Weekly Diary, No. 300 (2 – 9 May 2008)

Weekly Diary, No. 300 (2 – 9 May 2008)

• AFTER NARGIS, COMES ABC!
• YES TO HELP, NO TO HELPERS!
• PEOPLE TO THE POLLS TODAY!
• THAN SHWE, WHERE ARE YOU?

Think Piece
There is a real potential for this to be a game-changing moment. I’m mindful of what happened in Aceh, where you had this intractable problem, but after the tsunami the whole conversation changed.
_{Sean Tunnel, Macquarie University professor and editor Burma Economic Watch, 7 May, Financial Times}

The World
7 May 2008
Oil prices hit $120 per barrel and up. (Agencies)
 
7 May 2008
_{Dmitry Medvedev}
Dmitry Medvedev sworn in as Russian president. (Reuters)

International Relations
1 May 2008
About 30 Hollywood celebrities kick off 30-day campaign to seek release of Aung San Suu Kyi. (AFP)
 
1 May 2008
_{George W. Bush}
US President Bush freezes assets of junta’s state-owned companies: Myanmar Gem Enterprise, Myanmar Pearl Enterprise and Myanmar Timber Enterprise. (AP)
 
2 May 2008
_{Aung San Suu Kyi}
Suu Kyi among Time magazine’s 100 most influential people along with other women: Sonia Gandhi and Hillary Clinton. (Irrawaddy)
 
7 May 2008
_{Bernard Kouchner}
French FM Bernard Kouchner says UN Security Council should force Burma’s junta to allow aid supplies into its cyclone-hit country. (AFP)
 
7 May 2008
Visa formalities are holding up UN efforts to rush emergency aid to Nargis survivors. Naypyitaw has been urged to “change and adapt.” (Irrawaddy)
 
7 May 2008
_{Condoleezza Rice}
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urges cyclone hit Burma to admit international disaster relief. It is a humanitarian crisis rather that a political issue, she says. (AFP)

8 May 2008
UN Relief supplies begin arriving in Burma, but visas for UN teams seeking entry are still stalled. (Bangkok Post)

8 May 2008
_{Qin Gang}
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang urges Burma to cooperate with the international community and let in foreign post-cyclone aid. (AFP)

Thai-Burma Relations
7 May 2008
Storms may visit Thailand in the wake of Nargis. Inland provinces at risk include Maehongson, Chiangmai and Chiangrai. (Bangkok Post)
 
7 May 2008
Burmese officials say they are not going to close the border checkpoint of Tachilek during the referendum, as the route is important for transporting food and medicines to cyclone victims. (Bangkok Post) Source in Maesod says hundreds of tons of zinc sheets are being transferred to Burma’s Myawaddy each day. As for the source from Maehongson, the temporary checkpoint at Hueypheung is closed 8-10 May – Editor
 
8 May 2008
From today it is illegal in Thailand to use a mobile phone while driving a vehicle on road, unless using a hands-free device. Offenders will be fined B 400-1,000 ($12.7-31.7). (Bangkok Post)

Politics/ Inside Burma
8 May 2008
The roof of Aung San Suu Kyi’s house was blown off and she is living without electricity, with only candles in the night. (AP)
 
8 May 2008

General Than Shwe, Maung Aye and Shwe Mann have conspicuously disappeared from the public since Cyclone Nargis began. (Irrawaddy)
 
Cyclone Nargis
3 May 2008

“Utter war zone” in Rangoon after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma’s southern coastal regions packing winds of 190km (120 miles) per hour last night. A reminder to Hurricane Katrina. The UN has made an offer of assistance but yet to receive a response. All incoming flights diverted to Mandalay. (Reuters)
 
3 May 2008
Zinc roofs torn off at Insein prison. Around 1,000 prisoners start a fire to keep warm, 36 shot dead, 70 injured. No political prisoners among the victims. (AAPP)
 
3 May 2008

Adding insult to injury 4 riot control battalions stationed in Rangoon fail to give prompt help, saying they are waiting for instructions from the generals. (Bangkok Post)
 
4 May 2008
Gen Thein Sein heads state disaster committee which includes the armed forces, police and fire brigades but not the USDA. Troops and USDA quick to arrive in September, but can’t come to aid cyclone victims. Generals are unwilling to allow international aid agencies ahead of the referendum, says Aung Naing Oo, Burmese analyst. (Irrawaddy)
 
5 May 2008

More than 10,000 people were killed and 4,000 more people missing, FM Nyan Win tells state television. (Al Jazeera)
 
5 May 2008
20,000 homes destroyed on Haingyi island leaving 90,000 people homeless. (Al Jazeera)
 
5 May 2008
Arakan State lucky to escape fury but suffer minor damages: some buildings damaged, some trees uprooted and telephone lines cut off in 5 townships: Gwa, Sandoway, Taungup, Ann and Rambree. (Narinjara)
 
5 May 2008
Commodity prices skyrocket:
                        Before                         Present
Egg                  K 60-70                       K400
Cleanwater      K700-800                    K4,000
 
5 May 2008
Foreign aid workers trying to assess the damage and aid needs say their access and movements are restricted by the military. (Al Jazeera)
 
6 May 2008
Internet cafes in Rangoon will be operational only after 10 May, say government sources. Looting by mobs have begun in some areas in Rangoon given widespread hunger and scarcity of drinking water and food. Water supply from Gyophyu reservoir has been restored on 5 May. (Mizzima)
 
6 May 2008

Many were killed in a 12-foot (3.5 meter) tidal wave, says social welfare minister Maung Maung Swe. (AFP)
 
6 May 2008
Many officials, despite orders not to leave until after 10 May, are leaving their posts to search for family members in the affected areas. “I don’t know if they will be punished on their return,” says a supply sergeant. (Irrawaddy)
 
6 May 2008
Fears of outbreaks fueled by mosquitoes, dirty water and poor sanitation are among WHO’s concern, such as malaria and diarrhea. (AP)
 
6 May 2008
India says it warned Burma about Nargis way back on 26 April. (Times of London)
 
7 May 2008
Piles of rotting bodies lying on the ground as the water receded came across by Save the Children’s staff. (Al Jazeera)
 
7 May 2008
Challenges confronting aid groups: bad roads, halting official cooperation and a communications breakdown. (International Herald Tribune)
 
7 May 2008

All 5 regions lashed by Nargis are in the rice bowl of Burma, producing 65% of rice, 80% of fishery produce and 50% of meat and meat products. (Mizzima)
 
7 May 2008
Price of diesel: K18,000 ($16) per gallon from K 4,500 ($4), before the cyclone. (Mizzima)
 
Death toll
4 May              243;351
5 May              15,000
6 May              22,500 with 41,000 missing
8 May              80,000 (Irrawaddy)
                     Over 100,000 (AFP)
 
Comments
7 May 2008
Analysts: This could be a political fallout for Burma’s rulers. (Bangkok Post)
 
Assistance of Nargis victims
5 May 2008
Thailand          $ 100,000 emergency aid (Channels 9, 11)
Norway           $ 1.96 million
WFP               800 tons of rice waiting permission to move. WFP leaves for Laputta late evening on 2 May.
                       The UN announces 9 May that the WFP shipment was seized.
India                Laborers load relief supplies into two ships at Port Blair
Germany         $ 773,000
EU                  $ 3 million
Greece            $ 200,000
Japan              $ 260,000
South Korea    $ 100,000
US                  $ 3 million
China               $ 1 million
UK                  $ 10 million
UN                  $ 5 million
(Al Jazeera/Mizzima/Reuters)
 
6 May 2008
Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC) calls on the SPDC work together with the Opposition “to relieve the suffering of our people.” (Statement)
 
6 May 2008
A secret circular directs all security agencies to be on high alert, monitor international organizations and disallow their free movement until after10 May. (Mizzima)
 
6 May 2008
CARE Australia, which has operated in Burma for 14 years, has already begun providing relief aid to the Nargis victims following permission by the regime. (The New Australian)
 
7 May 2008
Canada, China, EU and Japan all pledge aid without conditions. (International Herald Tribune)
 
7 May 2008
Over 20 countries have pledge aid of more than $ 40 million. Countries yet to be mentioned: Sweden, Norway and Indonesia. (Mizzima)
 
7 May 2008
Monks seen collecting money and rice, distributing food to survivors and clearing up fallen trees and rebuilding houses.
Standing joke in Rangoon: Soldiers can only be seen in newspapers – nowhere else. (Irrawaddy)
 
7 May 2008
The military government in Rangoon is selling food to survivors, but prices remain too expensive for those who have lost their properties:
Rice                 K750 per pyi
Cooking oil       K2,240 per viss
Zinc sheet        K4,500 per sheet
(DVB)
 
8 May 2008
Aircraft from Qatar carrying relief material for cyclone hit victims sent back from Mingaladon. (Mizzima)
 
9 May 2008
A single US military aircraft carrying relief supplies allowed to land on Monday, 12 May. (Reuters)
 
9 May 2008
Looting and clashes involving hungry residents reported in Rangoon’s outskirts and the Irrawaddy delta. One group broke into a rice mill in Dedaye and carried away the rice. (Irrawaddy)
 
Referendum
30 April 2008
700 employees in the Ministry of Electric Power #2’s Rangoon office tick their ballot papers with local referendum officials looking on. Those who want to vote No have to hand in their resignations, they say. (Reuters)
 
2 May 2008
Ms Suu Kyi appears on the official voters list released today. Her number is 2281. (AP)
 
2 May 2008
UN Security calls in Burma to ensure fundamental political freedoms are respected in this month’s referendum. Notes junta’s announcement that the referendum process will be free and fair. (AP)
 
5 May 2008
_{Nyo Ohn Myint}
Junta announces decision to go ahead with the referendum, despite the disaster. “The fewer the voters, the better the chance to win,” says Nyo Ohn Myint, exiled NLD’s foreign affairs chief. (Mizzima)
 
5 May 2008
Mon State officials are compiling a list of elders to be used for supporting votes. (Independent Mon News Agency)
 
6 May 2008
Junta decides to postpone referendum in 47 townships: 40 out 45 townships in Rangoon area and 7 in the Irrawaddy delta. (AP)
 
7 May 2008
Some voters have been given ballot papers already marked with a ‘yes’ vote, or with a No vote blacked out.
 
7 May 2008
Burma News International (BNI) announces result of voters survey:

• 2,032 people in 7 states and 6 divisions interviewed
• 83% plans to vote
• 66.4% will vote No

(Statement)
 
9 May 2008
100% advance Yes votes were secured by junta authorities in the Naga region, as referendum commission did not bother to explain anything. The voters were just told to tick on the ballot paper. The Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) led by SS Khaplang was unable to do any advocacy to reject the referendum. (Kachin News Group)

Shans/ Shan State
9 May 2008
Shan State Army (SSA) South urges people to say No to the junta’s draft. (SHAN)

Economy/ Business
Human Rights

Environment
4 May 2008
Another cyclone storm, called ABC, may develop from the depressions in the Bay of Bengal, says Bangladesh meteorological official. (Narinjara)

Drugs
War
Obituary