BurmaNet News: September 28, 2000

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______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
_________September 28, 2000   Issue # 1628__________

INSIDE BURMA _______
*Irrawaddy: Abduction Drama at Rangoon Station
*Sydney Morning Herald: Mass round-up followed Suu Kyi train bid 
*Myanmar Times (SPDC): Daw Suu Kyi asked to leave after failing to buy 
tickets 
*SPDC: Allegation on " Beating" of James Mawdsley Denied
*AFP : Myanmar refutes charges jailed British activist was beaten   
*DVB: Forces hold joint military exercise near Thai border

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*National Journal: An Exile Government Fights To Be Heard
*Sasakawa Peace Foundation: SPF Produces TV Program??Does Forced Labor 
Exist in Myanmar?: Refutation by Myanmar Government"

ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Myanmar Times (SPDC): US$120 million from China gives green light to 
hydro power scheme   
		
OTHER _______
*Briefing on the Shan State Constitutional Consultation and  the 
Constitution Drafting Commission, Shan State (DCCSS)                     
  

The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
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__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
	

Irrawaddy: Abduction Drama at Rangoon Station

Sept 28, 2000

New reports indicate that National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders 
Tin Oo and Aung San Suu Kyi were roughed up and apparently drugged to 
force them to leave Rangoon's main railway station following their 
latest bid to travel outside of the capital.  

        According to a diplomatic source in Rangoon, a group of police, 
Military Intelligence (MI) agents and pro-junta Union Solidarity and 
Development Association (USDA) members mobbed the pair after they 
refused to abandon their attempt to travel to Mandalay. There were also 
reports that a number of NLD supporters who had gathered outside the 
station were seriously injured before being hauled off in covered 
trucks. 

        On September 21st, Suu Kyi and her party tried in vain for 
several hours to procure tickets to Mandalay. At around 8 p.m. an 
announcement asked everyone to leave the station, and a cleaning crew 
came in and sprayed soapy water on the platform where the NLD leaders 
continued to wait for the next available train. According to sources, 
this type of cleaning occurs approximately once every sixty days. 

        About two hours later, a delegation of MI, military and train 
station officials approached the party asking them to leave because they 
were disrupting the cleaning.  Suu Kyi replied that they would leave 
when they had bought their tickets. After some back and forth between 
the officials, they said that Suu Kyi and her group would never be 
issued tickets because they were members of a political organization.  

        Around 1 a.m., an empty train moved along the platform, blocking 
its view from the rest of the station. Then approximately three hundred 
police, USDA and MI personnel flooded onto the platform and began 
hitting and dragging the NLD party members away. Witnesses said that 
five women grabbed Suu Kyi, while six men overpowered Tin Oo. One 
assailant in each group covered the mouths of the two leaders with 
pieces of cloth, and after they had been subdued, dragged them away. The 
witness said that assailants appeared to be applying some kind of drug, 
such as chloroform. 

        Earlier in the afternoon, government agents rounded up NLD 
supporters gathered at the station and hauled them off in covered 
military vehicles. A number of them suffered head wounds and serious 
injuries caused by some sort of sharp spike-like device, according to 
eyewitnesses. 

____________________________________________________


Sydney Morning Herald: Mass round-up followed Suu Kyi train bid 

By a special correspondent in Rangoon 

Thursday, September 28, 2000.   

In this year's most severe crackdown, police and military rounded up an 
estimated 140 National League of Democracy (NLD) supporters at Rangoon's 
main railway station in connection with an attempt by their leader, Ms 
Aung San Suu Kyi, to leave the capital last Thursday. 

Another 29 NLD members, who had intended to meet Ms Suu Kyi in the 
country's second city, Mandalay, were also arrested, as were 10 more a 
day later. 

As word spread in Rangoon of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate's intention 
to test the military junta's claim she would be allowed to travel 
freely, supporters gathered at the Rangoon station. 

Before her arrival 21 were arrested and taken away in a truck by the 
military, which had organised a huge security operation to cordon off 
the area. 

According to an elected NLD member of parliament, hundreds of people 
began to converge at the Voice of America radio station once news of the 
stand-off between Ms Suu Kyi and the authorities was broadcast. 

They met an overwhelming security operation that, a Western diplomat 
said, included "everything the military had under their power: riot 
police, ordinary police, military, USDA [a pro-junta civilian 
organisation] and military intelligence". 

About 8pm, three truckloads of supporters were rounded up and driven to 
the capital's Insein prison. A senior NLD spokesman said no-one had 
heard from them since, although military intelligence had gone to the 
homes of some of those taken and demanded clothing, money and medicines 
for them, indicating they would not be released soon. 

The NLD has listed 51 people known to have been seized.

Ms Suu Kyi was forcibly removed from the station at 1am on Friday, 
apparently carried to her vehicle by five police. She was taken to her 
house, where she remains incommunicado. 
Her deputy, the aging former general U Tin Oo, was, the NLD says, 
handcuffed and gagged and is being detained in a government "guest 
house", or interrogation centre, 30 kilometres from the capital. All 10 
members of the NLD central executive committee are under house arrest 
and their phones have been cut. 

"They've been threatening to deregister us in their paper [The New Light 
of Myanmar] for months," the spokesman said. "Maybe this is it. Maybe 
they are going to declare the 1990 election result invalid." 

The NLD won the last free election in 1990, and the junta has jailed and 
suppressed it since, refusing to acknowledge the result. 

____________________________________________________


Myanmar Times (SPDC): Daw Suu Kyi asked to leave after failing to buy 
tickets 

September 25-October 1,2000  Volume 2, No


BARELY a week after high level contact between the SPDC and the National 
League for Democracy, NLD leaders have again attempted to provoke 
instability in the country.A Government spokesman said it was 
disappointed that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had chosen to take a 
confrontational stance just one week after her party's first high-level 
meeting with the State Peace and Development Council in two years when 
Secretary-1, Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt met with the Chairman of the National 
League for Democracy (NLD). 

At that meeting the Secretary-1 said he appreciated the NLD's 
understanding of the Government's fundamental obligation and 
responsibility to protect the country's citizens.However, Daw Aung San 
Suu Kyi, in a confrontation mood, chose to leave the capital and went to 
the Yangon railway station early in the afternoon on Thursday after 
first calling a press conference to alert the foreign media to her 
plans.According to a Government Information sheet announcement, numbered 
B-1544(L), and released to Myanmar Times, Daw Suu Kyi was unable to 
board the train.

"ügApparently upset that there were no seats available on a train from 
Yangon to Mandalay on Thursday evening, Daw Suu Kyi lashed out at a 
station cleaning crew before being asked to leave by station 
authorities," the release said.The incident started last Thursday at 
about 4pm, when Daw Suu Kyi, general secretary of the NLD, and eight 
companions arrived at Yangon railway station and demanded tickets on the 
next train to Myanmar's second largest city."These tickets are in high 
demand, and normally require a three-day advance purchase.  
However, railway authorities escorted Daw Suu Kyi and her party to a VIP 
waiting room, and attempted to arrange tickets for them."When told that 
all seats on the train had already been sold, Daw Suu Kyi and her party 
opted to remain at the station, refusing to leave at closing time," said 
the Government statement. "They became abusive towards station cleaning 
staff, and had to be escorted from the building at approximately 1.00 on 
Friday morning."

According to the Government Daw Suu Kyi is now at her University Avenue 
residence and the "government is investigating the incident. "A 
government spokesman said Daw Suu Kyi was requested to stay at home for 
the time being but there would be no obstruction to family members 
visiting her.A group of violent troublemakers were also held for 
questioning.



____________________________________________________


SPDC: Allegation on " Beating" of James Mawdsley Denied

Information  Sheet
N0. B-1552 (I)               28th September, 2000


This office is presenting the Press Release issued by Myanmar Embassy in 
 London on 27 September 2000 for your information.

Myanmar News Bulletin

Issue No. 11/2000                                                        
                                                                         
  27  September 2000 

News Release

Allegation on " Beating" of James Mawdsley Denied

Government of Myanmar denies beating of British prisoner James Mawdsley 
on  any occasion. On 21-9-2000 prison wardens warned the prisoner 
against  dirtying the walls of his cell with graffiti. On 23-9-2000 
three guards  entered the cell to clean the walls but as the prisoner 
was resisting the  effort an attempt was made to handcuff him. As the 
prisoner also resisted  this effort there was a scuffle during which the 
prisoner accidentally  injured his face with his own handcuffs. None of 
the wardens were carrying  sticks of any kind when they entered the 
prison cell. There is no body injury  on any part of his body. Medical 
attention has been offered which James  Mawdsley so far refused.

The glass barrier put up between the visitors and prisoners is a 
standard  procedure. In this case it was not used earlier until the 
visiting diplomat  asked the prisoner to sign some documents without 
permission from the prison  authorities. 

The Union of Myanmar as a sovereign nation reserves its rights in  
implementing its laws according to its own standard procedure which are 
in  keeping with procedures used in many democratic countries. 

( It is worthy of note that James Mawdsley, working with armed Karen 
National  Union insurgent camps in Thailand and having entered the 
country three times  is not simply seen by many as a pro-democracy 
activist but as also as a  security threat against Myanmar's 
sovereignty.)



____________________________________________________


 AFP :Myanmar refutes charges jailed British activist was beaten   

   YANGON, Sept 28 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta Thursday strongly refuted 
Britain's accusations that a jailed British pro-democracy campaigner was 
badly beaten
up by prison guards in a remote northern prison.
   "It is regretful to learn that the British foreign ministry has come 
up with an unsubstantiated allegation claiming that Mr James Mawdsley 
has been severely beaten," the Yangon regime said in a statement.

   "This ridiculous claim was made more dramatic and sensational by a 
statement made by Mr David Mawdsley stating that his son was beaten up 
by fifteen men with bamboo sticks and that irreparable damage may have 
been done to his internal organs."
   "The government of Myanmar appreciates the concerns and interest the 
British government ... may have on Mr James Mawdsley's health and 
conditions while he is serving his prison sentence."

   But Britain is "making irresponsible remarks and groundless 
accusations merely to discredit the government of Myanmar," it said.

   James Mawdsley, 28, had previously told Britain's vice-consul to 
Myanmar that he had sustained several days of beatings at the hands of 
his guards at the Keng Tung jail in northeastern Myanmar.

   The vice-consul, Karen Williams, visited Mawdsley on Tuesday "and saw 
that he had two black eyes and a suspected broken nose," a British  
spokeswoman said.

   "He said he had been beaten over several days by prison guards and 
thought it was because of his protest about his continued solitary 
confinement."    Mawdsley's father David has claimed that the alleged 
beating of his son was ordered by senior individuals of Myanmar's ruling 
junta.    Yangon had previously said Mawdsley's wounds were 
self-inflicted, a charge Britain dismissed as "utterly implausible."

   Mawdsley, who has British and Australian nationality, is serving a 
17-year jail sentence after being arrested near the border with Thailand 
last year in possession of pamphlets denouncing Myanmar's military 
regime.    Britain on Wednesday summoned Myanmar's ambassador to London 
to the Foreign Office to express its outrage at Mawdsley's treatment.    
"I have made our fury crystal clear to the Burmese (Myanmar) 
authorities," Junior Foreign Minister Baroness Scotland said after 
meeting the ambasador.    "They cannot treat a British national in this 
way. It is a gross abuse of human rights, and we will not tolerate it.

   "I asked the Burmese ambassador to tell his government that James 
must be released immediately or transferred to Rangoon (Yangon) where 
consular staff can watch over his welfare and ensure that this barbarism 
is not repeated."    The British ambassador in Yangon, John Jenkins, 
also wrote a letter Wednesday to the junta's foreign ministry demanding 
that either Mawdsley be released or he be moved to a jail in Yangon.

   On Thursday, Jenkins asked for an appointment with leading members of 
the Myanmar junta to discuss Mawdsley's case, but had received no 
response at all, a spokesperson for the British embassy in Yangon said.  
  In a statement, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said he was 
"shocked and appalled" to learn Mawdsley had been badly beaten, and said 
he understood prison authorities had also removed his food and 
possessions.    "This is an outrageous violation of his human rights.

   "It is yet another example of the Burmese regime's lack of respect 
for the standards of the international community.

   "The Burmese cannot treat our nationals like this."

   The Yangon junta has resisted all attempts to force it to relinquish 
power to the National League for Democracy of Aung San Suu Kyi, which 
won 1990 elections.


____________________________________________________


DVB: Forces hold joint military exercise near Thai border

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt 25 Sep 00 

Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 25th September 

In order to hold a combined military operation a joint army, navy, and 
air force military exercise led by the SPDC [State Peace and Development 
Council] Air Force began on 4th September near the Burma-Thai border.

The military exercise was commanded by the following training commanders 
- Lt-Col Thein Tun from SPDC Air Force in Loilem and Pekon Townships in 
southern Shan State under the Eastern Military Command; Maj Hla Win in 
Kawkareik Township in Karen State under the Southeast Military Command; 
[no rank mentioned] Kup Khra Mong in Mongh Hsat Township in eastern Shan 
State under the Triangle Region Military Command; and Maj Zaw Zaw in 
Bokpyin and Palaw Townships under the Coastal Region Military Command.

The military exercise is being carried out with full logistics support 
and the various tactical commands provided security for the training 
exercise. The military exercise will continue till 29th September.

The SPDC forces also held a joint army, navy, and air force military 
exercise recently in Mergui, Palaw, Tenasserim, and Kyunsu Townships. 
DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] correspondent Maung Paing Tun filed this 
report.

BBCSWB



___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
			
	
National Journal: An Exile Government Fights To Be Heard


Issues & Ideas     

September 23, 2000

An Exile Government Fights To Be Heard

By Steve Hirsch

These are important times for Burma's small government-in-exile, five of 
whose 25 members work out of modest surroundings in an anonymous 
Washington office building  a couple of blocks from the White House.  At 
the Millennium Summit of world leaders at the United Nations in New York 
in early September, the problems of Burma, ruled now for a decade by an 
oppressive military junta, briefly took center stage. An array of 
foreign leaders, including President Clinton and British Prime Minister 
Tony Blair, reiterated their support for democracy and for Burmese 
opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who on Sept. 2 
had again been confined to her home by the junta and barred from contact 
with the outside world.  Clinton cited Burma as a country where "the 
international community must take a side, not merely stand between the 
sides or on the sidelines." 

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, as the elected 
exile government is known here, sees this as a crucial moment.  With an 
American election looming, the exiles want to push the newly elected 
President--George W. Bush or Al Gore--and a new Congress for tougher 
policies that would force the military government to give up power and 
allow Suu Kyi to take office.  Her party won more than 80 percent of the 
vote in a 1990 election, but the military never allowed her to assume 
power. 

But the exiles in Washington have an uphill battle.  Their cause, in 
truth, is small compared with other civil conflicts in Asia and around 
the world, and they have to work hard to get attention.  Burma's 
struggle has not captured popular U.S. attention the way opposition to 
Fidel Castro has or opposition to South Africa's apartheid regime did. 

The exile government, in a strategy decided on at its August leadership 
meeting in Washington, nevertheless wants to push for new U.S. sanctions 
on textiles and other imports from Myanmar--as Burma is called by the 
junta--starting this year or next.  It wants to gain House support for a 
Senate-passed resolution seeking multinational support for U.S. 
sanctions.  The coalition also wants a strong stand in the International 
Labor Organization, which, in an unprecedented move, has threatened 
sanctions against Burma for using forced labor.  The ILO is to make its 
final decision on sanctions in November. 

U.S. policy toward Burma, and the potential for strengthening it, is 
more important to the exiles than it might seem at first glance.  
Washington's policy, according to Exile Prime Minister Sein Win, is a 
key to the coalition's success because the United States has the 
toughest policy toward the military government and because other 
countries look to Washington for leadership.  The European Union, the 
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the United Nations all watch 
U.S. moves closely, according to Harn Yawnghwe, a Burmese representative 
in Europe. 

Whether the coalition can push through further changes in U.S. policy is 
not clear.  For one thing, the United States is already doing plenty to 
pressure the junta.  Current U.S. law limits bilateral U.S. aid to 
Burma, calls for U.S. opposition to international financial institution 
lending to the government, and limits U.S. visas for junta officials.  
The Clinton Administration has also withdrawn some trade benefits, 
imposed an arms embargo, lowered the level of U.S. representation in 
Yangon--the capital city formerly known as Rangoon--and barred new 
investment. 

The effectiveness of the exile government poses a second potential 
obstacle.  One U.S. official praises the coalition as quite effective in 
New York in dealing with the United Nations.  Thaung Htun, the group's 
U.N. representative, is particularly successful, this official said.  He 
also praised Thaung Htun and Harn Yawnghwe as having had a major role in 
shifting Europe closer to the U.S. position. 

But more than one Administration official describe the group as less 
effective in directly influencing legislation in Washington.  One 
official said he isn't sure the coalition possesses the knowledge to 
lobby successfully in Washington, and that the coalition might be 
"outgunned" by interests with more money and resources--such as American 
and other companies with investments in Burma.  The coalition at times 
also fails to exert much influence on policy development.  In a lengthy 
conversation with another Administration official about interactions 
with the Yangon government in recent years, the official hardly 
mentioned the exile coalition.  At the end of the conversation, he 
hastened to say that his omission meant no criticism of the group, but 
then acknowledged that his lack of contact with the group could be 
interpreted as someweakness on the exile government's part. 

Yet, although the coalition has not shone as a Washington lobbying 
organization, exile leaders have been able to count on bipartisan 
congressional support for action against the junta and on ardent Clinton 
Administration backing--starting with a strong personal interest by 
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and the 
President himself, who, during a human rights talk at the Kennedy Center 
on Sept. 19, cited "the brave example of Aung San Suu Kyi."  Moreover, 
Administration officials have generally been in frequent and direct 
touch with Suu Kyi and do not need to be lobbied the way the European 
Union or United Nations does. 

One U.S. official who deals with the coalition calls the exile 
government credible on another front: It has successfully represented 
the views of the opposition leadership and has served as a source of 
information on events in Burma. 

This official said he takes what the group sends him seriously and notes 
that if the coalition asks the Administration to raise an issue or raise 
points internationally, the Administration does so.  The group, he 
added, is seen as "serious, responsible [and] measured," and that U.S. 
officials listen to exile Prime Minister Sein Win closely--which is not 
the case with every opposition group seeking Washington's ear.  Although 
the Administration never hesitates to get tough on the military 
government, the exiles need a vocal advocate in Washington.  That's 
because, the official said, issues relating to China and Taiwan, North 
Korea and Indonesia are all vying for the Administration's attention in 
Asia, often at the expense of Burma. 

David I. Steinberg, director of Georgetown University's Asian Studies 
Program also praises Sein Win and calls him "very low-key, but 
effective."  The coalition has a "very tough job" in keeping alive Suu 
Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy.  Steinberg says, and 
international publicity is the only thing preventing the Yangon regime 
from closing it down and expelling Suu Kyi. 

Steinberg downplays the exile government's supposed lobbying weaknesses 
in Washington.  Sein Win, he says, already has Washington "locked up" 
given the breadth of official opposition to the junta, and therefore, 
can spend time roaming the world to lobby other countries.  The 
coalition probably couldn't afford to have the prime minister spend all 
of his time in Washington, he says, and adds that better lobbying would 
not necessarily change U.S. policy much. 

Washington tends to look at lobbyists as "mercenaries" in the pay of 
governments or other interests, but the Burmese coalition is viewed 
differently, Steinberg says.  Although the group may seem somewhat naive 
at times, its credibility is greater as a legitimately elected 
government, many of whose members are in prison and whose leader has 
been frequently under house arrest and restricted in her movement by the 
junta for the past 10 years.  By networking with human rights groups and 
using the Internet, the coalition can mobilize a large body of public 
opinion, Steinberg says.  And no one wants to be seen voting for a 
pariah regime such as the Yangon government.  "I don't see how they're 
going to be more effective," he says, adding that the group is mainly 
buying time, hoping for a Burmese economic or political collapse. 

On the other hand, Steinberg says, "times are changing in Washington," 
and the coalition may need to work harder if it wants existing U.S. 
sanctions against the Yangon government to continue.  Steinberg cited an 
emerging campaign to eliminate U.S. economic sanctions generally, and he 
said the coalition might have to push to make sure the Burma sanctions 
are exempted from any such move.  GOP vice presidential candidate Dick 
Cheney has expressed sympathy toward the view that sanctions don't work. 
 Steinberg does not believe, however, that a change in 
Administration--under either Bush or Gore--would lead to a change in 
U.S. policy toward Burma, barring some sort of major development, such 
as the junta opening a significant dialogue with the opposition. 

Although Unocal of California, a large oil company, has major 
investments in Burma and is not fond of the tough U.S. sanctions, and 
although Bush and Cheney both come out of the oil industry, other 
Republicans staunchly oppose the junta.  Among them is a tough and 
influential GOP stalwart, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.  In 
addition, the Republican Party platform is fairly straightforward on 
Burma, saying the party "is committed to democracy in Burma," as well as 
to Suu Kyi "and other democratic leaders whose election ... was brutally 
suppressed and who have been arrested and imprisoned for their belief in 
freedom and democracy."  The GOP platform calls for working with 
European and Asian allies to oppose the military junta in Rangoon, 
pointedly not calling the capital Yangon. 

Vice President Gore is also solidly behind Suu Kyi and the sanctions 
against the junta.  On Aug. 31, Gore condemned the military regime's 
limits on Suu Kyi's ability to travel around her own country and said, 
"Every day that the Burmese authorities restrain Aung San Suu Kyi, 
Burma's isolation from the international community deepens." 

In the end, Burma's small size and the starkness of its case may help 
the exiles' struggle.  Unlike China, for example, Burma isn't a giant 
economic power.  The United States and other major powers have had 
difficulty imposing economic sanctions against Beijing for its human 
rights abuses because the Chinese economy is so important to Asia and 
the world.  But that is not a problem with small Burma.  And unlike 
China, Burma can point to a free and fair national election in which the 
opposition won 84 percent of the vote.  Those facts won't change even if 
Burma's exile government is not the most muscular lobbying group in 
town. 

(Steve Hirsch is editor in chief of National Journal Group's UN Wire, 
which can be found at www.unfoundation.org) 
	


____________________________________________________


Sasakawa Peace Foundation: SPF Produces TV Program??Does Forced Labor 
Exist in Myanmar?: Refutation by Myanmar Government"

September 28, 2000

The Sasakawa Peace Foundation, in   cooperation with Channel J, has 
produced a TV program on Myanmar entitled   "Does Forced Labor Exist in 
Myanmar?: Refutation by Myanmar Government"   which will on DirecTV Plus 
Channel 440 in USA and Canada, and Internet TV in   other areas. We will 
broadcast two programs more by the end of November;   opinions by 
opposition party and third party, and ordinary peoples' life in   
Myanmar. 

  Please access to the Channel J website (http://www.channelj.co.jp), 
and   click "Internet TV" at the bottom of the screen.

  Date and Time: 12:30-13:00 (in Japan Time), September 29               
   20:30-2100, September 29
                 04:30-05:00, September 30
                 13:00-13:30, October 1
                 01:00-01:30, October 2

  The Sasakawa Peace Foundation
  3-12-12, Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan 108-0073


____________________________________________________



_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 

Myanmar Times (SPDC): US$120 million from China gives green light to 
hydro power scheme   

September 25-October 1,2000  Volume 2, No


THE Export-Import Bank of China has made a massive contribution to the 
development of the Paunglaung hydroelectric power plant in central 
Myanmar with the provision of a low-interest, long-term US$120million 
loan.The loan agreement, signed last week, is welcome news - the project 
has been on the drawing board since 1976 but was unable to move forward 
because of financial constraints.

This agreement marks the single largest loan approved by the Chinese 
bank to date, and the second contribution it has made to this particular 
project. Last year, it provided a US$7.2 million loan to the scheme. The 
funds approved in this latest agreement will be used by buy machinery to 
operate the plant, which will increase power generation in Myanmar by up 
to 30 per cent when it is completed in 2003.

The Governmentüfs Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation and the 
State-owned Myanma Electrical Power Enterprise (MEPE) will build the dam 
that will power the plant, and the associated underground power station, 
on the Paunglaung River about eight miles east of the town of 
Pyinmana.The Chinese state-owned Yunnan Machinery & Equipment Import and 
Export Corporation (YMEC) will supply machinery, plus provide design, 
quality control and construction supervision services on the 
project.YMEC clinched the US$170 million contract with the MEPE in 1998.

 
Construction of underground power station is underway 

"This is the largest power plant, and the first-ever underground hydro 
power plant ever constructed in Myanmar," said MEPE deputy chief 
engineer U Win Kyaw."As the electricity generated from the Paunglaung 
hydro power plant will be put into the national grid, the whole country 
will benefit." U Win Kyaw said he was confident the underground power 
station could now be finished on schedule. 
"We've completed 50pc of the construction work and we expect that to be 
finalised next year," he said.YMEC - a Chinese government trade 
institution operated under the auspices of the Yunnan provincial 
Government - will install the plant machinery once the construction 
phase is complete.

The project will pave the way for China's biggest export of hydropower 
equipment to a South East Asian nation, and Yunnan's most significant 
foreign trade project."The reason for the loan's approval was to support 
Yunnan province's exports," said Export-Import Bank governor Yang 
Zilin.The Chinese Embassy Attache in Yangon, Wang Jiaxin, said the loan 
was also designed to promote the Sino-Myanmar
relationship."Nowadays, it is very common in China for foreign 
trade-related authorities and companies to push for exports, it is one 
of their definite purposes."

Two more hydroelectric power plants are under construction in Myanmar 
with a combined generating capacity of 105 megawatts.They are expected 
to move on line in 2003.In Mandalay, the MEPE is planning to construct 
an ambitiously-sized plants with a 700 mW capacity.






_____________________ OTHER  ______________________



Briefing on the Shan State Constitutional Consultation and  the 
Constitution Drafting Commission, Shan State (DCCSS)                     
  

[Abridged]

Chiangmai, September 8  September 11, 2000


The Constitutional Consultation for the Shan State Draft Constitution 
was held at border area on SEPT. 8 10, and that of the Draft 
Constitution Commission, Shan State (DCCSS) was held on SEPT.11, 2000.   
The Consultation was attended by over 40 delegates representing leaders 
and organizations from the Wa, Kachin, Lahu, PaO, Palaung, Shan/Tai, 
Kayan, and ethnic communities of Shan State.  

The consultation and the first meeting of the DCCSS was observed by 
delegates from the Karen National Union/KNU, the National Democratic 
Front/NDF, the United Nationalities League for Democracy/UNLD, and Shan 
State Army South (SSA/South), and facilitated by members of National 
Reconciliation Program/NRP.

It was decided after extensive and comprehensive consultation that a 
draft constitution of Shan State should be undertaken and a 
constitutional commission  the Draft Constitutional Commission, Shan 
State (DCCSS) -- be formed. 

It was agreed that the draft Shan State constitution should be guided by 
the resolution adopted after extensive discussion and upon reaching 
sufficient consensus:  

ò ôThe Shan State Constitution should incorporate a democratic federal 
structure and a democratic decentralized administrative systemö  

The Draft Constitution Commission, Shan State (DCCSS) is to be composed 
of no more than 13 members. The Commission is to be chaired by Sao Seng 
Suk.   

PART TWO 


The Work Description of the Commission (DCSS) is as cited below:  

1. Drafting the Draft Shan State Constitution 

2. Studying and consultation with experts and service-providers on 
Constitutional issues and matters 

3. Consultation with Internal leaders, parties, and forces  4. 
Consultation with leaders and forces in the democratic movement  5. 
Coordination and consultation with the National Reconciliation 
Program/NRP, and other Constitutional Commissions 

6. Raising awareness of constitutional issues and matters  7. Providing 
information and undertaking publication work on constitutional issues 
and the  constitutional drafting process 


The Work Plan of the Commission is as shown below: 

STEP 1.  

Consultations: Technical and Public 

(a) Technical Consultations 
(b) Exploration of constitutional issues 
(c) Raising Awareness through Workshops, Seminars, etceteras  (d) 
Capacity-Building through Workshops, Seminars, etc. 
(e) Coordination 


ò NOTE 1: The Time Line envisioned for the First Stage of the process is 
10-13 months. 
ò NOTE 2: The areas that are envisioned as in need of consultation, 
exploration and awareness-raising are: 


(a) The principles of Decentralized Democratic Administrative system  
(b) The structures of various levels of government: State, 
Counties/Townships, Municipalities 
(c) The multifaceted, complex relation between the three levels of 
governments mentioned above in the following spheres: 


--- Legislative and regulatory powers and jurisdictions                  
            
? Taxation powers and jurisdictions                             
 --- The Judiciary process and jurisdictions                             
 
 (d)  Comparative constitutions and case studies 
(e)  Constitution Drafting Processes  experiences and problems           
   

STEP 2.  
FIRST CONSTITUTION DRAFT (3 months) 



STEP 3.   
Internal Consultation on the FIRST Draft Constitution  


STEP 4.  
Conference: Consultation on FIRST Draft Constitution 

STEP 5.  
If or as necessary, further technical consultation and 
capacity-building, confidence-building workshops are to be held, mainly 
for members of the DCCSS  
STEP 6.  
SECOND CONSTITUTION DRAFT 

STEP 7.  
Internal Consultation on the SECOND Draft Constitution 

STEP 8. 
If or as necessary, further capacity-building, confidence-building 
activities 

STEP 9.  
THIRD CONSTITUTION DRAFT 

STEP 10.  
Consultation with other Constitutional Commissions.  

STEP 11.  Shan State National Conference on the THIRD and Final Draft 
Constitution


PART THREE  

It must be noted that almost all of the participants and participating 
organizations are signatories to, or are in agreement with, the 
MaeThaRawTa and the ThuMweKlo Accords. 


Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe 
ADVISORY GROUP 
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION PROGRAM 






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