tuesday, may 12, 2015 (mte daily issue 40)
TRANSCRIPT
-
7/21/2019 Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)
1/27
PAGE
3PHOTO: AUNG KHANT
$1.2b Myeik resort proposedSalon Island near Kawthoung would become the Phuket of Myanmar under a plan put forward by a Singaporean
firm to develop a casino and luxury resort but tourism officials say they have been left in the dark. BUSINESS 8
Volunteers sing in front of Dagon Centre on May 10 to raise funds for earthquake
victims in Nepal. The group has raised more than US$5000 in public donations since
beginning the nightly performances on April 30, and conducted shows in front of
Junction Square, Parkson, Hledan Centre and several other locations.
WWW.MMTIMES.COM DAILY EDITION ISSUE 40 | TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015
500Ks.
HEARTBEAT OF THE NATION
NEWS 3
Trafficking victims wash
up in Malaysia, Indonesia
Muslims from Rakhine State and
Bangladesh have been dumpedby traffickers in Malaysia and
Indonesia in recent days, in
apparent response to a crackdown
on trafficking in Thailand.
NEWS 4
Ko Par Gyi trial resumes as
soldiers secretly acquitted
Human rights commission revealstwo soldiers linked to the death of a
journalist in Mon State in October
were cleared by a military court the
following month.
BUSINESS 10
Ministry halts planned
commodities exchange
Myanmar firm MICEx had planned
to launch an online exchange in the
coming months, but the Ministry ofCommerce says it has not yet granted
approval to the venture.
BUSINESS 8
Serge Pun says FMI will be
first and only listed firm
FMI chair Serge Pun says his firm will
be the only one in a position to list onthe Yangon Stock Exchange when it
launches this year a claim already
dismissed by government officials.
-
7/21/2019 Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)
2/27
2News THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 12, 2015
Thousands return to Kokang,but others flee recent clashes
SEVERAL thousand civilians have re-
turned to their villages in and near
the Kokang region in recent weeks buta renewed offensive by government
forces close to Myanmars border with
China has prompted another exodus of
refugees, the World Food Programme
(WFP) said yesterday.Separately the Shan Human Rights
Foundation, an NGO, reported that
many refugees were too afraid to return
to Myanmar from China because of on-going fighting and reports that several
returning villagers had been killed.
Fighting in the northeast corner of
Shan State between the Tatmadaw and
ethnic Chinese rebels has entered itsfourth month with aid agencies and in-
dependent observers still struggling to
gain a clear picture of the scale of the
crisis.
The UN food agencys Myanmar of-fice reported yesterday that the UN De-
partment for Safety and Security was
expected to carry out its first assessment
mission to the main town of Laukkaithis month. That survey could then pave
the way for UN aid to enter the region.
A three-month period of emergency
rule and martial law imposed by Presi-
dent U Thein Sein on February 17 is
due to lapse in the coming days. Fight-ing erupted in Kokang between the
military and the Myanmar National
Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA),
an ethnic Chinese militia, on Febru-
ary 9. The WFP estimated that 60,000displaced people were still in camps on
the Chinese side of the border. Most are
ethnic Chinese.
It also quoted a Myanmar gov-ernment estimate that 60,000 peo-
ple might require support after
the conflict has subsided. The UN
agency said a significant number of
internally displaced people, or IDPs,
had returned in April to their villagesin the Kokang region, the nearby Wa-
controlled enclave and other parts of
northern Shan State. Among those
going back were 2000 IDPs who went
back to Laukkai from a camp knownas Border Point 125, although others
decided to cross into China. More
than 1400 people also left a camp in
Namhkhan township.However, it said heavy fighting in
Mone Koe, close to the border, had dis-
placed a further 150 households. Mone
Koe was the scene of fighting in early
1968 when the China-backed Burma
Communist Party including PengJiasheng, the current octogenarian
leader of the MNDAA chose the Ko-
kang region to launch a major offensive
against the Myanmar government. Thecollapse and splintering of the BCP in
1989 led to the creation of the MNDAA
and other allied groups close to China,
including the United Wa State Army,
the biggest of Myanmars armed ethnicgroups.
Reports from the region on the Chi-
nese side of the rugged frontier indicate
that the latest fighting is concentratedon the Nan Tian Men range of hills, just
a few miles north of Laukkai.
The Shan Human Rights Founda-
tion said Tatmadaw artillery fire land-
ing on the Chinese side had causedmore than 700 refugees sheltering at
the Chin Cai Go border crossing to
evacuate deeper into China.
Ongoing shelling in the Nan TianMen area since early May is continu-
ing to instill fear in the refugees. Most
are too afraid to even cross back and
make brief visits to their homes, due to
cases of killing and disappearance ofvillagers returning across the border.
Refugees said that most villages in their
area are now completely deserted, the
NGO said.WFP said it had delivered 33 tonnes
of food in April to more than 2700 IDPs
in Hseni, Kutkai and Namhkam in
northern Shan State, and the Wa area
of Nam Tit.
GUY
DINMORE
A woman who fled from the Kokang region of northeastern Shan State cries at a
temporary refugee camp n Lashio on February 18. Photo: AFP
Govt agreesto secondsix-waymeeting
A SECOND round of the six-par-
ty talks will be held when all par-ticipants are available, Minister
for Information U Ye Htut said
yesterday.
The first meeting between theso-called Big Six President U
Thein Sein, Commander-in-Chief
Senior General Min Aung Hla-
ing, Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker
Thura U Shwe Mann, AmyothaHluttaw Speaker U Khin Aung
Myint, National League for De-
mocracy leader Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi and Rakhine NationalParty leader U Aye Maung was
held on April 10. Talks focused
on the election, constitutional
change and the peace process.
Parliament has urged a sec-ond round of discussions, but
the government has so far re-
fused to meet again.
But U Ye Htut said a meet-ing would be held to set a datefor a second round of talks once
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing
returns from a foreign trip to Pa-
kistan and Serbia.All stakeholders need to nego-
tiate the date for the second round
of the talk. When the commander-
in-chief comes back, we will all
meet together and negotiate. Thesecond round of the talks will be
held on the date they agree, U Ye
Htut said. Htoo Thant, transla-
tion by Thiri Min Htun
-
7/21/2019 Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)
3/27
News3www.mmtimes.com NEWS EDITOR:Thomas Kean | [email protected]
Student defence lawyers urge govt ministers to testify
LAWYERS defending students ar-
ested for protesting against the
National Education Law plan to callwo prominent ministers in the Pres-
dents Office to testify in court.
U Robert San Aung, who is repre-
enting some of the detainees, told
The Myanmar Times the ministershould be listed as witnesses because
hey had given a commitment dur-
ng negotiations with students that
police action would not be takengainst their attempts to march from
Mandalay to Yangon.
Police forcibly broke up the
protest march at Letpadan in Bago
Region on March 10 and carried out
mass arrests.Charges have been brought
against 81 people, some of whom
face 50 indictments five for each
of the 10 townships they passed
through between Mandalay and Let-padan in Bago region.
During talks with student repre-
sentatives in February, minister U
Aung Min agreed that action wouldnot be taken against the protesters
campaigning against the education
law. Other ministers in the Presi-
dents Office were also involved in
the four-way talks that includedmembers of parliament and educa-
tion experts.
I met with U Aung Min on May
8. He told me he will help us with
this case after the [preliminary]
court hearing. I want to add him and
other ministers to the witness list. I
will negotiate with them but it canbe difficult, U Robert San Aung said.
The defendants lawyers will sub-
mit their list of witnesses after the
Tharyarwady court meets to decide
whether to uphold the indictments.The 43 prosecution witnesses
will be questioned. After that, the
court will decide whether the indict-
ment is needed or not, the lawyer
said.Defence lawyers also plan to call
members of the National Network
for Education Reform, which took
part in the four-way talks, as well as
members of the 88 Generation stu-dent group, the media and monks.
The director of the Presidents Of-
fice did not respond to calls for com-
ment yesterday.
Lawyer U Htay, who will also rep-resent some detainees, said yester-
day that Police Major Phone Myint,
who brought charges against the stu-
dents and their supporters, would bequestioned in a court hearing today.
Thirty of the prosecutions witnesses
are police officers.
The lawyer said todays court
hearing would involve the 70 peo-ple in detention, while 11 released
on bail would be called to court for
questioning on May 14.
Weapons seized during raidsin rural Hpa-an townshipPolice have seized homemadeguns from the homes of resi-dents in rural Hpa-an township,Kayin State.
The May 6 raids followed anincident in Byatkha village inwhich a 28-year-old man alleg-edly shot a 40-year-old man witha 140 centimetre (4 foot 8 inch)homemade gun.
The older man had tried tocalm the gun-wielding resident,who police said was drunk andstanding in the middle of the roadcursing and shouting.
When officials from the vil-lage administration office triedto subdue the man, he pulled a28cm dagger on them and re-sisted arrest. He was eventuallydisarmed and been charged withfour offences.
Police from nearby Eaindu vil-lage then searched his home andfound a 110cm gun andammunition.
After the detained man saidother residents in the area alsopossessed homemade guns, thepolice searched five other homes,seizing 11 weapons, spare bar-rels and ammunition.
Three men, ranging in agefrom 26 to 48, have been arrestedand charged with weapons of-fences, while another two are onthe run. Toe Wai Aung, transla-tion by Khant Lin Oo
IN BRIEF
President proposes minorchanges to population billPresident U Thein Sein hasrecommended amendments tothe recently approved PopulationControl Healthcare Bill but thechanges will not affect the mostcontroversial sections of the draftlaw.
The bill was passed by parlia-ment on April 6. On April 9, thepresident responded that someterms in the bill do not fit the newstructure of the Ministry of Healthand should be amended.
He suggested changingreferences to the Departmentof Health to the Department ofPublic Heath, and those to thehead of the township health officeto head of the township publichealth office.
The Pyidaungsu Hluttaws BillCommittee reported the presi-dents letter to MPs yesterdayand suggested parliamentariansapprove the proposed changes.
MPs who want to discuss theproposed changes have untilMay 15 to register for the de-
bate. However, as the changesare only minor, U Nein KhimPong, a Chin representative,said he expected there wouldbe little discussion. Once ap-proved, the bill will become lawwithin seven days.
Htoo Thant,translation by Zar Zar Soe
Unclear future for thousandsof rescued trafficking victims
THE number of smuggled migrantstranded on Malaysian and Indo-
nesian shores continues to climb as
boats are abandoned or forced to
eroute amid Thailands latest crack-
down on the human trafficking trade,fficials and migration experts said
esterday.
While Thailand scrambles to
meet a 10-day deadline to oust peo-ple smuggling from its borders, boats
hat would normally disembark at
he recently exposed network of Thai
ungle camps have been forced to
new locales. Nearly 2000 impover-shed migrants from Rakhine State
nd Bangladesh have been rescued inecent days.
Yes, our crackdown is affecting
he boats, Thai police spokespersonLieutenant General Prawut Thaworn-
iri told Reuters. Why else would
they go to Indonesia? It is so far ...
Our job is to block the boats and not
let them land on our shores.More than 500 refugee seekers
were recovered from two tiny, over-
crowded wooden boats in Indonesias
Aceh region on May 10, while severalmore boats unloaded on Malaysias
Langkawi Island later that night.
According to the UN Refugee
Agency (UNHCR), more than 25,000
Rohingya and Bangladeshis boardedboats bound for Thailand and Ma-
laysia in the first three months of
this year, about twice as many as the
same period in 2014. At least 300 areestimated to have died in crossings
during the three-month span, largely
from dehydration, starvation and
beatings.
The UNHCR noted that the ma-jority of the smuggled migrants are
transiting through secluded camps
in the Thai jungle or plantations near
the border with Malaysia, where theyare held for ransom, starved and of-
ten brutally tortured until fees of
about US$2000 can be procured from
relatives.
At the camps, the migrants are
beaten with pipes and wires, hung
upside-down from trees, and had fin-
gernails pulled off with pliers, saidthe UNHCR, which also noted that
many of the women were raped whileheld in the camps.
During its ongoing investigation,
Thailand has exhumed more than 30
human remains from shallow gravesat four recently abandoned detention
camps.
Over 250 survivors have been
found wandering Thai jungles after
they were abandoned by traffickers,according to Thai police.
The women and children will be
sent to government-operated shelters
while the men will likely be forward-ed to immigration detention, accord-
ing to Human Rights Watch.
With Myanmar typically unwill-
ing to accept back Rohingya whom
the government calls Bengali andThailand unwilling to consider them
as refugees, it is unclear where thesmuggled migrants will go next.
Rohingya often end up in indefi-nite administrative detention in the
Thai immigration lock-up, or in a shel-
ter operated by the Thai government,
said Phil Robertson, deputy director of
HRWs Asia division. In either case,
they are left in a permanent limbo un-less they decide to escape and make
their own way, or agree to be handed
over to brokers in the guise of a so-
called soft deportation in which Thaiauthorities never actually send the
person over the border.
Rights groups say that refugee
seekers are likely to continue to washup on the shores of Indonesia and
Malaysia, as more smugglers boats
remain parked around the Malacca
Straits, unable to complete their nor-
mal circuit.Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project
estimated 7000 to 8000 smuggled mi-
grants are currently trapped on what
have turned into offshore camps.Dozens [have] already died at
sea, Ms Lewa said. The real problem
is that no countries in the region are
ready to extend protection to fleeing
Rohingya refugees. This is what cre-ates the smuggling/trafficking mar-
ket. Closing the door on one side will
only displace the problem and put
victims at even greater risks.
With Bangkok Post and AFP
LAIGNEEBARRON
legal Bangladeshi migrants wait at the police headquarters in Langkawi, Malaysia, on May 11. Photo: AFP
81Students charged following the policecrackdown at Letpadan in Bago Regionon March 10, of which 70 are being held
at Tharyarwady Prison
-
7/21/2019 Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)
4/27
4News THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 12, 2015
Chief Executive OfficerTony [email protected] Director U Thiha [email protected] Chief Operating Officer Tin Moe [email protected]
EDITORIALEditor MTE Thomas [email protected] MTM Sann [email protected]
Chief of Staff Zaw Win [email protected] Special Publications Myo [email protected] [email protected]
News Editor MTE Guy [email protected] Editor MTE Jeremy Mullins
[email protected] Editor MTE Fiona MacGregor,Kayleigh LongThe Pulse Editor MTE Charlotte [email protected] Editor MTE Matt [email protected] Publications Editor MTE Wade [email protected] Affairs Correspondent Roger [email protected] Peter Swarbrick, Laignee Barron
Chief Sub Editor MTM Aye Sapay PhyuNews & Property Editor MTMTin Moe [email protected] Editor MTM Moh Moh [email protected]
MCM BUREAUSNews Editors (Mandalay) Khin Su Wai, Phyo Wai KyawNay Pyi Taw Bureau Chief Hsu Hlaing [email protected]
DIGITAL/ONLINEOnline Editors Eli Meixler, Thet [email protected], [email protected]
PHOTOGRAPHICSDirector Kaung HtetPhotographersAung Htay Hlaing, Thiri, Zarni Phyo
[email protected] Director Tin Zaw HtwayProduction Manager Zarni
MCM PRINTINGPrinting Director Han TunFactory Administrator Aung Kyaw Oo (3)
Factory Foreman Tin Win
SALES & [email protected] National Sales Directors Chan Tha Oo, Nay Myo Oo,Nandar Khine, Nyi Nyi TunClassifieds Manager Khin Mon Mon [email protected]
ADMIN, FINANCE & SYSTEMSChief Financial Officer Mon Mon Tha [email protected] HR Director Khine Su [email protected] of IT/Systems Kyaw Zay Yar [email protected]
PublisherU Thiha (Thiha Saw), 01021 Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd.CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTIONYangon- [email protected] [email protected] Pyi Taw - [email protected]
ADVERTISING & SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIESTelephone: (01) 253 642, 392 928Facsimile: (01) 254 158
The Myanmar Times is owned by MyanmarConsolidated Media Ltd and printed byMyanmar Times Press (00876) with ap-proval from MCM Ltd and by Shwe Myanmar(P/00302) with approval from MCM Ltd. Thetitle The Myanmar Times, in either English orMyanmar languages, its associated logos ordevices and the contents of this publicationmay not be reproduced in whole or in partwithout the written consent of the ManagingDirector of Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd.
Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd.www.mmtimes.com
Head Office: 379/383 Bo Aung Kyaw Street,Kyauktada Township, Yangon, Myanmar.Telephone: (01) 253 642, 253 651, 392808Facsimile: (01) 254 158, 392 928
Mandalay Bureau: No. 20, 71stStreet,Between 28thstreet and 29thStreet,Chan Aye Thar San Township.Tel: (02) 24450, 24460, 65391. Fax: (02) 74585.Email: [email protected]
Nay Pyi Taw Bureau: No (15/496) Yaza HtarniRoad, Paung Laung (2)Q, Pyinmana.Tel: (067) 25982, 25983, 25309, 21426Email: [email protected]
Staff protest sackings from Bagan hotel
ANGRY staff at a Bagan hotel say they
will hold further protests unless fivesacked colleagues are reinstated and
given compensation.
The workers were fired from Bagan
Hotel River View on March 8 for leak-ing confidential information on ser-
vice money paid to staff members, ac-
cording to the secretary of the Bagan
labour union, who was among those
fired.Two labour tribunals have ordered
the hotel to reinstated them and give
compensation of six months salary,
but they have not yet been rehired,said U Myint Oo.
On May 8, about 100 staff from
Hotel@Tharabar Gate, Bagan Thande
Hotel and Bagan Hotel River View
demonstrated on May 8 with permis-
sion from local police.
Service money has been going
own year by year so all staff held a
meeting and discussed it. Then the ho-
tel sacked us for leaking statistics, U
Myint Oo said.
We must wait and see if the hotelfollows the decision of Mandalay and
Nay Pyi Taw tribunals . If they wont
follow the decisions, we will stage
more protests.
I have worked here for 20 years. Tome the hotel is like my family. I dont
want to do something to give it a bad
reputation but we feel we are doing
the right thing.Officials from Bagan Hotel River
View declined to comment when con-
tacted byThe Myanmar Times, saying
only that the sackings were an internal
issue.Bagan Hotel River View is located
in Old Bagan, near the archaeological
museum, and is a part of KMA Hotels,
a subsidiary of U Khin Maung AyesKMA Group.
Translation by Thiri Min Htun
SI THU [email protected]
Hotel staff stage a protest on May 8 calling on Bagan Hotel R iver View
management to rehire five of their colleagues. Photo: Bagan Thar
Military acquittal raises freshdoubts about civilian inquest
A COURT hearing into the death of a
journalist while in military custody inOctober 2014 heard testimony from his
widow yesterday, but was overshad-
owed by the revelation that the soldiers
who shot him had already been acquit-ted by a military tribunal last year.
Two soldiers accused of shootingKo Par Gyi, who was killed as he alleg-
edly tried to escape from army custody,
were acquitted by an army court mar-tial of a charge of death by negligence
in late November.
The verdict was announced in a
May 8 press release uploaded to thewebsite of the Myanmar National Hu-
man Rights Commission (MNHRC).
The verdict of the military court,
which apparently allowed the two
soldiers to walk free, appears to runcounter to the recommendation made
by the rights commission, which had
taken up the case on the direct instruc-
tions of President U Thein Sein.In its report last December, the
rights commission said the case against
the two soldiers should be judged in a
civil court, rather than a military court.
Though a civil action has indeed be-
gun, on April 10 in Kyaikmayaw Town-ship Court, Mon State, it opened in the
absence of Ko Par Gyis widow, Daw
Thandar, who has been campaigning
to keep public interest in the case alive.MNHRC vice chair U Sit Myaing
confirmed yesterday to The Myanmar
Times that the case had been dealt with
by a military court last year.The case was decided on November
27. Unaware it had occurred, the com-
mission issued its report just days later.
We received this information in
April in response to our request con-cerning the case, he said.
The statement said that the death
of Ko Par Gyi occurred during a period
of active service, which under the De-fence Services Act meant that it could
be judged by a military court.
Accordingly, the case was heard
by a Summary General Court Martial
as Case No (146/147) under the provi-sions of the Defence Services Act 1959,
the Code of Criminal Procedures and
the Rules and Procedures of the Court
Martial and an order of acquittal waspassed on two guard soldiers of 210
Light Infantry Regiment, namely Lance
Corporal Kyaw Kyaw Aung and Private
Naing Lin Tun under section 71 of the
Defence Services Act and section 304 ofthe Penal Code, said the statement.
Section 304 relates to death by neg-
ligence, and carries a potential 10-year
prison term.U Sit Myaing declined to comment
on why a case apparently decided by a
military court should now also be be-fore a civil court. Now that the case is
sub judice, it should be up to legal ex-perts to comment rather than us, he
said, adding, The commission did its
best to protect a citizens rights in this
case. However, the result may not al-ways be as we expected, he said.
A military official from the PublicRelations and Psychological Warfare
Department said the response to the
request from the commission concern-
ing the case was not handled by them.
Ko Par Gyi, a freelance journal-ist, was shot dead in a military cus-
tody while allegedly trying to escape
detention on the evening of October
4 last year. He had been arrested inKyaikmayaw township while covering
the fighting between the Tatmadaw
and the Democratic Karen Benevolent
Army (DKBA).
Daw Thandar, who gave evidence
at yesterdays hearing at KyaikmayawTownship Court, said she only learned
of the military court martial after read-
ing the rights commissions statement.The decision will further compli-
cate the proceedings, according to her
lawyer, U Robert San Aung. The rights
commission statement referred to sec-
tion 304 of the Code of Criminal Proce-dure, which states that a person cannot
be retried for the same offence.
Crouched over stacks of documents
yesterday, U Robert San Aung and DawThandar discussed how to move for-
ward with their campaign for justice.
They are just tricking us, said the
well-known human rights lawyer.
He said that the militarys lack oftransparency would ultimately harm
its reputation further.
If the military would allow for this
case to be investigated at the civiliancourt, the image of the military would
be improved, and we will also know the
truth.
Daw Thandar said she planned to
file a legal objection to the militarytrial.
I have the right to appeal if I dont
agree with the verdict, she said.
Asked why the case was opened at
the civilian court after a verdict had
already been reached at the court mar-tial, district prosecutor U Nyi Nyi Lwin
and township judge U Thet Aung said
they had not been aware of the military
trial.
We are examining this case becausethe police opened it as a homicide case
at the civilian court, the district pros-
ecutor said. We will only investigate
how Ko Par Gyi has died.We will only find out how he died,
but we wont find who did it, agreedjudge U Thet Aung.
Evidence submitted at the military
trial will not be used in the civilian in-quest into Ko Par Gyis killing, he said.
Our civilian court is isolated from
the military court. Only the police may
ask for evidence from the military, butthey will not share it with us.
The prosecution does plan to call
witnesses from the military, but said
that the soldiers would need permis-
sion from their superiors to appear.Three or four witnesses from the police
force have already testified. Altogether
about 40 witnesses, including police
and military officers as well as civilians,are scheduled to testify.
Yesterday, Daw Thandar had her
chance to give evidence. During the
hearing she described details of Ko Par
Gyis life, including how they met when
he was working as a security guard forNLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Daw Thandar said she cherishes the
photos of her husband with the democ-racy icon. After she heard about Ko
Par Gyis death, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
sent me a letter, telling me to be brave,
she said.
She told the judge that she had notbeen given any information when she
inquired about her husbands disap-
pearance. She also explained how she
had found out that her husband had
died, and told of her struggle to get hisbody exhumed, examined and sent to
Yangon.
She was joined by fellow activists at
the hearing, who dismissed the notionthat justice had been done through a
secretive military trial that acquitted
Ko Par Gyis killers.
I want to ask this: Is there no law
to prevent this and to protect [Ko ParGyis] dignity? said Ma Nilar Thein, a
prominent activist from the 88 Gen-
eration Peace and Open Society, and a
long-time friend of Daw Thandar.As Daw Thandars testimony took
the entire afternoon, the four other
scheduled witnesses will appear at the
next hearing, on May 25.
YOLA VERBRUGGENNAW SAY PHAW WAALUN MIN [email protected]
We will only find
out how he died, but
we wont find who
did it.
U Thet AungTownship judge
U Robert San Aung and Daw Thandar walk outside Kyaikmayaw Township Court
yesterday. Photo: Naw Say Phaw Waa
KYAIKMAYAW, MON STATE
Judge and prosecutor unaware that two soldiers had already been cleared of responsibility for journalists killing
-
7/21/2019 Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)
5/27
-
7/21/2019 Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)
6/27
6News THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 12, 2015
Factories cleared of blame forfish die-off at Taungthaman
FACTORIES around Mandalays sce-
nic Lake Taungthaman have appar-
ently been cleared of involvement in
the death of hundreds of thousands
of fish last month. Though some localresidents blamed the alleged dump-
ing of toxic chemicals for the die-off, a
site inspection has found no evidence
of this.Dr Swe Thwin, an adviser with
the Myanmar Fisheries Federation,
told The Myanmar Times yesterday
that about 40 samples had been taken
from the lake on May 6. The cause ofdeath was not toxicity in the water,
he said. Except for three places, thewater was good.
The two mass die-offs of fish, onApril 12 and April 30, occurred close
to a landing popular with tourists
visiting the site in Amarapura town-
ship famous for a 1.2-kilometre teak
bridge that dates to 1850 causing an
outcry among local residents.
Tests conducted by the Mandalayfisheries department focused on the
acidity and alkalinity of the water and
the presence or absence of chemicals.
The tests found three anoxic deadzones, one at the influx of Payan
stream and two on the western side
of the lake.
When the weather is hot, the wa-
ter in the lake divides into layers, anupper and a lower layer. The upper
layer contains the oxygen, but in the
lower layer, water plants absorb the
oxygen, causing the fish to die sud-denly, said Dr Swe Thwin.
Immediately after the fish deaths,
Mandalay City Development Commit-
tee suspended production in the fac-
tories in the lakeside industrial zone,and the Amarapura fisheries depart-
ment charged 12 factories under the
freshwater fish enterprise law, includ-
ing operations involving the manufac-ture of alcohol, sugar, paper, fertiliser
and leather.
Fisheries department director U
Myo Aung said the charges related
to the discharge of acid and otherchemicals that affected oxygen levels
in the water.
Last May, charges brought by the
fisheries department against three lo-cal factories were thrown out when the
companies concerned demonstratedthat they had clean water systems.
U Swe Thwin said local concerns
about waste water from industrial
zone remained widespread, despitethe latest findings.
There no exact findings of how
much pollution wastewater has
caused. The Payan stream passes
through the whole urban area of Man-
dalay before draining into Taungtha-man carrying urban waste, he said.
What with chemicals from the
industrial zone and waste from thecity flowing into the lake, we have to
monitor it very closely, he said.
Once a rural retreat, Taungthaman
is now on the outskirts of bustlingMandalay and its population of 1.2
million, as well as the industrial zone.
Tourists are attracted to the lake, the
site of the famous U Bein Bridge, and
fish farming is widespread.On May 8, prominent environ-
mental group Sein Yaung Soe said in
a statement that it believed the fish
die-off was the result of a number offactors, not only pollution from the
industrial zone.
It also pointed to the establish-
ment of fish farms on the lake, and
the dumping of wastewater from
households and businesses at Am-arapura, including cotton dye from
nearby weaving workshops.
It called on the government to banfish farms from the lake, to introduce
wastewater treatment in the area and
to collaborate with residents to im-
prove disposal of rubbish and dye.
MANDALAY police have announced a
crackdown on illegal drugs, including
stricter licensing of controlled chemi-cals that can be used to make drugs.
Police Colonel Thet Naing, deputy head
of the Mandalay regional police office,
said on May 9 that importers should be
sure they are following all the rules andregulations on using, storing and selling
controlled chemicals, including those
imported with official authorisation.
They should inform the Inspection
Team for Controlled Chemicals or thehead of the township police office when
their chemicals arrive in Mandalay Re-
gion, he said.
If they have imported 100 tonnes ofchemicals, they need to be able to show
100 tonnes. Controlled chemicals arenot directly defined as narcotic drugs,
but they can be used to manufacture
narcotic drugs. Controlled chemicalscannot be sold without official permis-
sion. Sometimes controlled chemicals
run out soon after they arrive here.
When the inspection team come tocheck them, there are no chemicals to
show. We are asking importers to in-
form us when their imported chemicals
arrive in Mandalay so that we can pre-
vent their illegal use, he said.Pol Col Thet Naing is also secretary
of the Committee for the Prevention
of the Danger of Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances in MandalayRegion.
Business people are required to ap-
ply for separate licences for the trans-
portation, storage and sale of controlled
chemicals, he said.
The Inspection Team for ControlledChemicals has charged a cement fac-
tory in Kyaukse township for storing
controlled chemicals because its licencecovered only transportation, according
to an inspector.
The factory stored the chemicals
without a licence because the owner
was not aware of the rules. The factorystored 17 tanks of hydrochloric acid for
factory use, not for reselling. The factory
has now applied for a storage licence.
We have charged them under section16(b) of the Narcotic Drugs Law, which
carries a maximum punishment of sev-
en years imprisonment or a K700,000
fine, though it is rare to sentence offend-
ers to both punishments, said Pol MajDe De Yaw Han of the inspection team.
U Tun Naing Soe, head of the soft
drinks factory EAC Europe and Asia
Commercial, said yesterday that the
briefing on the rules for keeping suchchemicals was very helpful.
We know that the regulations re-
quire us to hold suitable licences for
each separate activity. Its best to applyfor all licences in order to avoid any
trouble under the regulations, he said.
Translation by Thiri Min Htun
SI THU [email protected]
KHIN SU
WAI
Tourists take a boat around Taungthaman Lake, near the popular U Bein Bridge, in Mandalays Amarapura township. Photo: Supplied
What with
chemicals from the
industrial zone and
waste from the city
flowing into the lake,
we have to monitor itvery closely.
U Swe ThwinMyanmar Fisheries Federation
Tribunal rules white-card voting rights unconstitutional
THE Constitutional Tribunal has ruledthat giving holders of temporary iden-
tity cards better known as white cards
the right to vote is unconstitutional.
The nine-member tribunal an-
nounced the decision on May 11 in re-sponse to a case filed by 24 lawmakers
following parliaments decision to give
white-card holders the right to vote in
a referendum law for amending the2008 constitution.
Members of the Rakhine National
Party and the National League for
Democracy were among those whosubmitted the case.
The Tribunal has decided today
that [giving white-card holders voting
rights] is unconstitutional. It has beendone, said RNP chair U Aye Maung.
Article 11(a) of the Referendum
Law enacted earlier this year pre-
scribed that the citizens and tempo-
rary identity card holders are eligibleto vote in the referendum and be in-
cluded on electoral rolls.
While white-card voting rights
had initially been rejected by parlia-ment, MPs agreed to a request from
President U Thein Sein to reinsert
them into the bill in February, prompt-
ing the lawmakers to submit their caseto the tribunal.
The prospect of allowing white-
card holders to vote also prompted
fierce protests in Rakhine State, wheremore than 80 percent of white cards
have been issued, and smaller demon-
strations in Yangon.
The president responded by cancel-
ling white cards and ordering holdersto hand them in to the authorities by
May 31.
Those who return the cards will be
eligible to apply for citizenship underthe 1982 citizenship law.
But the tribunal continued to hear
the case, and announced yesterday
that giving voting rights to temporaryidentity-card holders was unconstitu-
tional according to sections 38(a) and
391 of the constitution.
Section 38(a) states that everycitizen has the right to elect and be
elected in accord with the law, while
section 391 says that every citizen of
18 years on election day who is eligible
to vote and not disqualified by law hasthe right to vote.
The constitution clearly states
that every citizen [has the right to
vote but] not temporary card holders.
They are not yet citizens, a veteran
judge said after the decision yester-
day.
Temporary identity cards were is-sued by the former military govern-
ment starting from around 1990,
when it agreed ceasefires with many
armed ethnic groups.While some were issued to mem-
bers of the Wa, Kokang and other
ethnic minorities, about 83pc of the
797,000 white cards were issued to
members of the Muslim Rohingyacommunity in Rakhine State, accord-
ing to Ministry of Immigration and
Population figures.
SANDAR [email protected]
Policewarn onprecursorchemicals
Death of hundreds of thousands of fish at popular tourist spot in Amarapura township was likely due to the
hot weather, not the pumping of wastewater into the lake from a nearby industrial zone, according to officials
AMARAPURA, MANDALAY
-
7/21/2019 Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)
7/27
News7www.mmtimes.com
Views
Can new voices quell hate speech?
AN unusual book launch
was held at the House of
Media & Entertainment
on Yangons Bo Aung KyawStreet on April 25. The ti-
le of the book isVibhajja Echo, and
ll of the contributors are monks.
The book has been released at
time when outbreaks of violencebased on religion and race have been
ccurring. Some monks and laypeo-
ple have propagated hate speech
gainst non-Buddhists, and as a re-ult peaceful Buddhism has been
misunderstood by the international
ommunity.
The two monks who spearheadedhe production of the book are Say-
daw U Javana, who resides in the
United States, and Sayadaw U Rar-
ika, who lives in Germany.
Buddhist monks in Myanmar dur-ng the 2007 Saffron Revolution were
ppressed for protesting peacefully
n the side of the people. When the
nternational community saw the
monks marching and praying dur-ng the protests, the positive image of
Buddhism grew across the world.
However, after U Thein Seins gov-
rnment took office, outbreaks of vio-ence based on religion have occurred
n Myanmar. Some Buddhist monks
have become involved in the conflict
n different ways. As a result, the im-
ge of Buddhism has been stained.Thats why these two monks
ought to publishVibhajja Echo. At
he launching ceremony, Bawa Alin
ayadaw said they wanted to rebuildhe reputation of Buddhism and en-
ure its true doctrine is followed once
gain in Myanmar.
The writers are outspoken in their
riticism of some Buddhist national-st movements, including the Com-
mittee for the Protection of National-
ty and Religion, better known by its
Myanmar-language acronym Ma BaTha.
Sayadaw Ashin Zawana writes,Ma Ba Thas Interfaith Marriage Law
cant help to protect race and religion,
but it can provide the inspiration forthe destruction of the country. Ethnic
minority distrust of the [Bamar] isthe basic cause of our civil war. This
law is likely to affirm the suspicions
of ethnic minorities. Successive gov-
ernments have always said, Dontmix religion and politics.
Another author, Min Thone Nya,
writes, Our Buddhas ideology is vib-
hajjavada to accept everything af-
ter reasoning what is wrong and whatis right. It is not an ism that forces
people to believe what is said by a
well-known or educated monk, with-
out first judging whether it is right orwrong. Is the monk from Ma Ba Tha
who is popular today as popular as
Devadatta, a cousin of the Buddha?
Does he have psychic powers like
Devadatta? Prince Ajatasatru
was led the wrong way and as a result
killed his father, King Bimbasara, be-
cause he lacked reasoning power. Hefollowed Devadatta because of his at-
taining psychic powers and populari-
ty. Thats why I never join Ma Ba Tha.Sayadaw U Yarvika writes, I dont
want to see the Buddhist community
formed with suicide bombers. No one
should force the government to give
special privileges to Buddhism.
These are just sample paragraphsextracted from the book. There are
many writings from renowned monks
about Buddhist doctrine that are wor-
thy of careful consideration.However, hatred of those of other
faiths is still strong in Myanmar.
Some monks are openly deliver-
ing speeches propagating this hatred,
while even teachers of some Buddhistsummer classes for children are do-
ing the same.
Rather than imparting teachings
of the Buddha, monks are showingchildren photos of Buddhists killed
by members of others faiths. Aside
from spreading hatred, the photos are
obviously not suitable for children.
But such messages of hatred arealso being spread by monks and
laypeople through the media, too, in-cluding weekly journals and books.
The reason religious extremism
has taken root in Myanmar is becauseof the support of some Buddhistmonks.
Vibhajja Echo is the first of its
kind, a compilation of articles on
tolerance written by more than 20
monks. One of the authors, SayadawU Kawvida, now plans to translate
the book into English and distribute
it around the world.
However, it is impossible for onebook alone to overwhelm the hate be-
ing spewed by others.
And we should not be motivated by
concerns about the international im-
age of Buddhism. The most importantthing is to use the Buddhas authentic
teachings to eradicate racial and re-
ligious extremism. Translation by
Thiri Min Htun and Zar Zar Soe
SITHU AUNG
The reason religious
extremism has taken
root in Myanmar
is because of the
support of some
Buddhist monks.
Buddhist monks attend a conference about religious violence at a monastery on the outskirts of Yangon on June 13, 2013.Photo: AFP
-
7/21/2019 Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)
8/27
8 THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 12, 2015
Business
Serge Pun speaks to reporters last
year. Photo: Zarni Phyo
Salon Island could be the future home of a US$1.2 billion resort. Photo: Staff
THE US$1.2 billion LuxDream Island
project is branded the next Phuket
and will feature a high-end marina,
luxury hotels, a theme park and a ca-
sino.The plan may seem incongruous
with the serenity of Myanmars My-
eik Archipelago. But the island dream
looks set to become reality, as Singa-
porean Zochwell Group prepares tosign a Build, Operate, Transfer (BOT)
contract with the Tanintharyi Region
Government next month.
The Myeik Archipelago is a group ofmore than 800 islands in the Andaman
Sea, off the southern tip of Myanmar.
The islands are home to the Moken,
or sea gypsies and are almost un-
touched by tourism.The area had five hotels and motels
with a total of 196 rooms by the end
of 2014, according to the Ministry of
Hotels and Tourism. But this is set tochange.
In 2012, Gareth Chin, Zochwells
chief commercial officer, was looking
for business opportunities in Myan-
mar, and was introduced to Kaw-thoung, the city at the southernmost
point of Myanmar.
Following preliminary studies on
Salon Island, or LuxDream as it ap-pears in investment literature, he met
with U Htay Aung, Union minister for
hotels and tourism, who wrote a letter
to connect Zochwell Group to the chief
minister of Tanintharyi Region, accord-ing to Mr Chin.
Salon is another name given to the
Moken people in Myanmar. The island
is 697 acres in size, located around 20minutes by boat from Kawthoung jetty.
Several farmers who were living on
the mainland used the island for plant-
ing crops including coconut, cashew
nuts, betel nuts, corn and rubber. So wehave spent the past two years negotiat-
ing compensation, said Mr Chin.
Almost all the farmers have nowbeen compensated, he said. Those who
have not accepted the terms will keep
their land and, for now, the develop-
ment will go ahead around it.
The land was previously classifiedas farmland, which Zochwell changed
to commercial land under Myanmar
law. This was not a problem as the
project had already been approved inprinciple by the regional government,
said Mr Chin.
We are going to sign the land lease
and the Build, Operate, Transfer terms
with the chief minister [of Tanintharyiregion] in the next month, as soon as
the Attorney Generals Office approvesthe agreement. After that, we will seek
Myanmar Investment Commission ap-
proval.
Zochwell will rent the island understandard BOT terms of 50 years, with
an option to extend the contract twice,
by 10 years each time, said Mr Chin.
However, U Hlwan Moe, assistantdirector of the Ministry of Hotels and
Tourism in Myeik, said he did not know
about the project.
We oversee all of the islands in the
Myeik Archipelago. They need to getapprove from our department, but we
havent had any information yet, he
said.
The entire project will cost an es-
timated $1.2 billion. Phase one willinclude development of the marina, a
golf course to be designed by former
US golfer Jack Nicklauss company,
Nicklaus Design, and a clubhouse.Zochwell has approached compa-
nies including ONE15 Marina Club
and Resort, a Singapore listed firm
which operates the Sentosa Islandmarina in Singapore, according to
Mr Chin. ONE15 Marina is explor-
ing the possibilities of developing
and managing a marina on the is-
land, he said.Zochwell is also in talks with Jumei-
rah Hotels & Resorts, according to
Mr Chin. The hotel operator is most
famous for its 7 star Burj Al Arab
Jumeirah hotel in Dubai.
Neither Nicklaus Design, ONE15
Marina Club and Resort nor Jumeirah
Hotels & Resorts responded to requestsfor comment. However, Singaporean
architect Ong & Ong confirmed that
it was working with Zochwell on the
design.We have signed an MOU and are
working on a masterplan for the whole
island, said Andy Goh, Ong & Ongs
chief consultant in Myanmar. We will
start with the design for the marinaand the hotel.
Furthermore, the island will feature
a casino. While these are not legal inMyanmar, it is possible to gain a licencefor an offshore establishment. The An-
daman Club Resort, on an island near
to Salon Island, has had a casino in op-
eration since 1996.
The LuxDream Island casino hasalready been approved in principle,
though still requires MIC approval,
said Mr Chin.
Assuming the project gains MIC ap-
proval, the initial phase will begin atthe end of 2015, he said.
We are in the process of choosing
contractors, operators and investors.
We will manage the island in the sameway that Sentosa Development Corpo-
ration (SDC) manages Sentosa Island
in Singapore. We will lease it from the
government, divide it up, and sub-lease
sections of it to independent investors.
The SDC describes Sentosa, whichmeans peace and tranquility in Malay,
as follows: Once a modest fishing vil-
lage and military base, it has since been
transformed into one of Asias leadingleisure and lifestyle destinations.
Several islands in Myeik, too, have
long been used by Myanmars military.
The island immediately west of Salon
Island is a naval base. Its well located,as it will help protect us from mon-
soons, jokes Mr Chin.
Prospective partners from Singa-
pore, Thailand and China have condi-tionally agreed to invest, and are now
waiting for MIC approval, said Mr
Chin.
We are getting ready to open this
project to Myanmar investors soon, hesaid.
Zochwell will develop the marina,
which Mr Chin hopes will become a
major destination on the global yacht-ing route.
Many people with yachts want to
do a round-the-world tour. In this re-
gion, they pass through Singapore,
then Malaysia and Phuket. But all fourmarinas on Phuket are fully booked
and the government wont issue any
more licences as capacity is to the
brim, he said.The next stop on the map is the
Nicobar Islands [in the Eastern Indian
Ocean]. Currently only larger boats can
make this trip directly from Phuket.But with a marina in Myanmar, small-er boats could stop at our island before
moving on.
He plans to include immigration fa-
cilities on Salon Island, so that it canbecome a gateway to Myanmar, said
Mr Chin.
In a later phase, we will build an
800-metre bridge to the mainland via
another island, where there is alreadya causeway to the mainland. We will
need to work with the Ministry of
Transport to ensure we dont block the
waterway, he said.
Phuket of Myanmar seeks MIC approval
CLARE [email protected]
FIRST Myanmar Investment (FMI)
Company will be the first, and forthe time being the only, company
to launch an initial public offering
(IPO) on the Yangon Stock Exchange
(YSX) when it opens later this year,according to company chair Serge
Pun.
Speculation over which firms will
attempt to list has intensified as the
exchange gets closer to launch though deputy finance minister Dr
Maung Maung Thein yesterday dis-
missed the claim that only FMI will
be ready, saying it is too early to tell .Mr Pun said that many compa-
nies had initially shown interest in
listing, but the number has declined
closer to the launch.
It started with many companies,but as we grow closer to the date I
am told that we are the only compa-
ny. That bothers me but its too late.
Were in, so we will be there, he saidduring a Banyan Tree Leadership Fo-
rum held by the Centre for Strategic
and International Studies (CSIS) in
Washington DC last week.In late 2014, FMI announced that
it had signed an engagement letter
with Japans Daiwa Securities and
the Myanmar Securities Exchange
Centre for advisory services aheadof its IPO.
Daiwas sister company Daiwa
Institute of Research and Myanma
Economic Bank, a state-ownedbank under the Ministry of Finance,
signed an agreement last Decem-
ber to establish the Yangon Stock
Exchange, which is Myanmars first
ever bourse. At the moment, sharesin public companies are traded on
an over-the-counter (OTC) basis.
Once the agreement had been
signed, the Ministry of Finance in-vited a number of businesses to list,
from among the 200 public firms
under the Directorate of Investment
and Company Administration.
Several other companies haveannounced their intention to de-
but on the exchange , including Asia
Green Development (AGD) Bank
and Myanmar Agri-Business Public
Company (MAPCO).
However, neither is likely to be
ready to IPO this year, according to
a source at the Myanmar SecuritiesExchange Centre, a joint venture be-
tween Daiwa Securities Group and
Myanma Economic Bank.
Neither AGD Bank nor MAPCO
were available for comment bydeadline yesterday.
Dr Maung Maung Thein, who is
also chair of the Securities and Ex-
change Commission of Myanmar,said it is too early to say how many
companies will list, as the listing cri-
teria is not yet complete.
We havent even decided who
will qualify yet, he said . The crite-ria for listing have not yet been ap-
proved by the authorities.
The criteria that must be met
for companies to attempt a listingis almost finished, according to Dr
Maung Maung Thein. After that,
a list of eligible companies will be
made public.
We cannot say a definite time. Ifthe criteria are too stringent, there
will be no companies at all. If they
are too lenient, that is not good for
the market, so we are thinking about
these two extremes and trying tostrike a balance, he said.
The stock market is on track to
open toward the end of this year, he
said. Seventy percent of the prepa-ration has been finished.
This is the second time that Dai-
wa and Myanma Economic Bank
have attempted to open a stock ex-change in Yangon.
In 1994, during the first attempt,
we were invited to list, as we were
the only public company in the coun-
try, said Mr Pun in Washington lastweek. I said, I have one condition,
I want the serial number 001. They
said, good, youve got it. I asked
who else was going to be listed. Theysaid, no one else, only you, he said.
I didnt want to be in the mid-
dle of a circus with everyone look-
ing in and absolutely no benefit [to
the company] so we didnt list. As aresult the stock exchange didnt hap-
pen for nearly 20 years.
The difference today is that there
is some understanding of what needs
to be done to develop a functioningcapital market, he said, although
there is still a long way to go.
It would be nave and a folly to
think it will be anywhere near whata stock exchange should look like. It
will not. But its a good start. With-
out this start it will never [become]
what it should be, he said.
FMI first and only company to list on YSX, says Pun
CLAREHAMMOND
MORE ON BUSINESS 9
We have signed
an MOU and are
working on a
masterplan for the
whole island.
Andy GohArchitect
-
7/21/2019 Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)
9/27
9BUSINESS EDITOR:Jeremy Mullins | [email protected]
Exchange Rates (May 11 close)
Currency Buying SellingEuro
Malaysia Ringitt
Singapore Dollar
Thai Baht
US Dollar
K1190
K302
K820
K33
K1095
K1230
K315
K835
K35
K1100
US Fed chair Yellen is gettingfed up and that could changethe markets
Online commoditiesexchange hit by Ministrysuspension
BUSINESS 12BUSINESS 10
VIVIAN Chan, general manager at
ummit Parkview Hotel in Yangon,
unpins a badge from the front of heracket.
We all wear these as part of our
uniform, she says. The staff are very
proud to wear them. The badge ishaped like a Myanmar version of a
Russian doll, a pyint taing htaung.
On it is a smiling lady, her cheeks
daubed with thanaka, and the
words: Where R U? Im @ SummitParkview.
The badge is a symbol for the ho-
el, says Ms Chan. It has a round base
o symbolise that even when shakent will never topple and fall.
Summit Parkview is Yangonsongest running 100 percent-for-
ign-owned hotel. It opened in 1995,
nd has survived several naturaldisasters, including Cyclone Nargis
in 2008. Part of the roof flew off,
said Ms Chan. Luckily nobody was
hurt.
Now, celebrating its coming 20th
anniversary in June, the 251-room ho-
tel is due to be extended, with workon a new 195-room wing to begin in
the next few months.
Since the lifting of sanctions
in 2012, the Ministry of Hotels and
Tourism (MoHT) has been asking thehospitality industry to increase the
number of rooms, to cater to the in-
creasing demand. Even the local inns
and guesthouses were expected to dothe same, said Ms Chan.
Several long-standing Yangon ho-
tels seriously considered the request.
It came at a time when Yangon des-
perately needed to increase capacityahead of an expected influx of tourists.
But now, with thousands of new
rooms to be built over the next few
years by both local and foreign inves-tors, Ms Chan believes that most ho-
tels will find it a challenge to fill thenew rooms.
Right now even we are quite
unsure about whether there will bemore arrivals, she said.
Just over 3 million international
arrivals visited Myanmar throughout
2014, up from 1 million in 2012, ac-
cording to MoHT statistics. However,almost two-thirds of these arrived
through the countrys borders gate-
ways only a third came through
Yangon International Airport.The new wing will be built in an L
shape around the existing hotel, said
Ms Chan. The permit has been ap-
proved and the project will start once
all the formalities are completed in acouple of months.
As well as 195 additional rooms,
the new wing will feature a 600-per-
son ballroom, a second restaurant,a new bar, an executive floor, a new
swimming pool, a gym and a spa, ac-
cording to Ms Chan. It is expected to
open in mid-2017.
The hotel is 100pc owned by Sin-gaporean investors, and the architect
for the new wing is also Singapore-
an, said Ms Chan, adding that nego-
tiations with prospective contractorsare still under way.
The Summit Parkview is a 4-star-
hotel and the new wing will be built
in line with this, she said.
A wing for the oldestforeign-owned hotel
Summit Parkview aims to expand by adding a new wing. Photo: Zarni Phyo
CLARE
HAMMOND
THE Myanmar Real Estate Asso-
ciation has begun drafting a law to
govern the real estate market, aim-
ing to standardise rules governing
transactions and provide mecha-nisms for dispute resolution.
Current transactions are gov-
erned by a mix of rules and laws,
but a single law could clarif y the
business, accord ing to U Than Oo,managing director of Mandaing
Real Estate Services and vice presi-
dent of the Myanmar Real Estate
Associ ation.There are existing laws and city
laws, to some extent, he said. But
some cases need to be solved in a
detailed way, which is why we are
trying to create a real estate law.The law is now being drafted by
the association and real estate l egal
experts. After a final draft is p ut to-
gether, the Real Estate Associationwill submit it to parliament for fi-
nal approval.
It has not been easy creating
the law. We need a lot of legal ex-
perts for real estate. With sponsor-ship from the Myanmar Real Est ate
Associ ation, we are asking for l egal
experts to come in and help define
the law, said Myanmar Real Es-tate Association president U Khin
Maung Than.
The local land market is notori-
ously convoluted, rife with overlap-
ping claims and ownership chal-lenges, which the association also
aims to address in its law.
There are still land ownership
issues in Myanmar, said U KhinMaung Than.
If there is a real estate law, we
can set out how to register land; ifwe dont know how to do this, we
face costs and [negative] effects.
There also may be some rules
about how to buy and sell land
properly, he said.While a law may be necess ary,
not everyone is convinced the in-
dustry association is the right body
to draft it.
We really need a real estate law
to allow us to handle issues clearly,but it must be c reated for the sake
of people, not only for real estate
agents, said a real estate lawyer,who requested anonymity.
The real estate law is also notthe only piece of legislation aimed
at better regulating the property
market.
There is still no condominium
law in force, which has been widelytipped to assist developers by al-
lowing foreigners to own some
apartments outright.
Association aims tosimplify real estatetransactions with lawKO KO [email protected]
The project will be developed accord-ng to responsible tourism guidelines,
aid Mr Chin. The Myanmar govern-
ment wants to avoid the sort of pol-
ution and damage that has happenedn Phuket.
Last year, Flora & Fauna Interna-
ional (FFI) proposed establishing a
Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the
Myeik Archipelago, as the area has aunique biodiversity, which is under se-
ious threat.
The FFI carried out studies over two
ears in collaboration with the Minis-ry of Environmental Conservation and
Forestry (MOECAF), the Department
f Fisheries and the navy, according to
n October 2014 statement. The parties
re now discussing the best ways toprotect the area. The region is also on
UNESCOs tentative list of nominations
for World Heritage Sites.
We will have to prepare an EIA
[environmental impact assessment]
before our MIC application, and to dowhatever is proposed by the govern-
ment, said Mr Chin.
Furthermore, he suggested that a
research centre could be built on Salon
Island, for academics and scientists tostudy the Myeik Archipelago before it
disappears. Zochwell has been talking
to the National University of Singapore,
among other potential partners, to findout whether this is feasible, he said.
Zochwell is not the only company
with ambitious plans for the region.
Myeik Public Corporation plans to de-
velop island resorts in the archipelago on Kunthee Island, East Sula Island,
Langan Island and Tanintharyi Island,
according to a 2014 article in state-
owned newspaper The Global New
Light of Myanmar.
The projects are likely to include
hotels, a golf course and amusementparks, according to the article.
Zochwell Group began doing
business in Myanmar in 2012. In ad-
dition to Salon Island, the companyhas several ambitious projects in-
cluding a chain of boutique, three-
star hotels in Yangon, which will
go by the brand Equiloft, a mix of
exquisite and loft.The group is also building a small-
scale residential development in Daw-
bon township, Yangon, and has cement
batching plants in Yangon and Bago,with another to be built in the Thilawa
Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
Finally, the group is in talks with
several Norwegian companies about
a gated community project in Yangonfor Norwegian expats, which would in-
clude facilities including a clubhouse,
a gym, a spa, restaurants and a school.
CONTINUED FROM BUSINESS 8
There are existinglaws and city laws,
to some extent ...
but some cases need
to be solved in a
detailed way.
U Than OoMyanmar Real Estate Association
-
7/21/2019 Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)
10/27
10Business THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 12, 2015
A FORTHCOMING commodities
exchange has been suspended fol-
lowing a letter from the Ministry ofCommerce stating it is not allowed
to operate.
Myanmar firm MICEx had aimed
to bring a commodities exchange on-
line in the next few months, but isnow left waiting while it discusses the
situation with government authori-
ties. While company officials admit
they are not ready to launch, they saythey had been making progress pre-
paring the groundwork.
We will not launch our trading
operation until we have received
regulatory approval, said MICExbusiness consultant Ashok Kawalsot.
Before the letter from the Min-
istry of Commerce, MICEx had re-
ceived some government approvalfor its exchange. The firm showed
The Myanmar Times a copy of a
permit from the Ministry of Na-
tional Planning and Economic De-
velopment from April 2013 allow-ing it to run businesses including
to manage, run and operate such
international standard commodity
exchange centres in Myanmar, ei-ther solely or jointly with foreign
and local counterparts.
While MICEx was some way
from beginning operations on the
exchange, company officials claim
to have held discussions withother government bodies includ-
ing the Ministry of Finance, which
oversees the Securities and Ex-
change Commission of Myanmar,
on providing oversight for the on-line marketplace.
Last month, the firm received
a letter, dated March 31, from the
Ministry of Commerce Depart-ment of Trade Promotion, claim-
ing that following a launch event
at the Myanmar Convention Cen-
tre in Yangon, MICEx did not have
legal permission from authoritiesto launch a commodities exchange
in beans and gold. It had initially
planned to begin with trading
these two commodities.The letter was signed by direc-
tor general U Toe Aung Myint, andforbids the firm with operating the
commodities exchange business, as
well as spreading information andcollecting fees for it.
Company officials told The My-
anmar Times they were surprised
by receiving the letter and arelooking at ways to discuss the sus-
pension with the Ministry of Com-
merce. Members of the ministrys
Department of Trade Promotion
could not be reached for furthercomment yesterday.
MICEx is chaired by U Sein
Win Hlaing, who is also president
of the Myanmar Paddy Producers
Associat ion.The Myanmar Pulses, Beans and
Sesame Seeds Merchants Associa-
tion (MPBSA) has also objected to
the plans for an exchange.
Association secretary general UMin Ko Oo said there must be prop-
er rules and regulations in place to
support an exchange and ensure it
is fair to the public, farmers and thecountry.
A commodity exchange would
cover the whole country, like the
stock exchange, he said. While
founding the [Yangon Stock Ex-change], it is being done against a
strong backdrop of support, includ-
ing cooperation from Japan.
U Min Ko Oo said he supportsthe Commerce Ministry as it stops
MICExs work toward launching the
exchange.
MICEx is now focusing on
launching two other businesses, ac-cording to MICEx project manager
Kedar Sirohi.
First up will be an attempt todisseminate price information ofcommodities to farms through SMS
messages. Mr Sirohi said this service
will allow farmers to find the true
value of their crops and demand ac-
tual market prices from merchantsand middlemen.
Another business will be ware-
house receipt financing, which
allows crops to be used as collat-eral for short-term loans. Farmers
would deposit their crops at the
warehouse instead of selling them
immediately upon harvest. MICEx
previously inked a memorandum
of understanding with a Myanmar-based division of Indias Sohan Lal
Commodity Management (SLCM) to
provide the service.
The MoU was terminated bySLCM on April 7 after disclosure of
the letter from the Ministry of Com-
merce, though the two firms have
not ruled out working together in
the future once the ministrys con-cerns are met.
At SLCM we follow the worlds
best corporate and legal practices;
we decided to terminate the MOUreferring to the same, wrote corpo-
rate communications general man-
ager Vaishali Sharma in an email.
Since the MoU was terminated,
MICEx has been looking for otherpartners for warehouse receipt fi-
nancing, talking to India-based
warehouse companies, local banks
and the Myanmar Paddy ProducersAssociation. It is also preparing to
move forward on the SMS messag-
ing component of its business.
Educating stakeholders such as
farmers about the companys mis-sion has proved a challenge for the
company. The online exchange is on
hiatus until the Ministry of Com-
merces concerns are addressed,
and MICEx is focusing on spreadingknowledge of the firm. It recently
revealed a new logo with the tag-
line, Where trust begins.
We need confidence first, ex-change chair U Sein Win Hlaing
told The Myanmar Timesin a previ-
ous interview. Operation later.
Additional reporting
by Su Phyo Win
Ministry halts online exchange IN BRIEFHonour thy mother withMPT top-up bonusMPT is celebrating mothers this monthby giving all their subscribers a 30percent bonus when they top up fromMay 10 to May 16.
The bonus is valid from May 10to the end of the month, for all GSM,WCDMA and CDMA customers, ac-cording to a press release. The bonusis automatically put into accounts.
MPT should always give out a pro-motional bonus for Mothers Day, saidU Khin Maung Aye, a Yangon customer.
The three telcos, also includingOoredoo and Telenor, have been dis-counting prices as competition in themarket heats up.
Aung Kyaw Nyunt
Thailand hopeful on Japanjoining Dawei in JulyJapan in July will sign a tripartiteagreement to join development of theDawei special economic zone in Myan-mar, an official said yesterday.
Hiroto Izumi, special adviser toJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,confirmed Japans willingness to finallycommit to the project during a meeting
with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at Government House yesterday,government spokesperson YongyuthMayalarp said.
The special adviser was quoted assaying Japan was ready to invest in theDawei SEZ Development Co throughthe Japan International CooperationAgency and Japan Bank for Interna-tional Cooperation.
Dawei is an ambitious project inMyanmars Tanantharyi Region thataims partly to provide an overland landbetween Bangkok and the AndamanSea. The Bangkok Post
[email protected] [email protected]
JEREMY
MULLINS
CATHERINE
TRAUTWEIN
-
7/21/2019 Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)
11/27
InternationalBusiness11www.mmtimes.com
HARP lost more than one-quarter ofts market value yesterday following
eports that the struggling Japanese
lectronics giant is planning a drasticapital reduction to help wipe away
osses.The firm plunged as much as 31 per-
ent in Tokyo before recovering some
ground to close at 190 yen (US$1.63),
down 26.35pc from May 8.Weekend reports by the leading
Nikkeibusiness daily and other Japa-
nese media said Sharp plans to reduce
ts capital by 99pc to just 100 million
en.The Osaka-based company a ma-
or supplier to Apple and a leader in
creens for smartphones and tablets
plans to use surplus money squeezedut of the capital reduction to wipe
way years of losses, the reports said.
The rare move comes as Sharp
truggles to move past years of gaping
osses, partly due to bleeding in its tele-ision unit, which has been hammered
by competition from lower-cost rivals.
Sharp was also expected to get fi-
nancial assistance from its bank lend-rs, such as swapping debt for pre-
erred shares with no voting rights,
eports said.
Investors may be afraid that pre-
erred shares, if converted into com-mon shares, would dilute stakeholders
rights, said Toshihiko Matsuno, senior
strategist at SMBC Friend Securities.
While there are so many uncertain
factors, the stock has become a targetof [the] money game, he added, refer-
ring to speculative trading.
Responding to the media reports,
Sharp yesterday said a capital reduc-tion remains an option as part of its
wider restructuring.
As for our capital policy, we have
been making various considerations
including issuance of preferred sharesand a capital reduction but there has
been no decision made, the company
said in a statement.
Sharp is to announce a mid-termbusiness plan May 14 along with its
fiscal-year results.
For the reported capital cut, Sharp
would need to get approval at a gen-
eral shareholders meeting in June.Earlier this year, the Nikkei said
Sharp is considering closing four do-
mestic factories that produce electron-
ic components, as well as withdrawingfrom its solar cell business.
As the company writes off produc-
tion equipment in unprofitable busi-
nesses, its net loss for the year ending
in March was likely to exceed 100 bil-lion yen, up from the companys own
loss forecast of 30 billion yen, the busi-
ness daily said. AFP
A customer looks at products made by Japanese electronics manufacturer
Sharp at an electrics shop in Tokyo yesterday.Photo: AFP
TOKYO
TOKYO
SHANGHAI
Sharp drops withcapital reduction plan
TOSHIBA shares plunged yester-
day after the Japanese conglomerate
withdrew its earnings forecast and
said it will not pay a dividend, citing
accounting problems on a number ofinfrastructure projects.
The company faced massive sell-
ing throughout the day with the stock
tumbling to its low limit of 403.3 yen(US$3.40), down 16.55 percent.
Shortly after the Tokyo market
closed on May 8, Toshiba announced
it had cancelled its projection for a 120
billion yen ($1.0 billion) net profit onsales of 6.7 trillion yen in its latest fis-
cal year to March.The vast engineering conglomer-
ate, which makes everything from bat-teries to nuclear reactors, also warned
it may revise past earnings.
Toshiba said it would hire an
outside team of experts to look into
the matter after finishing an inter-nal investigation.
So far, the probe revealed that
Toshiba underestimated the cost of
certain infrastructure projects along
with other accounting irregularities,it said in a statement with few other
details.
The company added that it will not
report revised fiscal-year results untilat least next month.
This is unlikely to affect Toshibas
profitability but it damaged investors
trust, said Mitsushige Akino, an ex-
ecutive officer at Ichiyoshi InvestmentManagement in Tokyo.
The stock dropped mainly be-
cause of the uncertainty since the ac-
tual losses are not known. This sellingwill probably continue until Toshiba
clarifies the situation.
A Toshiba spokesperson said yes-
terday that several construction pro-
jects have understated costs.
The extent of the problems and
who was responsible for them was
not yet clear, she added.
The investigation include powersystems, social infrastructure and com-
munity solutions units, the spokesper-
son said, referring to its energy, rail
and air traffic control services, and an
urban infrastructure division.Toshibas embarrassing roll-back
comes after its nine-month net profit
surged 86pc from a year earlier to 71.9
billion yen, thanks to strong sales in
the energy and infrastructure busi-ness, such as nuclear power plants, as
well as electronic devices, including
memory chips.
Earlier this year, Toshiba said itwas getting out of the North Ameri-
can television business and selling its
brand in the market to a Taiwanese
manufacturer.
Japans TV makers, including Sonyand Panasonic, have suffered from
razor-thin margins and fierce overseas
competition. AFP
A customer checks out computers by Japanese electronics manufacturer
Toshiba at an electrics shop in Tokyo. Toshiba shareholders are seeing red after
the stock fell nearly 17 percent yesterday. Photo: AFP
Toshiba trading tumbles withreport of accounting probe
AUSTRALIA yesterday announcedplans to go after large multina-
tional firms shifting profits off-
shore to minimise taxes, with 30
companies in the governmentssights.
It also outlined proposals to
force companies selling digital
products, such as streamed con-
tent and e-books, to pay a goodsand services tax.
Treasurer Joe Hockey, who last
year said the practice of corpora-
tions shifting profits amounted totheft, said he would reveal the
new legislation when he hands
down the national budget today.
The government will be pro-
ceeding with new tax integritymeasures in the budget, he said,
adding that the multinational anti-
avoidance law would target the ac-
tivities of 30 identified companies.These companies are divert-
ing profits earned in Australia
away from Australia to no-tax or
low-tax jurisdictions, said Mr
Hockey.The initiative comes amid in-
creased efforts by governments
around the world to crack down
on global firms that use complexcorporate structures to lower their
tax bills.
Last month, Australian parlia-
mentarians grilled global technol-
ogy and mining giants includingApple, Google , BHP Billiton and
Rio Tinto at an upper house Sen-
ate hearing on their tax structures.
The inquiry heard Google Aus-
tralia in 2013, for example, madeA$358 million (US$275 mil lion) in
income, generated profits of just
over A$46 million and paid A$7.1
million in tax.The firms insisted they had
paid the taxes they owed under the
countrys laws.
Mr Hockey did not name any
of the companies being targeted,or say how much revenue the gov-
ernment hopes to get back, but
said the Australian Tax Office had
spent months embedded in someof the worlds biggest firms.
They had noted that billions of
dollars in profits have been trans-
ferred offshore to minimise tax in
Australia.
A usual scenario was to operate
in Australia with billing occurringout of Singapore.
The money is transferred to
Ireland and then advantage is
taken of a range of different EUtax procedures in relation to royal-
ties, said Mr Hockey.
This is all designed to avoid
paying tax in Australia on profits
earned in Australia.Under the planned rules, the
Tax Commissioner will have the
power to recover unpaid taxes and
issue a fine of an additional 100percent of the unpaid taxes plus
interest.
Australia made closing corpo-
rate tax loopholes and endorsing a
common reporting standard to in-crease transparency a key focus of
the G20 meetings last year when it
assumed the rotating presidency.
As well as targeting profit-shift-ing, Mr Hockey plans to impose a
Goods and Services Tax (GST) on
digital products.
It is plainly unfair that a sup-
plier of digital products into Aus-tralia is not charging the GST
whilst someone locally has to
charge the GST, he said.
When the GST legislation wasoriginally drafted, it did not an-
ticipate the massive growth in the
supply of digital goods like movie
downloads, games and e-books
from overseas. AFP
SYDNEY
Multinationals to betargeted in Oz tax push
CHINESE search engine giant Baidu
often described as the countrys
quivalent of Google said yesterdayt has launched anti-corruption inves-
igations into its own employees after
eports three department heads were
being probed.Baidu did not reveal any details of
ts inquiries, nor confirm how many
were being investigated or their
names.
Internal anti-corruption actionreates a just and transparent work-
ng environment, and a sound envi-
onment for workers development,
he company said in a statement.
We call on all employees to re-pect company ethics and national
aws, to create a healthy and just
working environment.
Yesterday, Chinese internet portal
Sina reported that Baidu was investi-
gating three departmental directors.
President Xi Jinping launched a
much-publicised drive against cor-ruption after he came to power two
years ago, vowing to target both high-
level tigers and low-ranking flies.
But rather than the Communist
partys feared internal watchdog,the Central Commission for Dis-
cipline and Investigation, Baidus
anti-corruption investigations were
conducted by its own ethics andmorality construction department,
reports said.
Baidu fired five executives last
November for bribery and illicit ap-
propriation and dismissed four of itsemployees for bribery in August 2012,
according to media reports. AFP
These companies
are diverting
profits earned in
Australia away
from Australia.
Joe HockeyAustralias Treasurer
Baidu probes ownexecs for corruption
-
7/21/2019 Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (MTE Daily Issue 40)
12/27
12 InternationalBusiness THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 12, 2015
JANET Yellen could be losing pa-
tience. And that could mean a lot for
global markets.
When the chair of the Federal Re-serve said on May 6 that stocks were
overvalued and bond yields too low, it
was a signal that investors should not
expect to indulge on the Feds cheap
dollars forever.But after a knee-jerk reaction
to the warning, two days later Wall
Street was back near record highs and
bond yields even lower than before Ms
Yellen spoke.The reason? The April jobs report
released on May 8 that suggested the
economy still has some way to go to
meet the Feds criteria for beginningto raise interest rates. And that means
more easy money for investors.
When Ms Yellen became Fed chair
15 months ago the path ahead seemed
clear: End the huge quantitative eas-ing stimulus program of her predeces-
sor, Ben Bernanke, in October 2014,
and then after around six months be-
gin raising interest rates.That was the path toward nor-
malisation, easing out of the crisis-
era monetary policy that had the Fed
pumping trillions of dollars into the
economy even with its benchmark in-terest rate stuck at zero for six years.
It was nearing the time to normal-
ise. As 2014 progressed, the United
States generated more than 3 million
new jobs and the unemployment rate
sank toward the Feds target.Inflation, which the Fed wants to
bring to 2.0 percent, did not pick up,
but there were reasons for that, like
the oil price crash.
Meanwhile, the easy money policywas fuelling stock and property spec-
ulators while its impact on overall
growth was starting to diminish.
The Fed repeatedly implied that a
rate rise could come around mid-year2015. In March, it sent a major signal
for the coming hike, by dropping from
its policy statement a pledge to re-
main patient for the economic datato improve.
But since then, patient is whatthe Fed has had to be. US economic
growth stalled in the first quarter, and
markets read that as meaning a longerwait for a rate rise, even though the
Fed stressed that the slowdown was
mainly for transitory reasons, like
the severe winter weather.Ms Yellen made clear this week
that she is concerned that markets
have too easily shrugged off a rate
hike and the turmoil it could bring to
markets.Stock valuations generally are
quite high, she said at a finance fo-
rum on May 6. There are potential
dangers there.Bond markets were risky too.
We need to be attentive to the
possibility that when Fed decides
its time to begin raising rates, these
term premiums could move up and
we could see a sharp jump in long-term rates, she said.
Stocks took the calculated message
at face value, sinking sharply, while
bond yields spiked higher for all oftwo days.
Then came the April jobs report
which suggested the winter slowdown
was not completely past. The job crea-
tion number was pretty strong, andunemployment fell to 5.4pc.
But here was no sign of rising
wages an indicator Ms Yellen herself
has focused on to show labour markettightening.
Moreover, the labour force par-ticipation rate, the measure of what
percent of work