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BurmaNet News September 27, 1996




---------------------------------BurmaNet-----------------------------------
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"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: September 27, 1996
Issue #524

HEADLINES:
==========
BURMANET: UPDATE ON PARTY CONGRESS AND ARRESTS
BURMANET REPORT ON THE OIL CRISIS IN BURMA
REUTERS: BURMA'S DEMOCRACY PARTY TO HOLD CONGRESS
AFP: US FROWNS ON BURMESE THREAT TO JUNTA CRITIC
BURMANET: SUBSCRIBER UPDATE
BKK POST: ASEAN BID SCRUTINIZED
FBC: OCTOBER FAST FOR BURMA PRESS RELEASE
US EMBASSY RANGOON: FOREIGN ECONOMIC TRADE - BURMA
MYANMAR ALIN: VERSE COMMEMORATES USDA 3RD ANNIVERSARY  
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BURMANET: UPDATE ON PARTY CONGRESS AND ARRESTS
September 27, 1996  (Friday afternoon)

The National League for Democracy began a party congress this morning, 
but as in May, the SLORC has already arrested many of the would-be 
participants.  At least 31 NLD members coming in from distant states and 
divisions have been arrested on the way.  The cooks who were preparing meals 
for the congress participants have also been detained, and their cooking 
equipment confiscated as well.  As of Thursday night, 50-70 NLD MPs 
were reported to have made it into the compound. A number of party members
and NLD Youth are also in the compound as are senior NLD leaders, U Kyi 
Maung and U Tin Oo.

According to inside reports, troops were seen on University Avenue after 10 
pm Thursday night.  This morning, both ends of University Avenue were 
blocked off by police, some armed with semi-automatic weapons.  Some
soldiers were also reported to be stationed there.  

At noon today, about 200 people were milling around one of the blockades 
which is located at the intersection of Kaba Aye Pagoda Road and University 
Avenue.  

At 1:30 this afternoon, the NLD was planning to hold an opening ceremony
to which diplomats and journalists were invited.  However no one was allowed
past the barricades.  Several journalists and TV crews are in Rangoon, but 
if any are in the compound, they have not been able to get any news out.  One
TV cameraperson who was videotaping around the barricades later had her 
room searched and her videotapes confiscated.  She herself was also subjected
to a thorough search.

When asked by journalists, SLORC spokesmen have stated that after the 
three day meeting is over, everything will return to normal.  In the meantime,
they are taking people to "government guesthouses" and no one is allowed in
the compound. The NLD party headquarters, which had been considered as an
alternative meeting site, has also been blocked off.    

According to one report, the SLORC has begun arresting people in the 
compound, but nobody can confirm this.  Whether it is merely a fear
or a rumor is still unclear.  The phone line into the compound has 
been cut and no one has access.  

We will post more news as soon as we receive it.

**************************************************************

BURMANET: REPORT ON THE OIL CRISIS IN BURMA
September 27, 1996

Mitsui has stopped deliveries of imported crude oil and diesel 
to the SLORC, because the SLORC did not pay its 31 million dollar
bill, a small sum for most governments. 

Last week, gasoline prices were rising 50 kyat a day, from 300 on 
Tuesday to 450 on Friday. Since then the rate has gone down to 
270-280 kyat a gallon.  Until recently, the price had been stable
at 200 kyat a gallon on the open market and 25 kyat a gallon for 
SLORC government personnel. Depending on their rank and position,
government personnel are allowed to purchase a certain number of
gallons per month at the subsidized price. 

Mitsui is the SLORC's largest supplier, and the SLORC is now 
negotiating with several other Japanese suppliers for future 
deliveries.  One supplier who is seriously considering
making a deal with the SLORC is Marubeni, whose CEO is a WWII 
veteran who saw action in Burma and reportedly sympathizes with
the SLORC.

Pro-democracy supporters inside are urging the international 
community to launch a campaign to try to stop these Japanese
companies from bailing the SLORC out of this predicament.

*************************************************************

REUTERS: BURMA'S DEMOCRACY PARTY TO HOLD CONGRESS
September 26, 1996

RANGOON, - Burma's National League for Democracy  (NLD) 
said on Thursday it would hold a congress September 27-29 to celebrate the
eighth
anniversary of the party's founding.

A party official told Reuters about 200 people had been invited to attend
the congress. A plan to hold a similar gathering in May spurred widespread
arrests of democracy activists by the military government.
"We have sent out about 200 invitations to elected representatives from all
over the country. But we don't know how many will be able to attend," the
NLD official said.

The meeting will be at held the house of party leader and co-founder Aung
San Suu Kyi.

The NLD, which won a landslide victory in a 1990 general election that was
never recognized by the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC), tried to hold its first-ever gathering of elected representatives
in late May.

It would have been the first time Nobel laureate Suu Kyi met the elected
representatives as a group. She was under house arrest during the 1990 election.
But days before the meeting was to be held, the SLORC launched a sweeping
crackdown on NLD members, arresting more than 260 politicians in a couple of
days.

The SLORC released most of the activists after about 10 days, saying it had
only detained them in an effort to avoid anarchy or unrest that could result
from the party meeting.

Suu Kyi and the members of the executive council were spared arrest, but
they held a meeting with about 300 party members instead of the original
gathering of elected representatives.

After the meeting, Suu Kyi said the NLD vowed to increase the momentum of
its efforts to restore democracy to Burma.

She said the NLD, which pulled out of government-sponsored constitutional
talks last November, had decided to draft its own version of the constitution.
Shortly afterward, the SLORC passed a sweeping law, seen as an effort to
muzzle Suu Kyi and the NLD, calling for long prison terms for any person or
organization seen disrupting the government's constitution-writing efforts
or viewed as trying to disrupt peace and stability of the country.

About 70 NLD members and supporters have been arrested or charged and given
long prison terms since May.

One diplomat said the upcoming party meeting would be a test of how serious
the SLORC was in its desire to muzzle Suu Kyi.

"Although this size gathering will clearly be seen as a challenge to the
SLORC...so far government reaction has been low key," the diplomat said.
"NLD attendees have started to arrive in town, but no arrests or detentions
that we've heard of so far."  

Democratic Voice of Burma(DVB)
P.O Box 6720
ST.Olavs Plass
0130 Oslo, Norway
Tel: 47-22-200021, Tel/fax:47-22-362525.

**************************************************************

AFP: US FROWNS ON BURMESE THREAT TO JUNTA CRITIC
September 26, 1996

WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (AFP)_The State Department said Thursday it took 
"very seriously" a commentary in Burma's official media predicting opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be charged with political crimes.

        Spokesman Glyn Davies noted that the administration supports
legislation, backed by Congress but not yet signed by President Bill
Clinton, that would provide for economic sanctions against Burma if the
junta harms, arrests, or exiles Aung San Suu Kyi.

        " We take this very seriously," Davies said of a commentary in
Burma's state-run media, which said, "in the not too distant future, she
(Aung San Suu Kyi) will be accused as a political criminal."

        "We take very seriously any threats to arrest her or to prevent her
from conducting what we regard as legitimate political activity," he added.

        "We have long urged the ruling junta to engage in dialogue with the
political opposition as the best way to achieve national reconciliation."
Davies said.

        Burma's tightly controlled official press Wednesday accused Aung
San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD)
and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, of using foreign media to attack the
government.

It criticized her "decisions and wrong deeds" and said opposition calls for
foreign 
investment boycott would hurt the people rather than the government.

        Any moves against Aung San Suu Kyi, who was freed last year after
six years under house arrest and has called repeatedly for international
investors to shun Burma, would likely spur strong support for American
sanctions.

        But how hard the junta would have to crack down on her supporters
to trigger a US investment ban remains unclear, and NLD supporters fear a
new crackdown surrounding a conference this weekend at Aung San Suu Kyi's
home.

        Plans for a national party congress in May were thwarted at Aung
San Suu Kyi's home. The State Law Order Law and Order Restoration Council,
Burma's military government, detained most of the delegates ahead of the
meeting.

        The state-run New Light of Myanmar mentioned the NLD anniversary
plans in a commentary Thursday that accused the opposition grouping of
"heading toward a one-party Thursday that accused the opposition grouping
of "heading toward a one-party democracy dictatorial system."

        The commentary spoke of "power-crazy internal traitors under the
influence of outside powers," who had no intention of cooperating with
other parties.  It said the country could not accept foreign influence or
NLD links with insurgent expatriates," and it deplored that "a single
person at the top echelon has influence on the entire party and wields
power," a veiled reference to Aung San Suu Kyi.

*************************************************************

BURMANET: SUBSCRIBER UPDATE
September 27, 1996

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Our total subscriber account is roughly 600 but many burmanet-l subscribers 
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***********************************************************

BKK POST: ASEAN BID SCRUTINIZED
September 26, 1996

The Burmese opposition yesterday called on ASEAN countries to
think carefully before granting Burma full membership in the
organization and warned of "the consequences" for peace and
tranquillity in the region.
     
Foreign ministers of ASEAN will meet at the United Nations in New
York today to discuss the creation of the "ASEAN 10", which
includes Burma as a full member of ASEAN.
     
The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma in a
press release in New York said:
     
"If ASEAN makes Burma a full member, it will be violating the
purposes and principles of its own charter as well as its own
position regarding Burma's contribution to 'peace, stability and
economic cooperation in the region"'.
     
It reminded ASEAN that under a parliamentary democratic system,
Burma was an original signatory to the  Bandung conference and a
founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement.
     
When the military took power in 1962 the military-dominated
socialist regime disrupted the development of Burma as a peaceful
democratic state and market economy in Asia, it said. The
socialist regime adopted a policy of isolationism. The current
leaders of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
pursue that policy today.
     
The NCGUB statement said both ASEAN and the United Nations had
adopted the premise  that there could be no peace or economic
development without democracy and respect for human rights.
     
The General Assembly at its 50th session adopted a consensus
resolution condemning Burma's violations of peace, development,
democracy and human rights that urged the Secretary General to
assist the government of Burma in its efforts at restoring
democracy and national reconciliation.
     
It said members of the UN, by reason of their charter
obligations, must support the Secretary-General in these efforts.
     
"Burma should not be considered a full member of ASEAN until
SLORC has been peacefully replaced by a freely elected democratic
government.  Burma, as a state monopolized military command
economy, cannot contribute to the thriving Asian regional market
economy," it stated.
     
As a military power which depends for its existence on the import
of arms from a major power, SLORC is not in a position to
contribute to the security of the region.
     
On the contrary, as the country with the longest lasting internal
strife in the region, Burma at present will do nothing but make
the region more unstable. This, it said, is the position
officially taken by certain ASEAN officials.
     
It pointed to the repercussions for the regional grouping should
Burma be allowed to join, such as the possibility of escalation
of political tension between SLORC and the democratic opposition,
which may lead to a scenario where the breakdown of law  and
order will create serious  repercussions for Burma's neighbors,
especially along the border with Thailand.
     
It said the only viable solution to prevent further bloodshed in
Burma is to have a national dialogue between  SLORC and the
democratic opposition at the earliest possible opportunity. 
     
Since May of this year, SLORC has escalated its strategy of
intimidation.
     
"ASEAN should condemn this repression and not accept Burma as a
full member at the present time," the statement said. 

*****************************************************************

FBC: OCTOBER FAST FOR BURMA
September 26, 1996
	
The Free Burma Coalition
225 North Mills Street
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI 53706

Contact: In Madison Zar Ni (608)-827-7734;
In Los Angeles Nandar (310)-837-8862 and David Wolfberg 310-391-7788;
In Washington, DC, Dr. Sein Win (202)-393-7342;

     More than 300 students and others across the United States, as well
as numbers of people in South Africa, Canada, Japan, and Thailand will
participate in a fast sponsored by the Free Burma Coalition on Monday
through Wednesday, October 7-9, 1996.

        The Free Burma Coalition (FBC) is an umbrella group of
organizations around the world working for freedom and democracy in Burma.
The mission of FBC is to build a grassroots movement inspired by and
modeled after the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.  The FBC
movement stands 100 percent behind the leadership of Nobel Peace Prize
Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD)
who have been recognized as the sole legitimate leaders by the people in Burma.

        The objectives of the Free Burma Coalition are 1) to weaken the
grip of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) by cutting its
substantial flow of foreign currency provided by multinational corporations
such as Total, UNOCAL, Texaco, ARCO and PepsiCo, among others.  And, 2) to
strengthen the position of the democratic forces within Burma by building
up an international movement calling for the end of totalitarian rule under
SLORC.

        The Free Burma Coalition intends to draw attention to the situation
in Burma with the international fasting and related activities on October 7
through 9.  In accordance with the wishes of  Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the
NLD, the FBC is calling for immediate and complete withdrawal of all
foreign business from Burma.  In her audiotaped speech in support of the
Free Burma Fast, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said, "Profits from business
enterprises will merely go towards enriching a small, already very
privileged elite. Companies such as UNOCAL and Pepsi, ARCO, and Texaco only
serve to prolong the agony of my country by encouraging the present
military regime to persevere in its intransigence."

        Free Burma activists at 50 colleges and at least ten high schools,
plus others who are sympathetic to the situation, are participating in the
fast in order to draw attention to the growing democracy movement in Burma.
Through this act of solidarity, the activists aim to raise international
awareness about the human rights abuses committed by the SLORC, the
illegitimate military regime in Burma.

        Since staging a military coup in 1988, SLORC has ruled Burma with
an iron fist.  After massive protests and pro-democracy demonstrations, in
which hundreds of lives were lost, the SLORC held an election in 1990.  The 
National League of Democracy, under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi, won 
an overwhelming 82 percent of the parliamentary seats.  However, SLORC refuses
to cede power. Condemned by Amnesty International, the U.S. State
Department, and the UN Human Rights Commission, SLORC still continues to
ignore calls for a dialogue with the pro-democracy groups in Burma.

        In response to SLORC's record, activists have steadily been
building an international grassroots movement to call attention to the
regime's horrendous human rights record.  Participants in the fast hope to
intensify international pressure on corporations supporting Burma's
genocidal regime and encourage the people of Burma by showing international
support for their struggle for democracy.

        Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi expressed her support for the fast by stating, "The Free Burma Fast
will help focus attention on the essentially peaceful nature of the quest
for democracy in Burma."  At places such as Warren-Wilson College,
University of Houston, Penn State, Stanford, and University of Wisconsin at
Madison, students will hold public rallies and continuous vigil to
publicize the cause during the fast.

        Over the past year and a half, Free Burma activists at Harvard,
Stanford, and Colgate Universities have been successful at ridding their
campuses of PepsiCo's business, because of PepsiCo's continued business
dealings with the Burma military government.  Six U.S. cities and the state
of Massachusetts have passed selective purchasing legislation which bars
them from doing business with corporations that have economic interests in
Burma. In addition, boycotts and protests by activists have led Eddie
Bauer, Columbia Sportswear, Oshkosh B'Gosh, Levi Strauss, and Liz Claiborne
to terminate their operations in Burma.

        As of September 17, the U.S. Congress approved legislation which
states that the President must prohibit new businesses from investing in
Burma if SLORC physically harms, rearrests, or exiles Aung San Suu Kyi, or
arrests significant numbers of people who belong to the democracy movement.
But U.S. oil corporations UNOCAL, TEXACO, and ARCO have so far refused to
yield to pressures from Free Burma activists.  Fasters also hope to bring to
light
social injuries to the indigenous communities in Burma caused by these
corporations.

******************************************************************

US EMBASSY RANGOON: FOREIGN ECONOMIC TRADE - BURMA
June 1996

INFRASTRUCTURE SITUATION

Burma's physical infrastructure, while improving, remains a major impediment
to the production and distribution of goods and services, and a short and
medium 
constraint on economic growth. Much of the improvement in transportation and 
irrigation infrastructure has been accomplished through increasing use of 
uncompensated "people's contributions" of labor.

The most serious long term infrastructure problem, namely the failure of a least
two-thirds of Burmese children in recent years to complete primary school.
Many kinds of skilled labor are already in short supply. If other problems were
overcome, enabling Burma's economy to grow rapidly in the short- and medium
term, a shortage of semi-skilled and functionally literate labor could
develop in
less than a decade. Nevertheless, diverse physical infrastructural problems 
constrain growth more immediately.

Physical Infrastructure:

The electrical supply remains inadequate, especially outside Rangoon and
Mandalay. Some state and private enterprises operate below capacity due to 
chronic shortages of electricity. Private and foreign firms often rely on
costly,
diesel-fueled generators. Individual GOB ministries and SEE's under their
supervision generate their own electricity. From FY 89/90 to FY 94/95, the
commercial supply of centrally generated electricity increased by 40%,
throughout the period, slightly more than half was generated by burning
natural gas, slightly less than half by dammed water. Meanwhile, losses,
chiefly in distribution of commercially supplied electricity increased.

However, most of the large and increasing share of power lost in distribution
reflects, not physical loss but rather either illegal line tapping and
undeclared
supply of cost-free electricity to the Ministry of Defense. That Ministry, which
includes the many factories of the Directorate of Defense Industries and has by 
far the largest budget of any Ministry and does not pay for any electricity
supplied 
from outside the Ministry. About half of the 1,308 MKWH estimated to have been 
"lost in distribution" in FY 94/95 is authoritatively said to have been
consumed and 
not paid for by the Ministry of Defense. This constituted a hidden subsidy of 
around 2 billion kyat. This subsidy appears to be increasing both in real
absolute 
terms and relative to the value of non-defense power consumption due to the 
expansion of the armed forces in general and of the import-substituting growth 
of the Directorate of Defense Industries in particular.

Most of rural Burma has no centrally generated electrical supply, and
relatively 
little progress has been made in rural electrification. The number of
villages with
electricity increased by 24%, from FY 89/90 to FY 94/95. However, most of the 
villages gaining access to centrally produced electricity during the period were
near pre-existing power lines. Four of Burma's fourteen divisions and states
(Arakan, Chin, Kachin, and Tenasserim) are not connected to the national power
grid. 

Rail service is poor, although more rail services have been added, and some 
passenger and freight forwarding services on the main routes have been
upgraded, 
in some cases by allowing private sector participation.

The port of Rangoon, through which nearly all legal seaborne external trade
passes
cannot accommodate vessels of more than 10,000 tons, and is severely congested
during peak export seasons, imposing large demurrage costs on seaborn trade. No
airport in Burma including Rangoon International, can accomodate jumbo jets.

Telephone facilities have improved but remain inadequate. Card phones and
digital and radio telephone systems have been introduced in Rangoon, Mandalay
and several other cities. the number of licensed phones in Rangoon is
approaching
100,000, up from 47,000 in 1991; the number of licensed phones in the whole 
country is approaching 200,000, up from 95,600 in 1991. However, international
fax and phone calls to and from Burma are still expensive, problematic and
strictly regulated. In 1994, there were fewer than 900 licensed fax machines in 
Burma. Since mid-1995, the GOB has issued few satellite TV dish licenses and 
has periodically fined owners of unlicensed dishes and confiscated unlicensed 
equipment. There is no internet Service Provider in Burma.

Use of uncompensated "people's contributions" chiefly labor:

The GOB's published official statistics on the cost of local rural development 
works projects disaggregate those costs into state expenditures and "people's 
contributions" including "public donations in cash, kind and services". The
great 
majority of the contributions of these works are believed to be in the form of 
uncompensated, often involuntary labor.

Both wide spread allegations and casual observation indicate: (a) that the
regional
and national construction works that are "carried out by the State in
co-operation
with the public," and in which uncompensated "people's contributions" are 
employed, are the road, railroad, irrigation and embankment construction, 
renovation and improvement projects; and (b) that the technologies, the capital-
labor mix, and the use of uncompensated labor in these projects are
substantially 
identical to those employed in the local rural development road and irrigation 
works projects construction projects.

****************************************************************

MYANMAR ALIN: VERSE COMMEMORATES USDA 3RD ANNIVERSARY  
September 15, 1996 (translated from Burmese)

Traditional four stanza verse by Lecturer Daw Myint Than in praise of the 
Union Solidarity and Development Association, USDA, on its third founding 
anniversary in Burmese government daily

Oh -- Third anniversary has arrived 
Hail to USDA male and female members 
New aura, wearing smiles, genuine tradition first 
With modern accessories, solid active participation 
Ready to discharge duty in the interests of Myanmar
nation 
(Come one, come all) Let not truth be tarnished 
Our USDA. 
(Oh -- At present, departmental authorities have been
submitting joint membership applications to the USDA and
holding ceremonies for receiving donations.) 
What auspicious occasion! 
Time to rejoice 
In life, shall practice (USDA code for) "Sincere
conduct, high aspiration, speaking the truth" 
This aspiration "for perpetuation of the Union and USDA
patriotic principles" 
constitute our soul, our life. 
(USDA members constitute the association's hard-core and
a national force on which the nation can rely upon for
working together with the Defense Services in the interests
of the entire indigenous people of the nation) 
Now as well as in the future, "a front for national
cause" 
In positive light, strive relentlessly to be
outstanding 
Relentlessly aspire to stand out prominently 
Our organization's reputation 
Stand grand and eminent. 
Hey! -- Various levels of USDA organizations 
flourish and expand. 
(Senior General Than Shwe said the five objectives of
our USDA constitute a guiding light for national tasks which
are of concern to every Myanmar citizen) 
Therefore, No matter how much 
We are being undermined 
We shall keep focus on the five objectives 
Deep in our heart forever 
Strive to be "correct person" (having knowledge of
correct 
situation; correct awareness; correct conviction;
correct stance) 
Correct person whose reputation cannot be rivaled
throughout 
Myanmar land 
(Hey USDA male and female members!) 
With potential to bloom, grow and glow 
Oh! Persons with potential. 

*********************************************************

BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST

BurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of different 
topics related to Burma. If you have questions on any of the 
following subjects, please direct email to the following volunteer 
coordinators, who will either answer your question or try to put you 
in contact with someone who can:

Campus activism: 	zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Boycott campaigns: [Pepsi] ai268@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx     
Buddhism:                    Buddhist Relief Mission:  brelief@xxxxxxx
Chin history/culture:        [volunteer temporarily away]
Fonts:                  		tom@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
High School Activism:     nculwell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
History of Burma:            zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
International Affairs: 	 Julien Moe: JulienMoe@xxxxxxx
Kachin history/culture:      74750.1267@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Karen history/culture: 	Karen Historical Society: 102113.2571@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mon history/culture:         [volunteer needed]
Naga history/culture: 	Wungram Shishak:  z954001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Burma-India border            [volunteer needed]
Pali literature:            	 "Palmleaf":  c/o burmanet@xxxxxxxxxxx
Pipeline Campaign       	freeburma@xxxxxxx
Resettlement info:	refugee_help@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Rohingya culture		volunteer needed
Shan history/culture: 	Sao Hpa Han: burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Shareholder activism:       simon_billenness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Total - France		Dawn Star: cd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
Tourism campaigns:      	bagp@xxxxxxxxxx     "Attn. S.Sutcliffe"   
volunteering: 		refugee_help@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
World Wide Web:              FreeBurma@xxxxxxxxx

Geographical Contacts:

Massachusetts		simon_billenness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

[Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage]
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