison, Prison in Myanmar, Political Prisoner in Myanmar, Torture in Myanmar, Myanmar Army, Myanmar Affairs, Burma Affairs, Democracy and Human Rights in Burma, Burmese Refugees, Anti-Dictatorship, Dictator Than Shwe, Anti-Dictator, Burma dictator Than Shwe, Myanmar dictator
Than Shwe, Democracy and Human Rights Without Borders, puppet
president Bo Thein Sein, KIA,KIO, KNU,UWSA, SSA, RCSS,
Public Enemies


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YANGON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ UNION BUILDING
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MYANMAR DEMOCRACY MONUMENT


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KIO/KIA

KIO/KIA


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DEMOCRACY CHECKLIST
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KIA

7Day Daily

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to open on Dec 22
By Saifulbahri Ismail
POSTED: 07 Oct 2013 10:39
The first stage of the Downtown Line rail network w ill open on December
22 this year. T ransport M inister Lui Tuck Yew said the first stage will see
s ix stations open for serv ice linking three other lines.
SINGAPORE: The first stage of the Downtown Line rail network will open on
December 22 this year.Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew made the announcement at
the opening of the Singapore International Transport Congress and Exhibition on
Monday morning.During the congress, Mr Lui also announced a new Land Transport
Master Plan 2013 that maps out initiatives to take Singapore's land transport forward
for the next 10 to 15 years.It refreshes the previous plan which was rolled out in
2008.Among the key elements of the plan is the opening of six stations of the
Downtown Line.Mr Lui said the first stage will see six stations open for service,
linking with three other MRT lines -- the Circle Line, North East Line and East-West
Line.The six stations are Bugis, Promenade, Bayfront, Downtown, Telok Ayer and
Chinatown.This will improve the rail network density and connectivity in the city
area.When fully opened in 2017, the 42-kilometre Downtown Line will be the longest
fully underground driverless train system in Singapore.It will also improve
connectivity for residents from the east and west to the city and also help bring
some relief to some of the crowded stretches of the existing rail network.With the
fifth major rail line in place, Mr Lui hopes more people will consider switching to
public transport over the next few years with more enhancements due to be carried
out.Mr Lui said: "We will also improve "first and last mile" by putting in more
resources. The feeder bus network is being expanded to reduce crowding and
waiting times. We will expand the intra-town cycling networks."For commuters who
walk to the train station or bus interchange, we will build more sheltered walkways


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everyone, we will build more integrated transport hubs."Based on the latest
Household Interview Travel Survey, more people have opted for public transport
instead of private vehicles for their daily commute over the past four years. Peak
hour trips have also increased to 63 per cent last year, as compared to 59 per cent
in 2008.The travel survey also revealed that there has been a 13 per cent increase in
daily journeys.In 2012, there were 12.5 million daily journeys as compared with 11
million journeys in 2008.A total of 10,000 households participated in the survey.Mr
Lui said the travel survey also showed that more higher-income commuters appear
to be choosing public transport."Going forward, we must do more to strengthen this
modal shift from private to public transport. It is our goal to increase this to 70 per
cent by the end of this decade," said Mr Lui.There is also good progress in building
cycling path networks in public housing towns and the target is for every single town
to eventually have such a network.More details of the cycling plan will be shared
later this year.

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Monday, October 7, 2013

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fought with broken bac
4 October 2013 Last updated at 01:13 GMT BBC
Cpl Griffiths (left), A/Cpl Gurung and L/Cpl Hughes are among 117 honoured
Continue reading the main story
A soldier who battled Afghan insurgents despite breaking his back has been named
in a list of military honours.
Cpl Josh Griffiths, 24, from Merseyside, is among 117 servicemen and women
recommended for an award by their commanding officers for performing beyond the
call of duty.He fought off insurgents in March, in Nad Ali, despite having been
injured when a bomb exploded at his base.His Conspicuous Gallantry Cross is one of
the highest military honours.Most of the awards, including eight Military Crosses,
were for those who fought in Afghanistan last winter.
The Queen will present the medals at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace
later this year.
'Adrenalin kicked in'

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Cpl Griffiths, from the Mercian Regiment, was sitting down to eat a beef stir-fry at
his base when a suicide bomber drove a truck into the wall.
Cpl Griffiths broke his back after being thrown by the blast, but in the firefight that
followed, he protected his fellow wounded soldiers and stopped the insurgents.
"I heard lads screaming so the job just took over and I pushed forward, treated
them and pushed forward again," he said.
Marine Craig Buchanan describes his response to an attack on his patrol, for which
he is being honoured"I think adrenalin kicked in."His citation said he had returned
fire as the base was hit with bullets and rocket-propelled grenades, allowing the
casualties to be evacuated.
Also among those honoured is Acting L/Cpl Tuljung Gurung, from The Royal Gurkha
Rifles.The 28-year-old received the Military Cross for his gallantry and courage after
he was shot in the helmet and almost blown up by a grenade before fighting hand-
to-hand with an insurgent.The pair fell from a guard tower as L/Cpl Gurung fought
the attacker off with his kukri - the traditional Nepalese knife used by Gurkhas."I just


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Cpl Josh Griffiths: "I saw insurgents firing and throwing grenades at us"
"I thought, 'Before he does something, I have to do something.' I was like a
madman."'Humbled' Twenty-six-year-old Army medic L/Cpl Rachel Hughes, from
Colchester, Essex, was also honoured for her service after saving lives on three
different occasions during her first tour of Afghanistan. She saved four Afghan
children who had been trapped underwater when the tractor they were in
overturned into a canal.
"You can't really prepare yourself for children, especially when you have relatives
that age - I have nieces and nephews a similar age so it was a bit of a shock," she
said.


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Rifleman Ben Taylor (left) and Private Ryan Houston
Rifleman Ben Taylor, 21 - a roofer from Shrewsbury - was awarded the Queen's
Gallantry Medal after he risked his life to save his colleagues when their vehicle slid
into a canal.And Private Ryan Houston, from the Royal Regiment of Scotland,
received a Mention in Despatches for his actions when a rogue Afghan soldier turned
on coalition troops during a Remembrance Day football match in Helmand
province.Announcing the awards, Lt Gen Sir Adrian Bradshaw said: "I am humbled
by the achievements of our servicemen and women."Collectively, they have proved
with good people you can achieve anything."Brig Bob Bruce, commander of the
operation in Afghanistan from last September until April, added: "Their bravery and
professionalism are astonishing."The names of military personnel from all three
services are included in the latest operational honours list, published in the London
Gazette.Men and women are nominated by their commanding officers every six
months in recognition of their bravery.


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layoffs, hopes to find jobs for affected
workers
Friday, September 27, 2013 at 4:10 pm
BATH — Bath Iron Works will lay off 42 employees effective Oct. 11, the company
confirmed Friday. The layoffs affect insulators and pipe coverers.This file image
released by Bath Iron Works shows a rendering of the DDG-1000 Zumwalt, the U.S.
Navy's next-generation destroyer.Dan Dowling, president of Local S6 of the
Machinists union, which has approximately 3,400 members, said Friday morning that
he had just received official notification of the layoff, the second in about a
month.Some of the employees affected are the same people laid off in August. Bath
Iron Works subsequently found new positions for all them, but Dowling said, “This
will be their second time in the cross-hairs.”


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BIW spokesman Jim DeMartini confirmed the layoffs, and said the company would
“work up until the last minute to try to place anybody we can into a job they’re
qualified to fit into.”The shipyard currently employs approximately 5,700 people.
Amid news of the layoffs, Bath Iron Works on Thursday learned it would receive a
$13.3 million U.S. Navy contract modification to complete work on the deckhouse of
the DDG-1000, the first of three Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers under construction
at the shipyard.But the new work does not affect the layoffs. Because the shipyard
works on multiple ships simultaneously, an award for one phase of work does not
affect workforce needs on ships in other phases of construction.DeMartini said in
August that such layoffs “reflect the typical fluctuation we see for specific trades
throughout the course of the production cycle. We’re always looking to balance the
work we have with the resources.”
The DDG-1000, the future USS Zumwalt, is “approaching a high state of
completion,” DeMartini said.The hulls of the three Zumwalt-class destroyers – a line
of stealth warships since discontinued because of their cost – are being built at BIW.
Ingalls Shipbuilding’s Composite Center for Excellence facility in Gulfport, Miss., was
awarded contracts to build the deckhouses, helicopter hangar and launch missile
shields for the first two Zumwalt-class ships out of composite materials.
But on Aug. 2, the Navy announced that BIW had secured a $212 million contract
modification to build the third deckhouse – for the future USS Lyndon Johnson – out
of steel.The decision prompted Huntington Ingalls to announce earlier this month
that it would close its composites center.At 610 feet long and with 80-foot beams,
the DDG-1000 destroyers are the largest destroyers ever built at BIW. The first cost
an estimated $3 billion, although the second and third will cost less. Each will hold a
crew of 158 including an aircraft contingent for the ship’s two helicopters.The future
USS Zumwalt is scheduled to be christened on Oct. 19 at BIW, with “initial operating
capability” – fully operational with a trained crew and “ready to go into combat” – by
2016, DeMartini said.

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USS Gerald R. Ford
Published: January 17, 2007
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy announced Tuesday that the first of the next
generation of aircraft carriers will be named after former President Gerald R. Ford,
who died Dec. 26, 2006.Speaking at Tuesday’s ceremony, Navy Secretary Donald
Winter said the USS Gerald R. Ford will be part of a new class of carriers slated to
replace the USS Enterprise and its class of carriers.The CVN-21 carriers will be first
on the scene to respond to crises and give the Navy “early, decisive striking power”
during combat operations, Winter said. “CVN-21 ships include significant warfighting
capability improvements, including a 25 percent increase in sortie generation rate, a
nearly threefold increase in electrical generation capability, an improved fully
integrated warfare system, and a host of new technologies in its system design,” he
said.When it joins the U.S. fleet between seven and eight years from now, the Ford
will be as long as the Empire State Building is tall — nearly 1,500 feet — and will rise
20 stories out of the sea, said Vice President Dick Cheney during Tuesday’s
ceremony.Ford’s daughter, Susan Ford Bales, said the Ford family was filled with
“tremendous pride” at the decision. “Nothing, absolutely nothing, would have made
dad prouder,” she said.

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By Erik Slavin
Published: September 6, 2013
The Navy’s next-generation aircraft carrier is mired in a pattern of inadequate
testing, developmental delays and cost overruns that may hinder its effectiveness
when it joins the fleet, the Government Accountability Office says in a scathing
report.The USS Gerald R. Ford, which is still under construction, is now expected to
cost $12.8 billion — a $1.3 billion increase since 2011, according to the report,
released Thursday.The higher cost comes as the Navy searches for ways to make a
congressionally mandated $14 billion cut in the upcoming fiscal year as a result of
the automatic federal budget cuts known as sequestration.An earlier GAO draft
report recommended that the Navy delay the ship’s planned commissioning,
following delivery in 2016. It withdrew the recommendation because of the Navy’s
arguments on how a non-commissioned ship would fit into the service’s chain of
command.
However, the GAO still found faults.“Key ship systems face reliability shortfalls that
the Navy does not expect to resolve until many years after [Ford] commissioning,
which will limit the ship’s mission effectiveness during initial deployments and likely
increase costs to the government,” the report stated.The Navy’s timetable calls for
the ship to enter maintenance soon after commissioning, followed by years of
testing during its initial operations. The carrier would be fully capable by February
2019, according to the report.The GAO noted delays ranging from 2 ½ to 4 ½ years
in testing three of the ship’s most important new advances: its dual band radar,
arresting gear and the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System that will catapult jets
off the carrier.“[The Navy] has elected to not adjust the [Ford] construction schedule
to compensate for these delays. As a result, the Navy and its shipbuilder are
constructing [Ford] with less knowledge about the ship’s critical technologies than it


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Noting the testing delays, the GAO recommended that the Navy delay the contract
award for the next planned Ford-class carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy.The Navy
rejected that recommendation, stating that such a delay would drive up costs.The
Pentagon is currently slated to spend $43 billion to produce three Ford-class carriers,
according to the report.The service also defended the development of the Ford’s
critical systems in a response attached to the GAO report.“The cost, schedule and
technical risks associated with delayed land based testing have been overstated in
the GAO draft report,” the Navy responded.The service did agree to some GAO
recommendations on updating the ship’s master plan and adjusting its test
schedule.The Senate Armed Services Committee asked GAO to compile the report
following concerns from members over the ship’s cost overruns.The carrier is now
expected to cost 22 percent more than expected in the Navy’s 2008 budget request,
according to the GAO report.


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billion jade empire
by andrew r.c. marshall AND min zayar oo
Hand-pickers search for jade through rubble dumped by mining companies at a jade
mine in Hpakant township, Kachin State July 7, 2013. Picture taken July 7.
REUTERS/Minzayar
HPAKANT, Myanmar (Reuters) - Tin Tun picked all night through teetering heaps of
rubble to find the palm-sized lump of jade he now holds in his hand. He hopes it will
make him a fortune. It's happened before."Last year I found a stone worth 50
million kyat," he said, trekking past the craters and slag heaps of this notorious jade-


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was more than enough money for Tin Tun, 38, to buy land and build a house in his
home village.But rare finds by small-time prospectors like Tin Tun pale next to the
staggering wealth extracted on an industrial scale by Myanmar's military, the
tycoons it helped enrich, and companies linked to the country where most jade ends
up: China.Almost half of all jade sales are "unofficial" - that is, spirited over the
border into China with little or no formal taxation. This represents billions of dollars
in lost revenues that could be spent on rebuilding a nation shattered by nearly half a
century of military dictatorship.Official statistics confirm these missing billions.
Myanmar produced more than 43 million kg of jade in fiscal year 2011/12 (April to
March). Even valued at a conservative $100 per kg, it was worth $4.3 billion. But
official exports of jade that year stood at only $34 million.Official Chinese statistics
only deepen the mystery. China doesn't publicly report how much jade it imports
from Myanmar. But jade is included in official imports of precious stones and metals,
which in 2012 were worth $293 million - a figure still too small to explain where
billions of dollars of Myanmar jade has gone.
Such squandered wealth symbolizes a wider challenge in Myanmar, an impoverished
country whose natural resources - including oil, timber and precious metals - have
long fuelled armed conflicts while enriching only powerful individuals or groups. In a
rare visit to the heart of Myanmar's secretive jade-mining industry in Hpakant,
Reuters found an anarchic region where soldiers and ethnic rebels clash, and where
mainland Chinese traders rub shoulders with heroin-fuelled "handpickers" who are
routinely buried alive while scavenging for stones.Myint Aung, Myanmar's Minister of
Mines, did not reply to written questions from Reuters about the jade industry's
missing millions and social costs.
Since a reformist government took office in March 2011, Myanmar has pinned its
economic hopes on the resumption of foreign aid and investment. Some economists
argue, however, that Myanmar's prosperity and unity may depend upon claiming
more revenue from raw materials.There are few reliable estimates on total jade
sales that include unofficial exports. The Harvard Ash Center, which advises
Myanmar's quasi-civilian government, has possibly the best numbers available.After
sending researchers to the area this year, the Harvard Ash Center published a report
in July that put sales of Burmese jade at about $8 billion in 2011. That's more than


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"Practically nothing is going to the government," David Dapice, the report's co-
author, told Reuters. "What you need is a modern system of public finance in which
the government collects some part of the rents from mining this stuff."
HIDING STONES
Chinese have prized jade for its beauty and symbolism for millennia. Many believe
wearing jade jewellery brings good fortune, prosperity and longevity. It is also
viewed as an investment, a major factor driving China's appetite for Burmese jade.
"Gold is valuable, but jade is priceless," runs an old Chinese saying.Jade is not only
high value but easy to transport. "Only the stones they cannot hide go to the
emporiums," said Tin Soe, 53, a jade trader in Hpakant, referring to the official
auctions held in Myanmar's capital of Naypyitaw.The rest is smuggled by truck to
China by so-called "jockeys" through territory belonging to either the Burmese
military or the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), both of whom extract tolls. The All
China Jade Trade Association, a state-linked industry group based in Beijing,
declined repeated requests for an interview.
Hpakant lies in Kachin State, a rugged region sandwiched strategically between
China and India. Nowhere on Earth does jade exist in such quantity and quality.
"Open the ground, let the country abound," reads the sign outside the Hpakant
offices of the Ministry of Mines.In fact, few places better symbolize how little
Myanmar benefits from its fabulous natural wealth. The road to Hpakant has pot-
holes bigger than the four-wheel-drive cars that negotiate it. During the rainy
season, it can take nine hours to reach from Myitkyina, the Kachin state capital 110
km (68 miles) away.Non-Burmese are rarely granted official access to Hpakant, but
taxi-drivers routinely take Chinese traders there for exorbitant fees, part of which
goes to dispensing bribes at police and military checkpoints. The official reason for
restricting access to Hpakant is security: the Burmese military and the Kachin
Independence Army (KIA) have long vied for control of the road, which is said to be
flanked with land-mines. But the restrictions also serve to reduce scrutiny of the
industry's biggest players and its horrific social costs: the mass deaths of workers
and some of the highest heroin addiction and HIV infection rates in Myanmar.
There are also "obvious" links between jade and conflict in Kachin State, said analyst


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ceasefire between the military and the KIA ended when fighting erupted in June
2011. It has since displaced at least 100,000 people.
"Such vast revenues - in the hands of both sides - have certainly fed into the
conflict, helped fund insurgency, and will be a hugely complicating factor in building
a sustainable peace economy," Horsey said.The United States banned imports of
jade, rubies and other Burmese gemstones in 2008 in a bid to cut off revenue to the
military junta which then ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma. But soaring demand
from neighbouring China meant the ban had little effect. After Myanmar's reformist
government took power, the United States scrapped or suspended almost all
economic and political sanctions - but not the ban on jade and rubies. It was
renewed by the White House on August 7 in a sign that Myanmar's anarchic jade
industry remains a throwback to an era of dictatorship. The U.S. Department of the
Treasury included the industry in activities that "contribute to human rights abuses
or undermine Burma's democratic reform process."
Foreign companies are not permitted to extract jade. But mining is capital intensive,
and it is an open secret that most of the 20 or so largest operations in Hpakant are
owned by Chinese companies or their proxies, say gem traders and other industry
insiders in Kachin State. "Of course, some (profit) goes to the government," said Yup
Zaw Hkawng, chairman of Jadeland Myanmar, the most prominent Kachin mining
company in Hpakant. "But mostly it goes into the pockets of Chinese families and
the families of the former (Burmese) government."Other players include the Union of
Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEHL), the investment arm of the country's
much-feared military, and Burmese tycoons such as Zaw Zaw, chairman of Max
Myanmar, who made their fortunes collaborating with the former junta.
THE CHINA CONNECTION
Soldiers guard the big mining companies and sometimes shoot in the air to scare off
small-time prospectors. "We run like crazy when we see them," said Tin Tun, the
handpicker.UMEHL is notoriously tight-lipped about its operations. "Stop bothering
us," Major Myint Oo, chief of human resources at UMEHL's head office in downtown
Yangon, told Reuters. "You can't just come in here and meet our superiors. This is a
military company. Some matters must be kept secret."


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This arrangement, whereby Chinese companies exploit natural resources with
military help, is both familiar and deeply controversial in Myanmar.Last year,
protests outside the Letpadaung copper mine in northwest Myanmar triggered a
violent police crackdown. The mine's two operators - UMEHL and Myanmar Wanbao,
a unit of Chinese weapons manufacturer China North Industries Corp - shared most
of the profits, leaving the government with just 4 percent. That contract was revised
in July in an apparent attempt to appease public anger. The government now gets
51 percent of the profits, while UMEHL and Myanmar Wanbao get 30 and 19 percent
respectively.
China's domination of the jade trade could feed into a wider resentment over its
exploitation of Myanmar's natural wealth. A Chinese-led plan to build a $3.6 million
dam at the Irrawaddy River's source in Kachin State - and send most of the power it
generated to Yunnan Province - was suspended in 2011 by President Thein Sein
amid popular outrage.The national and local governments should also get a greater
share of Kachin State's natural wealth, say analysts and activists. That includes gold,
timber and hydropower, but especially jade.
A two-week auction held in the capital Naypyitaw in June sold a record-breaking
$2.6 billion in jade and gems. But jade tax revenue in 2011 amounted to only 20
percent of the official sales. Add in all the "unofficial" sales outside of the emporium,
and Harvard calculates an effective tax rate of about 7 percent on all Burmese
jade.It is, on the other hand, highly lucrative for the mining companies, whose
estimated cost of production is $400 a ton, compared with an official sales figure of
$126,000 a ton, the report said."Kachin, and by extension Myanmar, cannot be
peaceful and politically stable without some equitable sharing of resource revenues
with the local people," said analyst Horsey.
THE PECKING ORDER
At the top of the pecking order in Hpakant are cashed-up traders from China, who
buy stones displayed on so-called "jade tables" in Hpakant tea-shops. The tables are
run by middleman called laoban ("boss" in Chinese), who are often ethnic Chinese.
They buy jade from, and sometimes employ, handpickers like Tin Tun.The


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especially when banks and slag heaps are destabilized by monsoon rain. Landslides
routinely swallow 10 or 20 men at a time, said Too Aung, 30, a handpicker from the
Kachin town of Bhamo."Sometimes we can't even dig out their bodies," he said. "We
don't know where to look."In 2002, at least a thousand people were killed when
flood waters inundated a mine, Jadeland Myanmar chairman Yup Zaw Hkawng told
Reuters. Deaths are common but routinely concealed by companies eager to avoid
suspending operations, he said.
The boom in Hpakant's population coincided with an exponential rise in opium
production in Myanmar, the world's second-largest producer after Afghanistan. Its
derivative, heroin, is cheap and widely available in Kachin State, and Hpakant's
workforce seems to run on it.About half the handpickers use heroin, while others
rely on opium or alcohol, said Tin Soe, 53, a jade trader and a local leader of the
opposition National League for Democracy party. "It's very rare to find someone who
doesn't do any of these," he said.Official figures on heroin use in Hpakant are hard
to get. The few foreign aid workers operating in the area, mostly working with drug
users, declined comment for fear of upsetting relations with the Myanmar
government. But health workers say privately about 40 percent of injecting drug
users in Hpakant are HIV positive - twice the national average.
Drug use is so intrinsic to jade mining that "shooting galleries" operate openly in
Hpakant, with workers often exchanging lumps of jade for hits of heroin.Soe Moe,
39, came to Hpakant in 1992. Three years later, he was sniffing heroin, then
injecting it. His habit now devours his earnings as a handpicker. "When I'm on
(heroin), I feel happier and more energetic. I work better," he said. The shooting
gallery he frequents accommodates hundreds of users. "The place is so busy it's like
a festival," he said. Soe Moe said he didn't fear arrest, because the gallery owners
paid off the police.
MOVING MOUNTAINS
Twenty years ago, Hpakant was controlled by KIA insurgents who for a modest fee
granted access to small prospectors. Four people with iron picks could live off the
jade harvested from a small plot of land, said Yitnang Ze Lum of the Myanmar Gems
and Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association (MGJEA) in Myitkyina.A 1994 ceasefire


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began, with hundreds of backhoes, earthmovers and trucks working around the
clock. "Now even a mountain lasts only three months," said Yitnang Ze Lum.Many
Kachin businessmen, unable to compete in terms of capital or technology, were shut
out of the industry. Non-Kachin workers poured in from across Myanmar, looking for
jobs and hoping to strike it rich.
The mines were closed in mid-2012 when the conflict flared up again. Myanmar's
military shelled suspected KIA positions; the rebels retaliated with ambushes along
the Hpakant road. Thousands of people were displaced. Jade production plunged to
just 19.08 million kg in the 2012/13 fiscal year from 43.1 million kg the previous
year. But the government forged a preliminary ceasefire with the Kachin rebels in
May, and some traders predict Hpakant's mines will re-open when the monsoon
ends in October.When operations are in full swing, the road to Hpakant is clogged
with vehicles bringing fuel in and jade out. Such is the scale and speed of modern
extraction, said Yitnang Ze Lum, Hpakant's jade could be gone within 10
years."Every Kachin feels passionately that their state's resources are being taken
away," a leading Myitkyina gem trader told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "But
we're powerless to stop them."
(Andrew R.C. Marshall reported from Myitkyina; Min Zayar Oo reported from
Hpakant; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing)


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By Kayleigh Long | Monday, 30 September 2013
http://www.mmtimes.com/
An expedition to the summit of Gamlang Razi in the remote north of Kachin State has
provided the strongest evidence yet that the mountain could be the highest in
Myanmar and, consequently, Southeast Asia.
The expedition confirmed the mountain’s height at 5870.084 metres, just below the
5881m normally attributed to nearby Hkakabo Razi.However, expedition leader Andy
Tyson says the basis for Hkakabo Razi’s height is the source of some contention –
and something that piqued his interest in mountaineering in Myanmar in the 90s,
when he began researching the eastern Himalayas."It's been on my radar for a while
and as things have been changing politically I've continued to be interested in
coming here,” Mr Tyson said.
"I looked at some of the heights and it was a bit of a rabbit hole. I started calling
some folks and it became clear that it wasn't clear. I started visiting the Harvard
Map Library and they said it was interesting.”The first Survey of India maps give
Hkakabo Razi's elevation as 5887m (1923) and 5881m (1925). The second figure is
the most widely used but was attained under difficult conditions using primitive
equipment, Mr Tyson said.
"It was folks hiking around in the jungle ... They did a pretty good job on most
things. It wasn't a bad survey, by any means, and it is the basis of our
understanding about where rivers in the region go, and relative heights,” he said.
Satellite imaging confirmed the 5881m figure in the lead up to summit attempts in
1995 and 1996 but post-World War II Russian and Chinese maps put its elevation at
a mere 5691m. Google Earth supplies the response of 5780m, while a Harvard Map
Library researcher using two data set extrapolation techniques reckoned it at
5758m."With the imaging out there, with Google Earth and all the different available
data, you can look at the maps and see where the peaks are. At least one thing was
saying Gamlang was [higher]," Mr Tyson said.


38
"The experts I spoke to – if they were going to pick [between data sets] they would
throw away all the paper maps and they would go with the Lidar and satellite data.
The GPS we used was super accurate, and the data we produced can be measured
against any data map.”The GPS measurement used a reference point some 1000
kilometres (600 miles) away in Lhasa, China. While still an appropriate distance from
the summit for a reference point, it reduced the accuracy of the reading, he said.
"They were hoping to have sub-metre accuracy but they ended up with 2m
accuracy. From a lay point of view that's not a big deal,” Tyson said.The expedition's
data is now being reviewed by the Harvard Map Library and the US Geographic
Information System department, which are expected to provide comment on the
relative peak heights. Independent reviews of the data are also being encouraged.
Some skepticism remains, with President U Thein Sein sending an official letter of
felicitation to the group congratulating it on scaling the country's "second-highest
peak".
The expedition team comprised two Myanmar members, Ko Pyae Phyoe Aung and
Ko Win Ko Ko, and five American members: Andy Tyson, Molly Loomis Tyson, Chris
Nance, Mark Fisher and Eric Daft.The expedition faced a number of challenges,
particularly as the climb took place during rainy season. Obtaining the relevant travel
permits and covering the expedition’s costs were a non-issue, however, thanks to
the support of billionaire businessman U Tay Za.
"Those were the biggest questions going in to the expedition. But [Htoo Foundation]
took care of [everything]" Mr Tyson said, adding that he was surprised at the scale
of the operation.
"I thought there were just going to be six of us and a couple of support people ...
There were 17 of us and another eight cooks and support, and up to 90 porters,” he
said."We were there at a time of year when most people wouldn't recommend
visiting the area, during monsoon ... For us it was the time of year where there was
the least snow. When you travel later in the year, like November, there is snow but
the jungle is cooler. It's dryer and cooler which would make a huge difference. It


39
The Gamlang team's achievement, however, has attracted the ire of some in the
activist community, who have questioned the wisdom of conducting such an
expensive expedition into a state afflicted by a civil war that has displaced as many
as 100,000 people.Alongside the philanthrophic activities of his foundation, Htoo
Group of Companies chairman U Tay Za has also ramped up his economic interests
in northern Kachin State. The Irrawaddy reported recently that local authorities had
granted his company a 100,000-acre logging concession in the Putao area, while
ethnic media said the firm is also actively pursuing mining rights.
U Tay Za has made clear his ambitions to develop ecotourism in Kachin State's
mountainous regions, and it was while scouting possible tourism sites that he was
involved in a helicopter crash on a remote Kachin mountain in February 2011. He
also owns Malikha Lodge, an exclusive resort in Putao.However, Htoo Foundation
chief executive officer U Paw Myint Oo told The Myanmar Times last week that
environmental issues were the company’s primary concern in Kachin State and
would trump any economic opportunities.
A lack of infrastructure currently inhibits the region’s ability to handle more than a
trickle of tourists. While this is likely to change in coming years – particularly if
Kachin State’s conflict ends peacefully – Mr Tyson expressed hope that development
in the area would be handled carefully.
“I think there's potential there mainly from the point of view that it's beautiful,
unexplored which has a certain draw and it's very much in its natural state. The
villages are almost completely unchanged.”


40
Published on Monday, 30 September 2013 20:01
Twenty-one Kachin MP's visited the Myitsone dam project site in Kachin State on
September 29 at the invitation of the China Power Investment Corporation (CPI).
The delegation, including journalists from state-owned media and Union Daily
Newspaper, was led by Deputy Speaker of Kachin State Parliament Sai Myint Kyaw.
They met with the vice-chairman of CPI based in Kunming, the capital of China's
Yunnan province."They [CPI] have been inviting us for a long time. They show us
Ayeyarwady River’s upper reaches and basin on the projector. They also explained
about Aung Myin Thar model village that had been moved from Myitsone region and
completion of the model village and its construction cost," said Sai Aung Myat.
The dam project has been controversial in Myanmar due to its enormous flooding
area forcing many villages to relocate to so called model villages, its environmental
impact on the Ayeyarwady River, and its location on the earthquake-prone Sagaing
fault line. On 30 September 2011, President Thein Sein announced that the Myitsone
dam project was to be suspended. Although there have been reports that
construction on the dam may resume this year, many remain critical of the project
despite CPI's efforts to win over public opinion. "They told us that Myitsone dam
project is not affecting the local residents. In my opinion, they [CPI] want to restart
Myitsone dam project. We told them [CPI] the State Parliament can’t decide on
construction of a dam project because the project concerned in the entire country,"
said Sai Aung Myat.He added that villagers from the model Aung Myin Thar village
had voiced their desire to return to their original village because they have already
faced many difficulties.

41
KIO, govt confirm October peace talks
Deputy commander-in-chief of the Kachin Independence Army, Gen Gum Maw (L), speaks
during a meeting with government representatives in Myitkyina on 28 May 2013. (AFP)
By DVB, 1 October 2013
The Burmese government’s Union Peace-making Work Committee is set to meet for a series
of talks with the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) in state capital Myitkyina starting
on 2-3 October.Lamai Gum Ja, a member of the Peace-talk Creation Group which has acted
as a broker at earlier rounds of KIO-government negotiations, said this week’s meeting will
involve a preliminary round of negotiations ahead of peace talks scheduled from 8-10
October at the KIO’s liaison office in Myitkyina.On 16-17 September, both sides sent liaison
teams to a Myitkyina meeting to lay the groundwork for October’s series of
negotiations.Speaking to DVB after that meeting, Hla Maung Shwe of the Myanmar Peace
Centre said the two delegations focused mainly on the issues of a nationwide ceasefire; the
formation of a committee to monitor the ceasefire process; the rehabilitation of internally
displaced persons; and fixing arrangements for the round of talks in October.The KIO signed
a ceasefire agreement with the government in 1994 but took to armed resistance again in
2011 after refusing the government’s proposal to transform into a Border Guard Force unit
under the supervision of the Burmese army.


42
Dollars Each Year, Is Smu gled To China
Without Taxes
on September 30 2013 3:34 PMhttp://www.ibtimes.com/
A hand-picker washes himself after searching for jade through rubble dumped by
mining companies at a jade mine in Hpakant township, Kachin State.
REUTERS/Minzayar
Almost half of Myanmar’s yearly production of jade trickles “unofficially” over the
border to China, representing billions of dollars in lost revenue that could be used to
rebuild the Southeast Asian nation in its uphill battle to make political and economic
reforms.Myanmar is the world’s primary source of high-quality jade. In the 2011/12
fiscal year, the nation produced more than 43 million kilograms (94.80 million
pounds) of jade, Reuters reported on Saturday, which even valued conservatively at


43
Center, by contrast, put sales of Myanmar jade at about $8 billion for 2011, and for
2012 the figure should be comparable.Yet the official exports of jade stood at only
$34 million for 2012. Even factoring in domestic consumption of the stone, that
figure is too low.Almost half of all jade sales are “official” – sent over the border to
China with little or no formal taxation. China’s official statistics, which group jade
with imports of other precious stones and metals, recorded only $293 million in total
in 2012 – too small to explain where Myanmar’s billions of dollars of jade have
gone.Myanmar’s jade industry is concentrated in Hpakant, located in the Kachin
state, one of the northern regions that have long been afflicted by ethnic rebel
clashes.
“Mining is one of the highest-risk enterprises in Myanmar due to unresolved ethnic
conflicts in the northern and eastern peripheral ethnic states like Kachin, Shan and
Karen, which are among the most resource-rich,” said Christian Lewis, Southeast
Asia expert for the Eurasia Group, a leading political and economic consulting
company, in an email to the International Business Times.Since taking over
leadership in 2011, the reform government has made great strides, but has thus far
been unable to contain the often dangerous conflicts in these regions. Some
economists have argued that the nation’s prosperity and unity could depend on
claiming more revenue from the raw materials from these regions. Eight billion
dollars a year account for nearly a sixth of Myanmar’s 2011 GDP and more than
double its revenue from natural gas, yet very little of that amount ends up in the
hand of the country. "Practically nothing is going to the government," David Dapice,
the co-author of the report from the Harvard Ash Center, told Reuters. "What you
need is a modern system of public finance in which the government collects some
part of the rents from mining this stuff."Smuggling is just one of the problems
riddling Myanmar’s mining industry. Jade miners in the northern states, at least
500,000 of whom are heroin addicts, have given Myanmar the highest rate of HIV
infection among drug users in the world – nine out of 10 addicted workers are HIV
positive. It is no wonder, with such dire conditions, that President Obama has
maintained the U.S. ban on Burmese jade.


44
Deadly, HIV-ridden Industry
By Sophie Song
on September 27 2013 4:00 PM
People look for precious stones in the mine dump piled by major mining companies at
a jade mine in Pharkant township in Myanmar's Kachin state January 1 , 2010.
REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
Myanmar is the world’s primary source of top-grade jade, but the jade mining
industry in the Southeast Asian nation remains mired in a humanitarian catastrophe
two years after the reform government took over control -- tens of thousands of
workers are exploited and heroin is abused on an unprecedented scale, creating the
world’s largest HIV-infected community.Earlier this year, President Obama let most
American trade sanctions against Myanmar expire as the nation has made great
humanitarian strides -- but maintained the ban on Burmese jade and ruby, speaking
to the seriousness of the abuse that occurs in the mines in the northern state of
Kachin.

45
The state is torn by a powerful independence movement -- the 8,000-strong rebel
Kachin Independence Army (KIA), is home to criminal empires and sits close to
China, which has strong interests in the area, according to the Australian Financial
Review, meaning ownership of the jade mines in the state is at best opaque, and is
often the object of military contention between the central government and regional
interests.Workers, lured by the prospect of a fortune in mining, are exposed daily to
harsh and unsafe conditions. Disappearances and deaths are common and serve as
a warning to those thinking of stealing. For most, the work becomes sufficiently
unbearable that they take solace in the heroin-shooting galleries that exists
alongside the mining district.
For less than the price of a beer, an injectionist administers the drug directly into the
vein of a miner, delivering as many as 800 separate injections from the same dirty
needle. Large quantities of the drug are provided by the mine owners, who pay their
addicted workers with a daily fix.An estimated 500,000 miners are paid this way,
some consuming as much as 10 grams of pure heroin every day. On top of the
unsanitary injections, workers also routinely have unsafe sex with prostitutes,
creating an HIV pandemic in the region and giving Myanmar the highest rate of HIV
infection among drug users in the world -- nine out of 10 addicted workers are HIV
positive.The trade, however, is a lucrative one. The exploitation of the trade yields
billions of dollars each year. Both China and Myanmar governments, and the KIA
struggle, stand in the way of assistance that NGOs, the United Nations and the
World Health Organization can offer to the region, according to the Australian
Financial Review.To effectively change the situation, the Myanmar government will
need to develop economic, legislative and social reforms to counteract the mining
practices. Transparency is needed as in other industries in the country so that the
operations can be regulated. Even so, the problem will not be an easy one to
tackle.“Myanmar’s mining industry will gain more traction in 2014 as reforms to the
1994 mining law will ease restrictions on ownership, and policies to the government
puts itself on a track to observe the Extraction Industries Transparency Initiative,”
said Christian Lewis, a researcher for the Eurasia Group, an economic and political
risk consultancy, in an email to the International Business Times. “However, mining
will remain one of the highest-risk enterprises in Myanmar due to unresolved ethnic
conflicts in the northern and eastern peripheral ethnic states, which are among the
most resource-rich.”

46
state
Monday, 30 September 2013 15:00 KNG News - Kachin News Group
An aircraft belonging to Burma's military were recently observed unloading troops
and rations at the Putao airport in northern Kachin state, according to reports from
locals. The arrival of reinforcements in Putao comes only weeks before government
negotiators and representatives of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) plan
to meet for peace talks. Talks are expected to take place early next month.
A Chinese built Shaanxi Y-8 transport plane that was purchased by the Burma military.
At least two large Chinese-built Shaanxi Y-8 transport planes were seen landing and
unloading at Putao airport on Sept. 21. Large helicopters have also been seen off-
loading troops and supplies at the same airport over the past week, local residents
tell the Kachin News Group.
Most of the troop reinforcements and military supplies were sent south to Nhka Ga
village in Machyangbaw Township, according to a reliable local source. Until late
August when government troops captured the village and surrounding area it was
previously controlled by Kachin Independence Army (KIA) 7th battalion, brigade 1.
The area was taken on Aug. 29 after two days of heavy fighting. The conflict broke
out when troops from the Burma army’s IB 137, supported by the local pro-
government militia led by Ahdang Tang (also called Danggu Tang), attacked KIA
positions near the village. Two Burma officers were reportedly killed during the
battle according to KIA sources. The state media only reported the death of one of
their men.

47
A full scale attack on KIA battalion 7 headquarters near Hting Nan village, close to
Nka Ga, is suspected to being planned by the Putao Military Strategic Command. All
Putao District units; including IB 46, 137, 138, have dispatched troops to the Nhka
Ga area, according to a local source that spoke to the Kachin News Group on
condition of anonymity.
Government officials in the area have opened a refugee camp in Machyangbaw town
for recently displaced civilians. A refugee camp operated by the Kachin Baptist
Convention (KBC) also opened recently in nearby Nawng Hkai village.
Before the 1994 ceasefire between the KIO and the government – the ceasefire –
was broken in June of 2011 - IB 46 was the only Burma army unit based in Putao
District. But after the ceasefire was inked two infantry battalions and one artillery
battalion were dispatched to the area backed by various pro-government militias.
Putao District is located in a mountainous area of northern Kachin state making it
difficult to reach all year around. During the rainy season the only reliable way to get


48
Tuesday, 01 October 2013 18:35
Written by Kachin News Group
Zai Awng or Mung Ga Zup IDP camp in Waingmaw township in eastern Kachin state.
Fevers and colds have spread throughout Zai Awng (also known as Mung Ga Zup)
internally displaced people's (IDP) camp in Kachin Independence Organization (KIO)
controlled territory in eastern Kachin state's Waingmaw township, according to relief
officials from the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC).The rate of infection in the camp
which is home to 2,300 people has increased dramatically over the past week,
pastor La Nu told the Kachin News Group (KNG). Last Sunday alone more than 170
camp residents sought treatment at the camp's two clinics, the pastor said.
Many camp residents have runny noses, coughs and fevers, a camp nurse told KNG.
The camp clinics face serious shortage of much needed medicine, this as the number
of ill people in the camp continues to climb Pastor La Nu explained. Most of the


49
churches in Yunnan province, according to pastor La Nu.
Many of the camps in KIO territory where a majority of the estimated 100,000
people displaced by the two-year long Kachin conflict have been taken shelter, are
crowded and suffer from serious shortages of medicine and other supplies. The
shortages and general poor conditions in the camps stem in part from government
restrictions which have prevented the UN and other international aid groups from
having regular access to the camps.


50
Scrapped
2013-09-30 RFA
A map showing the location of the Myitsone dam in Kachin state.
RFA
Villagers and environmental activists in northern Myanmar’s Kachin state marked the
two-year anniversary of the suspension of a Chinese-backed hydropower dam on
Monday with calls to scrap the project completely amid fresh interest from investors.
Villagers relocated from the Myitsone dam site and local religious leaders gathered at
the Thida Christian Hall in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina to commemorate the
Sept. 30, 2011 announcement by President Thein Sein that the U.S. $3.6 billion
project on the Irrawaddy River would be halted for the duration of his five-year
term. The project, which was slated to provide most of its electricity to China, had
provoked massive public outcry over the widespread flooding and deforestation the
dam would cause, as well as the displacement of 10,000 ethnic Kachin villagers.
Investor Chinese Power Company (CPI) has said it is interested in restarting the
project, raising concerns among residents that the 6,000-megawatt dam could be
restarted following the country’s next general elections in 2015.
Local residents said they want to see the project scrapped and CPI offices in the
country closed permanently. “I would like to tell the Chinese company, ‘Please give


51
want it,” local Christian pastor Naw Din said at the anniversary celebration.
“The Myanmar government shouldn’t let them stay in the country,” he said.
Displaced residents
More than 300 households from Tanphye, Padan and Myitsone villages were
relocated for the project, and villagers have not been allowed to return during the
suspension. Relocated residents have complained that compensation they’ve
received is too low and the land they have been allocated is not suitable for planting
crops and rearing livestock, hurting their livelihoods. “We villagers kicked out from
the project area are suffering from the negative impact of the project,” said Kar
Kyone, a villager originally from Tanphye. “We were given some land to work, but
we can’t plant any crops on this rocky land,” she said. “There is no pasture for our
animals such as cows and buffalo.”
Interest in restarting
Officials from CPI, which is collaborating with Myanmar conglomerate Asia World and
the country’s Ministry of Electric Power on the project, told Myanmar opposition
lawmakers visiting China earlier this year that they hope the project can be
restarted. China’s ambassador to Myanmar Yang Houlan has also raised the idea,
saying the project could help support the development of industry in Myanmar.
The decision to suspend the dam was seen as a strong signal of reform on the part
of Thein Sein’s nominally civilian government that had taken power just months
earlier as Myanmar began emerging from decades under military rule.
Environmentalists in Yangon marking the anniversary in an event at the offices of
green group Seinlan Amimyay urged the government to scrutinize carefully any
proposals to restart the project and take national public opinion into account.
“If the new government which takes over power in 2015 wants to resume the
project, it should have the people vote on it in a referendum,” Seinlan Amimyay
chairman Win Myo Thu. “Even if the new government wants to resume the project,
it has to take surveys and explore many things on this issue, which should take at
least three or four years,” he said. “People will show their wishes and protest against
a project that they don’t want to have in their country,” he said.
Reported by Kyaw Myo Min for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar.
Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.


52
Nationwid Cease-Fire in October
2013-09-11 RFA
Lt. Gen. Myint Soe (L) and KIA Deputy Chief of Staff Guam Maw (R) shake hands after
signing an agreement to cease hostilities in Kachin state, May 30, 2013.
Myanmar’s government is optimistic of forging a joint nationwide cease-fire accord with all
armed rebel groups in the country by next month, a government adviser said Wednesday,
keeping fingers crossed that crucial talks next week with Kachin rebels will lead to a
breakthrough.Hla Maung Shwe, adviser of the Myanmar Peace Center, said the long-
proposed nationwide cease-fire could take place in the first week of October.An
announcement of an October launch of the peace initiative by Minister in the President’s
office Aung Min at the weekend met with skepticism by ethnic leaders.But Hla Maung Shwe
said that a nationwide cease-fire next month remains a possibility pending discussion
between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the government.
The KIO, a member of the key United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) rebel alliance, is


53
government. The government has said since earlier this year that it wants to have the
comprehensive truce after it reaches accords with each of the country’s 16 ethnic rebel
groups individually. “We are discussing what we need to go toward as a technical team
between the government’s peace committee and ethnic armed groups,” Hla Maung Shwe
told RFA’s Myanmar Service, speaking after talks with Karen and Shan rebels in Yangon on
Wednesday. “After this discussion, the ethnic armed groups will prepare what they need and
the government’s peace committee is going to prepare what it needs,” he said. “If
everything is all right on both sides, the union-level discussion will be held in Myitkyina in
the first week of October as Minister Aung Min suggests.” Government representatives are
set to meet with the KIO next week in Myitkyina, the capital of northern Kachin state.
The KIO and the government signed a preliminary agreement in May to reduce violence
between their respective forces, but the pact falls short of a full cease-fire.
Kachin breakthrough key
The UNFC, an umbrella organization of 11 of Myanmar’s armed rebel groups, has indicated
that the peace process cannot move forward until the Kachin reach an accord with the
government. After a weekend meeting with UNFC leaders where Aung Min announced the
October plans for the nationwide cease-fire, the alliance’s secretary general Nai Hong Sa
said the timing was unlikely because ethnic rebel leaders disagreed with a number of
demands the minister had listed at the meeting, the Irrawaddy journal reported. Nai Hong
Sa said the rebel leaders were not pleased with requirements that the groups must not
collect taxes, recruit new members, intervene in the government’s administration, or initiate
hostilities with government-backed militias, according to the journal. The Myanmar
government had announced in June that it would organize a nationwide cease-fire accord in
July, but the conference never took place. The KIO, which has an estimated 10,000 fighters,
signed a cease-fire agreement with Myanmar’s military regime in 1994, but the agreement
broke down in June 2011 when fighting erupted between the government army and KIA
soldiers.More than 100,000 people have been displaced in the deadly violence, which has
overshadowed the reforms Myanmar has undertaken as it emerges from decades of military
misrule.In December, the military’s use of air strikes against the Kachin Independence Army
(KIA) caused an international outcry.


54
Hold Top-Level Peace Talks
2013-09-17 RFA
Kachin leaders hold negotiations with the Myanmar government in Myitkyina on May
28, 2013.
Myanmar’s Kachin rebel leaders have agreed to meet with top government peace
negotiators next month in a bid to forge a cease-fire agreement that could pave the
way for a nationwide peace accord encompassing all of the country’s armed ethnic
groups, negotiation committee members said Tuesday. The talks

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