------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: June 2, 1996
Issue #430

HEADLINES:
==========
AP : JAPAN KAJIMA GETS 1.72B YEN BURMA SEWAGE TUNNEL ORDER
NLD : FINAL RESOLUTION OF NLD ON MAY 28
THE NATION : REPORT CITES OIL FIRMS' BLIND EYE TO BURMA ABUSE
THE NATION : AT LEAST 83 NLD DETAINEES FREED AS TENSIONS EASE
THE NATION : ASEAN SEES NO SETBACK IN BURMESE ENTRY BID
BANGKOK POST : BRAVO TO THAILAND
BANGKOK POST : BORDERS TO CLOSE DURING ELECTION
BANGKOK POST : VIROJ TO SEE BURMESE GENERAL IN MYAWADDY
ARTICAL : RELAYING SLORC'S PROPAGANDA FROM CANBERRA
REUTER : ASEAN WANTS THE GOVERNMENT, BUT NOT THE PEOPLE
REUTER : BURMA KYATS FALL FOR VARIETY OF REASONS.
DEMOCRACY-LOVING PEOPLE DO NOT DRINK PEPSI:
 SLORC IS BEING AFFECTED BY OUR

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JAPAN KAJIMA GETS 1.72B YEN BURMA SEWAGE TUNNEL ORDER

Imre Der <ider@mail.datanet.hu>
TOKYO (AP-Dow Jones)--Kajima Corp., a leading Japanese construction
company, received an order to develop a tunnel system linked to a dam 400km
north
of Rangoon, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

Kajima reported that it accepted the project to design and supply mach
inery required to build two tunnels of 956 and 916 meters each, for a total
sum of 1.72 billion yen. It said the tunnels will be linked to filter water
supply.

Construction of the tunnels began in May 1996 and is expected to end
May 1998, Kajima reported.

The Kajima spokeswoman said while it has received several private sect
or orders in recent months, this will be the first time the company will
be involved in public works in Burma since 1988.

Prior to the Burmese coup d'etat in 1988, Kajima had completed 25 projects in
the country, the spokeswoman said. Since then, the company ceased to be
directly involved with Burmese projects, and only recently has seen slight
recovery in orders, she said.

She said Kajima expects orders to continue increasing steadily in the
future, although she declined to give a specific number.

In trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Friday, Kajima shares closed
at 1,130 yen, up 10 yen in the morning session.
 
Kajima is a top, family-managed contractor strong in large-scale civil
engineering. Its shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange. Headquar
ters: 1-2-7 Moto-Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107.
Japan Kajima Gets 1.72B Yen Burma Sewage Tunnel Order
 **************************************

FINAL RESOLUTION OF NLD ON MAY 28

From: Caroline Lurie <caroline@ksc.net.th>

Resolution Adopted at the NLD Congress on the Sixth Anniversary of the
General Elections of 1990

The congress unanimously adopted the resolution that the representatives
elected in the democratic general elections of 1990 remain as legitimate
Members of Parliament until the end of the term affirmed by the Members
themselves when the preliminary assembly convenes.

Further, the conference made the following decision:

1. Records and accepts as guiding principles the content of the speeches
of the Chairman and the General-Secretary.

2. Endorses and affirms: the report by the Central Executive Committee on
the work of the NLD from the time was founded to the present day; and the
views and recommendations of the papers on politics, the state
constitution, economic, farmers and peasants, human rights and legal
matters.

Human Rights

3. Records and endorses resolution (A/C-3/50/L-52) on the Situation of
Human rights in Myanmar adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on
10 December, 1995.

4. Records and endorses the report ( CN-4/ 1996/ 65) submitted by
Professor Yozo Yokata to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, and
records the deep appreciation of the NLD for Professor Yokota's sincere
efforts in the cause of human rights in Burma.

Central Executive Committee

5. Endorses the reinstatement and appointment to office of party leaders U
Tin U, U Kyi Maung and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the NLD in accordance with
party regulations.

Political Prisoners

6. Requests the SLORC for the speedy and unconditional release of all
political prisoners, including members of the NLD.

7. Urges the SlORC for the immediate release of elected Members of
Parliament of the NLD and other members of the NLD who have been arrested
and charged since 19 May 1996.

Election Results

8. Urges the Multi-Party Elections Commission to present its long overdue
final report on the General Elections held six years ago.

9. Endorses the content of the letter of the chairman of the NLD, dated 25
March 1996, addressed to the Chairman of the SLORC, asking that
arrangements be made for the elected Members of Parliament to discuss and
to fix the date for the opening of the first session of the elected
parliamentary assembly.

Dialogue

10. International practice indicates that dialogue if the only way in
which political problems can be resolved problems through dialogue these
problems will never by resolved.  Therefore, the Congress strongly urges
the SLORC to initiate dialogue as soon as possible with the aim of
effecting national reconciliation and the integrity of the Union.

National Convention

11.  In its present from the national Convention will not be able to
achieve national reconciliation, the propagation of democracy or the
emergence of a state constitution acceptable to the people. The Congress
endorses and affirms the decision of the NLD to refrain from participating
in the National Convention until such time as necessary discussions have
been successfully initiated.

12. Endorses the submission of the NLD to the National Convention that
parliament should be comprised only of representatives elected by the
people exercising their sovereign right.

Armed forces

13. The armed forces is a necessary organization for the country. The
Congress endorses the view of the NLD that the armed forces should be an
honorable institution that will defend and implement democratic
principles.

Rights of political parties

14. (a) the Slorc proclaimed that state power would be returned to its
original owner, the people, as soon as possible, in accordance with
democratic practices. (b) On 15 August 1995, the Chairman of the Slorc
said that legitimate political groups were also relevant to the efforts of
the armed forces to effect national reconciliation an that the armed
forces were constantly trying to work in unity with all political parties
for the good of the nation. (c) Moreover, on 8 April 1996, the Chairman of
the Slorc said in a speech at the Defense Services Academy in Pyin Oo Lwin
that "the tatmadaw never ignores political parties and it is important to
work for the nation's benefit."
        The Congress therefore urges strongly that as the NLD is a legally
registered political party, all hindrances, obstacles and restrictions
placed upon is right to operate freely and effectively as a political
party acting in accordance with democratic practices be removed as soon as
possible.

Prohibitions

15. Endorses the content of the letters of the Chairman of the NLD, dated
23 April 1996 and 26 April 1996, to the Chairman of the Slorc concerning
lawless acts of the authorities with regard to members and supporters of
the NLD.

Union Solidarity and Development Association

16. Endorses the content of the letter of 7 May 1996 ( of the Chairman of
the NLD) to the Chairman of the Slorc concerning activities of the USDA
aimed at disrupting the peaceful political work of the NLD.

Working Program of the NLD

17.  The NLD aims at the successful establishment of a genuine democratic
state and is an organization working within the legal fold. Therefore the
Congress decides that: (a) the NLD should exist and operate with integrity
within the state (b) Solidarity should be firmly maintained among its
members (c) That until such time as the party can be recognized in
accordance with its democratically based constitution the NLD should
continue to operate unitedly under the leadership, and in accordance with
the policies and principles, of the Central Executive Committee.

18.  The Congress gives its mandate to the CEC to assume responsibility
for the future working program of the NLD and to take action as necessary.

19. The Congress entrusts to the CEC the responsibility or drafting , in
the interest of the democratic cause, a state constitution that would win
the support of the people.

20. The Congress entrusts to the responsibility for preparing an economic
package aimed at implementing the programs in the policy papers on the
economy ( presented to the Congress.)

21. The Congress entrusts to the CEC the responsibility for drawing up an
agriculture policy and program.

22. Honors the members of the party who lost their lives during the period
from the time the NLD was registered on 27 September 1988 until today, and
records our deep sorrow at the loss of these members before we have
reached our goal of democracy.

official translation
********************************************

REPORT CITES OIL FIRMS' BLIND EYE TO BURMA ABUSE

1.6.96/The Nation
RANGOON - The Burmese military has burned down villages and uses
forced labour to build infrastructure needed for a gas pipeline
partly-owned by US and French oil companies, human rights groups
said in a report released yesterday.

The 60-page report titled "Total Denial," compiled by the
Southeast Asian Information Network and Earth Rights
International, was released in Rangoon without the knowledge of
Burma's military government, which owns 50 per cent of the U $1.4
billion (Bt35 billion) project.

The ruling junta is currently engaged in a crackdown on the
pro-democracy movement led by 1991 Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung
San Suu Kyi. The arrest of hundreds of her supporters has focused
international attention on the regime's business dealings with
foreign corporations profiting from developing Burma's economy.

"The oil companies say the only opposition to the project comes
from groups outside of Burma," said a spokesman for the
Thailand-based Southeast Asian Information Network.

"But the information shows opposition is coming from inside the
area of the pipeline itself," he said, speaking on the condition
of anonymity.

The Southeast Asian Information Network was established several
years ago in Thailand to campaign on human rights and
environmental issues in Burma. Earth Rights International, also
Thailand-based, studies legal aspects of environmental issues
related to Burma.

Burmese ethnic minority organisations have also publicly accused
the government of abuses connected to the pipeline.

The 409-kilometre Burmese end of the pipeline, to be completed in
1998, will carry gas from the Gulf of Martaban to Thailand and is
expected to earn Burma's military government $400 million a year
in badly -needed foreign exchange.

The report contains victim and eyewitness testimony of villagers
living in the area, and admissions by a Thai oil company, about
alleged human rights violations associated with the project.

The oil companies involved - Total of France and Unocal of the
United States have already denied many of the accusations in the
report.

Unocal officials have said that there have been no forced
relocations since the company signed a contract for the project
with Burma's military government in 1992. The company says that
it is welcome in the area by local people, and that charges of
forced labour were false because pipeline construction has not
yet begun.

"As a rule, human rights groups do not have direct access to
on-scene information in Myanmar [Burma]," a Unocal report to
shareholders said. "We do."
     
The region is off-limits to foreigners without permission.

But NGO workers who travelled surreptitiously to the remote,
isolated area say their research tells a different story.

They accuse the oil companies of awareness and complicity in
forced labour and relocations, arbitrary killings, rape and
torture committed by Burma's military.

Villagers told of the presence of Westerners as they are rounded
up for forced labour on what they call "pipeline roads." NGO
workers believe they are security personnel hired by the oil
companies from private firms in Bangkok and Singapore.

"In October 1993, up to 2,000 people every day were reportedly
being forced to labour on the construction of [the] railway," a
paper reported recently.

The report cites an April 17, 1995, promotional advertisement in
a Thai English lanuguage newspaper by the Electricity
Generating Authority of Thailand - the sole purchaser of gas from
the pipeline - that confirms recent population displacement.

"Myanmar has recently cleared the way by relocating a total of 11
Karen villages that would otherwise obstruct the passage of the
gas resources development project," the advertisement said.

The report also cites three attacks on pipeline workers, one by a
rebel army, and two by villagers.

Oil companies have denied two of the attacks took place, but
villagers say they did and the Burmese army executed villagers
and burned homes in response. Oil company workers now sleep in
bunkers, they said.

"What the people of Burma have been explicitly stating [is] that
unless the conflict which exists in Burma is resolved through
political means, the pipeline region will never ever be secure,"
the report added.

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

AT LEAST 83 NLD DETAINEES FREED AS TENSIONS EASE


1.6.96/The Nation
Agencies_
RANGOON - The ruling military regime yesterday released at least
83 of the 262 detainees rounded up in a failed bid to prevent
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from holding a defiant
party congress.

The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) reported that
most of those freed yesterday came from the ranks of 238
conference delegates detained in the past week. The other freed
detainee plus three others released earlier, were ordinary
supporters of Suu Kyi's NLD.

Government radio announced that those detained as so-called
"guests of the government" were being freed. It was unclear if
all would be released.

The release reflects an easing of tensions in the biggest
confrontation between Suu Kyi and the ruling junta since her
release from six years of house arrest last July. Unlike in
recent days, the state-run press yesterday refrained from calling
her a "stooge or "maggot" taking orders from foreign powers.

The opposition predicted that activists considered a particular
threat by the regime will not be freed. Some have already been
sent to Insein Prison near Rangoon, notorious for torture, and
face national security charges that allow indefinite detention.

Those freed reported no ill-treatment, the opposition said. They
had been held at military mess halls and clubs and at houses kept
by military intelligence.

The crackdown had been aimed at stopping a party conference that
marked a symbolic challenge to the regime by Suu Kyi, winner of
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her non-violent promotion of
democracy.

The congress was supposed to bring together those opposition
candidates not already killed, jailed or exiled who won 392 of
485 seats in parliamentary elections in May 1990. The junta,
called the State Law and Order Restoration Council, or Slorc
never allowed the parliament to convene.

Suu Kyi held the arrest-depleted congress anyway and defiantly
pledged to hold more. The delegates adopted resolutions calling
for Burma to be governed by an elected Parliament and the
military, which has ruled since 1962, to get out of politics.

The NLD said that no freed delegate was scheduled to speak at Suu
Kyi's home during her customary weekend remarks to supporters.
There was no sign the regime planned to prevent the gathering,
but road blocks could be erected in minutes.

Meanwhile, the US government is planning to send an envoy to
Burma to appeal for the release of pro-democracy activists who
have been detained in recent days, the State Department said on
Thursday.

Spokesman Nicholas Burns said the administration is searching for
the most appropriate envoy to carry that message.

He added that the envoy would also travel to countries nearby
Burma in an effort to coordinate an international response to the
recent developments in Burma.

The Burmese authorities, Burns said, "should not be let off scot
free".

Also, Washington's National Democratic Institute for
International Affairs a think-tank for the Democratic Party -
announced on Thursday it would award Suu Kyi for her struggle
against the country's military regime.

Suu Kyi will not attend the awards ceremony in Washington. She
does not want to leave Burma for fear she will not be allowed
back, the statement said

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

ASEAN SEES NO SETBACK IN BURMESE ENTRY BID

1.6.96/The Nation
MANILA- The Burmese military junta's recent crackdown on
pro-democracy campaigners will not affect its entry into the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Philippine and
Malaysian officials said yesterday.


"It will not be a setback to the possible entry of Myanmar
[Burma] into Asean," Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi
said.

The position of the Philippines, which is also an Asean member,
on Burma's entry into the group is the same, Philippine Foreign
Secretary Domingo Siazon said.

Addressing a joint news conference after a meeting of the
Philippine-Malaysia joint commission meeting on bilateral
cooperation, the officials said recent events in Burma were its
internal affairs.

"It is the internal politics of Myanmar and it is for their
people to solve. We think it is not in the interest of the region
to isolate them, it is better to constructively engage them [in
talks]", Badawi said.

Asean leaders have said they hoped Burma would join by the end of
the decade. Besides Malaysia and the Philippines, Asean groups
Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei.

Last week Burma's government detained about 261 pro-democracy
politicians and activists ahead of a three-day congress of the
NLD which ended on Tuesday An NLD official said yesterday that
quite a few of the activists had since been freed.

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

BRAVO TO THAILAND

1.6.96/Bangkok Post/Letter
Bravo to Thailand for having the wisdom to send a representative
to observe Suu Kyi's NLD Congress last Sunday. It is a refreshing
shift in policy But shame to the rest of ASEAN.

This development on Thailand's part is in consonance with her
people's deep appreciation for democracy as witnessed by
contemporary history. Students, office workers, farmers have
often laid their lives on the streets of Bangkok whenever freedom
was threatened. It is extremely unfortunate that the other ASEAN
member states have forgotten their own struggles for democracy as
when, in the name of Merdeka, people power, etc. they succeeded
in throwing off the colonial yoke or home-grown dictatorships.
Today their concern for freedom does not venture beyond the
marketplace.

Most of all, ASEAN lack leaders of vision and stature. There is
none on the horizon that can compare with the likes of Prince Wan
Waithayakorn, Sukarno, Lee Kwan Yew, U Nu and Magsaysay.

Or am I talking about the SLORC?

Mike Jala
Chiang Mai
*****************************************************************

BORDERS TO CLOSE DURING ELECTION

1.6.96/Bangkok Post
DHAKA Bangladesh's borders with neighbours India and Burma will
be sealed to ensure orderly voting during the upcoming general
elections on June 12, officials said yesterday.

They quoted caretaker government chief Muhammad Ha bibur Rahman
as saying that the borders would be sealed "so that nothing
unwanted could get into the country."

No further details were immediately available. Bangladesh has
long land borders with India and a smaller one with Burma. - AFP

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

VIROJ TO SEE BURMESE GENERAL IN MYAWADDY

1.6.96/Bangkok Post
Supreme Commander Viroj Saengsnit will meet Burmese Army chief
Gen Maung Aye in Myawaddy next month to discuss border problems,
including the tension in Chian Mai's Mae Ai District after
both sides reinforced border forces.

Armed forces spokesman Rattana Chalermsaenyakorn said Gen Viroj
would propose that the disputed area be declared a demilitarised
zone and that both sides withdraw troops from the area.

Lt-Gen Rattana said two battalions had been sent to the area
since the dispute broke out last year, and the cost of keeping
them there would be around 100 million baht per year.

"The money spent on deploying troops in the area is totally
wasteful and peaceful settlement would be the best way out," he
said.

Lt-Gen Rattana said the area could be settled after a technical
committee discussed the problem of where the borderline actually
was.

On the border demarcation dispute in Mae Sot, Lt -Gen Rattana
said Gen Viroj had already proposed to the Burmese
r military attache a measure to resolve the problem which
hindered the resumptions of the Thai-Burmese friendship bridge
construction.

Lt-Gen Rattana said Gen Viroj had proposed that a new border map
of the dispute area be drawn based on aerial | photos supplied by
both sides.

***************************************
(Omar Farouk, SLORC echo!
The following is an article written by a Burmese activist who does not wish
to be identified for obvious reasons.  Similarly I am identifiable by some
members of SLORC's ministry.  I still have relatives back in Rangoon.
I/we would be most appreciative if you will anonymise this message and
distribute it to the various conferences.)

RELAYING SLORC'S PROPAGANDA FROM CANBERRA

On reading this headline, one may wonder whether "The New Light of
Myanmar", the SLORC's mouth-piece, is being circulated in Australia.  In
reality, this is not the case.  The issue that needs to be raised and
seriously considered is that, the significant theme, with which SLORC is
subtly portraying itself through its own state-controlled media in Burma,
has been relayed into the western publication media, by a lone voice from
the Australian capital, Canberra.

The letter, which is critical of Bertil Lintner's article about Burma in
the Far Eastern Economic Review, was sighted in the section "Letters to the
Editor" on the 4 April, 1996. The letter was written and sent by Omar
Farouke of Canberra.

The important message which Omar Farouke wishes to convey to the readers of
that magazine is that:- The present day SLORC regime has no relationship,
nor any connection whatsoever with the now-defunct Burma Socialist Programme
Party (BSPP), headed by dictator Ne Win.  While praising the SLORC's pseudo
free market economic policy, he accuses Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of harbouring
ex-military personnel, such as U Tin Oo, U Aung Shwe, U Kyi Maung and U
Lwin, in the National League for Democracy (NLD) and he also branded them
enemies of the free market economy, chauvinist and Marxists.  In his letter,
Omar Farouke whole-heartedly endorses SLORC's political blue-print for an
Indonesian style dwifungsi  shadow-puppet-show democracy in Burma.

It is amazing that, the significant theme which Omar Farouke expressed in
his letter, is identical to the contents of the lengthy serial articles,
authorised by Pe Kan Kaung , a regular columnist in the "New Light of
Myanmar".  Commencing from the 12 April, 1996, Pe Kan Kaung has been writing
a daily series of articles, asserting that SLORC is not a dictatorial
regime, even though it staged a coup d'etat in 1988.

Whatever propaganda material SLORC utilises in its campaign to win back the
hearts and souls of the nation, it is useless; its reputation has already
been tarnished.  SLORC may compare and contrast its activities with that of
the late BSPP, but the people of Burma have ceased to accept these
arguments, because they have learnt a political lesson about these despots,
with their own blood, sweat and tears.  The whole nation is fully aware that
the present day SLORC and the BSPP are faces on the same coin.  In addition
to this political knowledge, people from all walks of life are also aware
that such regular columnists, who shelter under the pseudonyms of Pe Kan
Kaung, Naw Ratha and U Phyo, are all military personnel from the army's
psychological warfare department, under the notorious Directorate of Defence
Services Intelligence (DDSI).

Why then is the subject-matter, in Omar Farouke's letter, similar to that
raised by Pe Kan Kaung in his regular articles?  Also, why has Omar Farouke
attacked and discredited the NLD leaders, who were once high ranking
military officials, with unsubstantiated allegations and innuendo, in the
same manner as SLORC's personnel from the army's psychological warfare
department?  Is it just a mere coincidence, or is it a coordinated effort to
mislead world-wide readers of the Far Eastern Economic Review ?

The overseas Burmese dissidents and the sympathisers of the Burmese
democratic movement, will certainly be eager for answers.  "Who is Omar
Farouke ?" and "What is he?"  To satisfy their curiosity, this article
exposes the documented facts about Omar Farouke.

Although Omar Farouke may now be critical of Bertil Lintner, it seems that
he was once acquainted with Bertil Linter.  This conclusion can be drawn
from referring to the statement given by Omar Farouke, in Bertil Lintner's
book, "Outrage-Burma's Struggle for Democracy".  To understand more about
Omar Farouke, a quotation from that book is excerpted below.

...... Among them was Omar Farouke, whose family for decades had run a
major Indo-Burmese enterprise in Rangoon.  He arrived in Karachi in 1967, a
city he had not even visited before :-- "It was a tragic blunder.  We
felt--and still feel!--as Burmese as anybody else.  We had been living in
Burma for at least 200 years, and although some of our forefathers came from
the subcontinent, we are basically of mixed blood.  Then, one day, somebody
taps you on the shoulder and says: Hey! You are not Burmese.  When are you
going home?  So we used to reply:  This is home!  But the ordinary Burmese
were not prejudiced.  They couldn't understand why we had to leave.  It was
all a government trick to confiscate our property.  We were accused of
sending money abroad, but when the currency had been demonetised, we had
nothing left.  We arrived in Pakistan almost broke."  [Lintner, B., 1990
(first published 1989), "OUTRAGE: Burma's Struggle for Democracy", White
Lotus, Bangkok, pages40-41]

One wonders why a person like Omar Farouke, who enjoys all the privileges
in a free democratic country like Australia, advocates for the military
thugs, who are looting and pillaging their own nationals.  Another amazing
aspect about Omar Farouke is that, he is currently the editor of INSIGHT, a
magazine produced by the International Public Affairs Branch of the
DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE in Canberra.
It is a shocking reminder that, even in an institution, which staunchly
upholds the
principles of human rights and democracy in the Asia and Pacific region,
there can be a place for an individual who sympathises and advocates for
inhumane dictators.
*****************************************

ASEAN WANTS THE GOVERNMENT, BUT NOT THE PEOPLE

MANILA, May 31 (Reuter) - The Burmese military junta's recent crackdown
against pro-democracy campaigners will not affect its entry into the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Philippine and Malaysian
officials said on Friday.

"It will not be a setback to the possible entry of Myanmar (Burma)
into ASEAN," Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi said.

The position of the Philippines, which is also an ASEAN member, on
Burma's entry into the group is the same, Philippine Foreign Secretary
Domingo Siazon said.

Addressing a joint news conference after a meeting of the
Philippine-Malaysia joint commission meeting on bilateral cooperation, the
officials said recent events in Burma were its internal affairs.

"It is the internal politics of Myanmar and it is for their people to
solve. We think it is not in the interest of the region to isolate them, it
is better to constructively engage them (in talks)," Badawi said.

ASEAN leaders have said they hoped Burma would join ASEAN by the end
of the decade. Besides Malaysia and the Philippines, ASEAN groups
Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei.

Last week Burma's military government detained about 261 pro-democracy
politicians and activists ahead of a three-day congress of the National
League for Democracy (NLD) which ended on Tuesday.

An NLD official said on Friday that dozens of the activists had since
been freed.
  REUTER
********************************************

BURMA: BURMA KYATS FALL FOR VARIETY OF REASONS. 08:44 GMT

By Deborah Charles
31May96
RANGOON, May 31 (Reuter) - Burma's kyat currency has fallen nearly 10
percent against the dollar in recent weeks, and traders and analysts on
Friday blamed everything from good border trade and a higher money supply to
telephone bills.

Economists and currency traders could not agree on a single factor for the
currency's fall to about 136 kyats to the dollar on Friday from about 125
kyats in the first week of May.

"Nobody really knows exactly why it's dropped," said one foreign analyst.
"There are probably a variety of reasons."

He and other economists said that is not unusual in a country with an
immature money market that has only let the currency move freely for a short
while.

The government, which has set the official exchange rate at 5.8 kyat to the
dollar, in December legalised the exchange of foreign exchange certificates
(FECs) for kyats.

Previously the FECs, which were introduced as a parallel currency in 1993
mainly so foreign tourists would not have to deal at the overvalued official
rate, could only be exchanged for dollars.

Now, 10 exchange counters swap kyats for FECs at roughly the dollar-FEC rate.
"The dollar rate has been pretty stable for the past year or so at about
125," said Thet Tun, a member of the board of Tun Foundation Bank. "But all
of a sudden it's gone down."

Thet Tun attributes the drop to an increased money supply, noting the
government recently added to the already-large amount of kyats in
circulation with a programme to make about 20 billion kyat in loans to
public sector employees.

"So the injection of all this money is responsible for the fall," he said.
Others said it was the growing demand for dollars and FECs that caused the
kyat to fall.

"The dollar's value depends on border trade," said one currency trader,
speaking anonymously. "When things are normal and peaceful and trade is very
good, dollars are in higher demand as goods come in."

Ships also are clogging Rangoon's port now, waiting to unload what industry
sources say are construction supplies for various buildings and
infrastructure projects.

But the most popular answer for why the kyat has dropped was the recent wave
of telephone installations and, consequently, the need of more people to pay
monthly phone bills.

The government began installing more telephones about two months ago to meet
a demand that is about double the supply.

Residents pay $1,500 in FECs to have a telephone installed. Monthly bills
also are paid in FECs since Burmese are not supposed to have dollars.
FECs also have lucrative bargaining power, traders said. FECs can be used to
buy an unlimited amount of normally-rationed gasoline and give people
priority in buying airline tickets and other goods.

Whatever the reason, traders and analysts say the kyat will continue to drop
against the dollar as the economy grows, hitting about 150 to the dollar
within a few weeks.
(c) Reuters Limited 1996
REUTER NEWS SERVICE
***********************************

DEMOCRACY-LOVING PEOPLE DO NOT DRINK PEPSI:
 SLORC IS BEING AFFECTED BY OUR

Date: Sat, 1 Jun 1996 05:27:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: <strider@igc.apc.org>

OPPOSITION ACTIVITIES; "ANTI-PEPSI"

Opposition leader Suu Kyi berated for "anti-Pepsi" campaign
SOURCE: Source: Myanmar Alin', Rangoon, in Burmese 22 May 96 p5
 [5] Excerpts from report by Burmese newspaper Myanmar Alin'

   Gradually the inner self and true character of a woman referring to Aung
San
Suu Kyi - who says in her high-pitched voice that she respects the people,
regards the people as her parents and will work from the forefront for the
people - is becoming clearer, the way the whitewash on a tree trunk peels off.

   The woman - who does not even use local pepper but craves foreign goods,
who
does not use Myanmar's Burmese currency but foreign exchange certificates, and
who is also the mother of two mixed-race sons - is recklessly and impudently
saying things that concern the affairs of Myanmar Burma . I have learned this
from a radio station referring to the BBC that is providing a service to her.

   In a loud and rude manner, she told the international community not to
trade
and invest in Myanmar and also told tourists not to visit. In a brazen manner,
she also instigated the people by saying that democracy-loving people do not
drink Pepsi. This act of instigation is to confuse people who do not have any
information and to achieve political gain. The people, who first came to know
about the Pepsi Company headquarters announcement that it would withdraw 40
per
cent of its investment from the Pepsi Company in Myanmar, use their
chicaneries
to exploit the situation. Some sick Myanmar people in the United States and
England, who cannot afford to buy or who do not like Pepsi, also made loud
noises that they do not drink Pepsi because of the democratic cause.

The instigation to boycott Pepsi started when these loud noises reached their
counterparts in Myanmar. Actually, the withdrawal of a small investment by a
big
company like Pepsi, which has a yearly income of 30bn US dollars, is not
because
of slander by the foreign media and lackeys in the country, nor because of
pressure from democracy-loving students and consumers from the United States
and
England.

Father Jilama name as transliterated , who takes care of more than 39,000
shares of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers religious organization and
Missionary O'Barake name as transliterated of the Immaculate religious
organization, caused some trouble at the Pepsi Company's annual
shareholders'meeting. This incident was not related to politics; it was a
shareholder problem commonly faced by a company in business.

The main Pepsi Company reduced its investment in Myanmar for this reason. The
reduction of investment did not take place because of the interdependence
between politics and economy. The action of the main Pepsi Company is not
cutting off trade with Myanmar. The action taken by the main Pepsi Company is
to
sell its 40 per cent shares and continue to sell needed supplies to the
Myanmar Pepsi Company.

The BBC, while exploiting the situation, also broadcast reports implying that
the students and people in Myanmar are boycotting Pepsi for a democratic
cause.
In other word, the BBC provided a service to spread agitation to the whole of
Myanmar.

Whether or not the people boycott Pepsi can be proven by the scenes of daily
distribution of Pepsi in small and big cars. They are spreading rumours, and
these rumours can scare consumers. There was an incident in which a type of
canned fish disappeared from the market because of rumours that somebody found
a
human finger inside a can. Moreover, people stopped eating at a well-known
rice
noodle shop because of rumours that the shop owner used eels from the cemetery
to cook the curry that goes with the rice noodle. The sale of popular
Coca-Cola
was slowed down completely in the Middle East, where the majority of Muslims
reside, when there were rumours that pig's blood had been mixed in Coca-Cola.

Now there are rumours about Pepsi that the mixture of seasoning powder and
Pepsi can intoxicate a person or make that person unconscious... These
fabrications and efforts to scare people into not drinking Pepsi are
praiseworthy.

Moreover, they say that university students bring seasoning powder to the
university to mix and drink with Pepsi. They spread rumours that a mixture of
seasoning powder and Pepsi is now used as a substitute for Phensedyl cough
mixture which is consumed by drug addicts in Burma . These rumours are
designed
to tarnish the name of Pepsi and to scare the shops selling Pepsi near the
university. On one hand, they spread rumours; on the other hand, they make
gains
by political exploitation.

Actually, Pepsi is not Myanmar's staple food. Nobody is saying that you will
not become a modern person if you do not drink Pepsi. It does not matter if
there is no Pepsi. I once asked a family that works abroad and drinks Pepsi
like
water during vacation in Myanmar. They said they drink Pepsi instead of water
and think it is good for the health and added that the people of Myanmar
prefer
the taste of Pepsi to Coca-Cola. Pepsi has its own customers and I do not
think
it is good to destroy the business with its own patrons when a boycott of
Pepsi
will not affect the main Pepsi Company. I reality, it will only affect the
small
retail shop owners who sell Pepsi.

Because of that woman and her associates, not only Pepsi but a large number
of people have also lost their businesses, especially people working in the
construction business, which relies on foreign investment, and people with
good
earnings in the tourism industry. These people are ordinary people and
middle-class entrepreneurs. They should know this fact. Anyway, the people of
Myanmar now know very well that they cannot mix and drink democracy and Pepsi.

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