Daily News-September 30 - 2001- Sunday

  • Myo Myint Nyein Selected for Canadian Press Freedom Award
  • Internet Burma Library now available
  • Burma enforced new regulation on import restriction
  • Upgrading of Yangon- Mandalay Highway Coordinated
  • Health exams required of illegal immigrants

    • Myo Myint Nyein Selected for Canadian Press Freedom Award

    Burma Media Association (BMA)
    September 28, 2001

    Toronto--A well known Burmese journalist who has been in prison since 1990 is to get honored with the 2001 Canadian's International Press Freedom Award, Toronto-based Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) informs today to Burma Media Association (BMA) that nominated for the award.

    Myo Myint Nyein, now in his 50, was arrested and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment in 1990 on charge of contributing to the preparation, planning, and publication of a satirical poem, What's Happening, written by Min Lue, against the military government. He was a prominent editor of the Payphuhlwar magazine and a member of National League Democracy's information Department, and now is reportedly being detained in Thayawaddy prison since 1996.

    In 1995, his sentence was extended to another 7 years after taking part in a remarkable press freedom movement in Insine prison. He was a leading member of a 24 Media Members Group and reportedly undertook to smuggle out reports of various human rights abuses in prison to the then UN special rapporteur Yozo Yokota.

    He was also known as taking part in the leading role of publishing the Diamond Jubilee National Day Magazine in Inside prison and collecting a group of political prisoners' signatures on a white shirt that sent out to the Annual Meeting of United Nations Human Rights Commission in 1995.

    The Program Manager of CJFE David Cozac said the jury committee was very impressed by his case and so that selected for this year award-winner. The BMA President Maung Maung Myint added, "this precious award has now highlighted the plight of these courageous people and the oppressed Burmese media society."

    This is the second Burmese journalist who would receive the award, and the 1998 International Press Award went to a Burmese female journalist Daw San San Nwe while she was in prison.

    CFFE said they would hold the awarding-ceremony in Toronto on November 8 and invite a representative of Burma Media Association to receive the award and speak out on his half.

    Note: Further contact for the award: Mr. David Cozac of CJFE at (416)515-9622 and Ko Maung Maung Myint of BMA at (home) 47-22301625 or (mobile phone) 47-92061348
    Internet Burma Library now available

    Mizzima News

    Sept. 28: An online database library with classified and annotated links to thousands of full-text documents on Burma is now available. The text-based Online Burma Library (OBL) -    www.burmalibrary.org is "an evolving project designed to make full texts of Burma documents accessible online to Burmese and non-Burmese researchers, academics, journalists, etc.", said the Librarian in an email release today. "It functions as a linked, annotated catalogue to much of the Burma material already on the Internet and will eventually house a number of archives..."

    The library is divided into subject-wise categories such as Aung San Suu Kyi, Civil Society, Drugs, Economy, Foreign Relations, Internal Displacement, Military (Tatmadaw), Society and Culture, Women, Ethnic groups in Burma, etc. which are also searchable in the "Alphabetical list". Moreover, the library has the "Reading Room" where directories, general information on Burma, portals, news sites, and Burma Community homepages, etc. are available.

    "The most important single document on OBL is The Burma Press Summary -- the searchable 17MB archive of Hugh MacDougall's excellent summary of "The Working People's Daily" and "The New Light of Myanmar" from 1987 to 1996 -- containing many full texts of major SLORC/SPDC speeches, decrees, laws etc." The two newspapers are published by the government in Burma.

    The database is MySQL, used in combination with PHP. The library is the first of its kind available on Internet to the interested individuals and organizations on Burma.
    Burma enforced new regulation on import restriction

    Network Media Group

    Chiang Mai, September 29, 2001-A new regulation enforcing restriction of Burmese border trade importers was introduced and all the border trade centers will no longer be allowed to issue any import permit started from September 26, a source from Thai-Burma border said.

    According to the new regulation, all parties who want to import goods to Burma must apply import permits from the Directorate of Trading under the Ministry of Economics and Trading in Rangoon. The border trade stations on all the borders will not be allowed to issue new permits. But, the permits already issued at the border trade stations before September 26, which can import maximum value of US dolor 30,000, can still be used, merchant sources from Mae Sod said.

    "It will be more expensive to go to Rangoon to get import permit every time", said a Burmese importer in Mae Sod.

    Burma made restrictions on imports since last two years allowing only 27 "essential commodities" for Burma to be imported. A new regulation was imposed again on June 19, 2001 that barred the importers who earn foreign money from other businesses rather than exporting goods from Burma. And, the regulation only allowed the import value of US dolor 30,000 for an import permit.

    The new order to the border trade stations from Directorate of Trading was issued on September 21 and effective since September 26, 2001.
    Upgrading of Yangon- Mandalay Highway Coordinated

    Information Sheet N0. B-1971 ( I ) 29th September, 2001

    A work coordination meeting of upgrading Yangon-Mandalay Highway in Bago Division into a six-lane one took place in Bago on 26 September. It was attended by the Chairman of Bago Division Peace and Development Council Commander of the Southern Command, heads of the department and officials of the companies engaged in the project.

    Officials of the respective companies reported on the finding of axes, work being carried out to obtain gravel, progress of work and requirements. The departmental officials reported on their respective tasks.

    Shwe Thanlwin Co, Olympic Co, Kanbawza Co and Dagon International Co will start the project begining October.
    Health exams required of illegal immigrants

    The Nation

    Illegal immigrant workers from Burma, Cambodia and Laos will have to undergo a complete health examination within one month of registration and their employers will have to cover the Bt1,200 health insurance policy for each worker.

    Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said yesterday that the physical examination was deemed necessary as a precaution to prevent the spread of certain communicable diseases.

    Health officials were instructed to dispense a preventive medication, dietthylcarbarnazine citrate, to every Burmese worker to pre-empt the outbreak of a new strain of elephantiasis which causes genital disfigurement, Sudarat said.