Gold and Fuel Prices Increasing
By Shah Paung January 16, 2008
Due to rising price of gold and crude oil on global markets, the prices of both commodities are also increasing in Burma.
According to a gold shop owner in Rangoon the highest price for gold in Burma reached 602,000 kyat (US $482) per tical (6.4 grams) on Tuesday from 599,000 kyat ($479).
Currently on the global market, the price of gold has risen above $900 per ounce while diesel oil price is priced at $2.535 per gallon (3.8 liters). Gasoline is at $2.293 per gallon. The high price of gold does not affect many ordinary people in Burma as few can afford to buy it. In addition, the military government forbids the press from reporting gold prices.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, an employee at a trading company in Rangoon said, “Whether the price of gold and the dollar go up or down, it still won’t make any difference to working class people who are already suffering.”
However, an increase in fuel prices will affect everyone as soon as all other commodities go up in price.
A black market fuel trader in Rangoon, who spoke to The Irrawaddy anonymously on Tuesday, said that one gallon of diesel currently costs 4,700 kyat ($3.76) and a gallon of gasoline is 4,800 kyat ($3.84).
Five days ago, diesel was priced at 3,800 kyat ($3.04) to 4,000 kyat ($3.2) and gasoline was 4,200 kyat ($3.36).
The fuel trader said that the increase in fuel prices was not good for anyone and slowed down the trade in fuel.
“People are now afraid to buy and sell fuel,” he said.
In August 2007, the Burmese military government suddenly increased the price of fuel, infuriating an already cash-strapped populace and leading to the September uprising, which was brutally put down by the military regime.
According to Bayint Naung Wholesale Market in Rangoon, low-quality rice is currently priced at 7,000 kyat ($5.6) for one basket (approximately 20 kilograms per basket) and the high-quality price is between 19,000 kyat ($15.2) and 25,000 kyat ($20).
Last week, low-quality rice was costing 5,500 kyat ($4.4) per basket while high-quality rice was selling for 16,000 kyat ($12.8) to 22,000 kyat ($17.6) per basket.
In Burma, the average daily salary is less than $1.
Due to rising price of gold and crude oil on global markets, the prices of both commodities are also increasing in Burma.
According to a gold shop owner in Rangoon the highest price for gold in Burma reached 602,000 kyat (US $482) per tical (6.4 grams) on Tuesday from 599,000 kyat ($479).
Currently on the global market, the price of gold has risen above $900 per ounce while diesel oil price is priced at $2.535 per gallon (3.8 liters). Gasoline is at $2.293 per gallon. The high price of gold does not affect many ordinary people in Burma as few can afford to buy it. In addition, the military government forbids the press from reporting gold prices.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, an employee at a trading company in Rangoon said, “Whether the price of gold and the dollar go up or down, it still won’t make any difference to working class people who are already suffering.”
However, an increase in fuel prices will affect everyone as soon as all other commodities go up in price.
A black market fuel trader in Rangoon, who spoke to The Irrawaddy anonymously on Tuesday, said that one gallon of diesel currently costs 4,700 kyat ($3.76) and a gallon of gasoline is 4,800 kyat ($3.84).
Five days ago, diesel was priced at 3,800 kyat ($3.04) to 4,000 kyat ($3.2) and gasoline was 4,200 kyat ($3.36).
The fuel trader said that the increase in fuel prices was not good for anyone and slowed down the trade in fuel.
“People are now afraid to buy and sell fuel,” he said.
In August 2007, the Burmese military government suddenly increased the price of fuel, infuriating an already cash-strapped populace and leading to the September uprising, which was brutally put down by the military regime.
According to Bayint Naung Wholesale Market in Rangoon, low-quality rice is currently priced at 7,000 kyat ($5.6) for one basket (approximately 20 kilograms per basket) and the high-quality price is between 19,000 kyat ($15.2) and 25,000 kyat ($20).
Last week, low-quality rice was costing 5,500 kyat ($4.4) per basket while high-quality rice was selling for 16,000 kyat ($12.8) to 22,000 kyat ($17.6) per basket.
In Burma, the average daily salary is less than $1.
Democracy Movement Needs
More Financial Assistance,
Say Activists
By Wai Moe January 16, 2008
The international community has united in condemning the Burmese military government but financial assistance to fund pro-democracy and civil society groups remains limited, activists say.
Since the early 1990s, funding agencies from Western countries have provided annual grants and other funds for Burma’s democracy movement, particularly the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the International Republican Institute, the Danish Burma Committee of Denmark and the Norway-based Norwegian Burma Committee (NBC).
However, most international donors underestimated the democracy movement and opposition groups in Burma and along the border, Nyo Ohn Myint, the head of the Foreign Affairs Office of the National League for Democracy (Liberated Area) told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
He said many international NGOs and foreign experts who work on Burma issues miscalculated the democracy movement and were ill-prepared for a civil uprising like that in September 2007.
“NGOs that could influence donors at the international level thought Burma’s democracy movement was going nowhere (before the monk-led uprising),” he said.
“So they (NGOs and Burma experts) recommended that donors not increase grants to political campaign groups that could shape the political landscape to perhaps remove the regime.”
He said NGO workers can not think like government officials on Burma issues.
During the “Saffron Revolution” in September, several dissident groups based on the Thai border faced serious funding shortages, he said. Worse still, no emergency funds were available to border pro-democracy groups that have connections with activists and monks inside Burma.
“Donors should rethink how to provide funds to democracy movements in an effective way,” said Nyo Ohn Myint, who fled Burma after the bloody crackdown in 1988.
He said grants and funding provided by international organizations were usually small.
“It makes us ‘mission impossible’ (to achieve change),” he said.
The exiled National Council of Union of Burma which includes several key ethnic leaders received
US $20,000 from a Western donor for “inside political work,” he said.
He asked, “How can we do inside movement work with this amount?”
Some political groups formed by activists and dissidents have channeled funds and other assistance to inside Burma, but they have never publicly acknowledged their work.
During the crisis, some activists inside Burma said they could accomplish more if they had much needed assistance. In the past, some prominent activists were arrested simply because they could not afford transportation fees or money to rent a safe place to hide.
Aung Moe Zaw, the leader of the Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS), said a few international funding agencies are interested in providing assistance to Burma’s fragile democracy movement.
“But we need more aid for the democracy movement,” he said. “I mean not just money alone, but also other capacity building assistance.”
He praised the Washington-based NED of giving support to the movement.
“The NED is the only one that openly supports our democracy movement,” the said. The DPNS receives grants from NED.
The NED provided more than US $3 million to Burmese dissident groups, civil society groups and Burmese media groups in exile in its 2006 annual budget.
Burmese dissidents say, however, the amount of aid to the movement is small and lacks a long-term plan and consistency.
Bo Kyi, the joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), said money and international assistance is essential during a critical period.
“We need to make sure there are funds available during a time of crisis,” he said, referring to the September uprising.
Bo Kyi, a former political prisoner and the co-founder of the AAPP in Mae Sot opposite Myawaddy, said grants provided by international groups to the Burma movement are less than the value of a missile (dropped on Iraq).
Comparing the West’s funding of democracy-building projects around the world, particularly in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, he said, “We just receive pocket change.”
A prominent activist who is involved in political training in Burma agreed that grants are inadequate.
“If we want to see change in Burma, these small grants won’t make any significant change,” he said. He requested anonymity because he wants to maintain a good relationship with donors.
Activists point to the military regime’s investment to maintain and prolong military rule.
“Look at how much money they (military rulers) spend to run the military machine,” said Bo Kyi.
UN reports estimate the regime spends more than 40 percent of the national budget on the military.
The armed forces budget has increased over the past decade. It is estimated the regime receives US $2 billion each year from gas revenue.
“What do you expect us to do with peanuts or little funding—remove the regime?” asked Nyo Ohn Myint.
By Wai Moe January 16, 2008
The international community has united in condemning the Burmese military government but financial assistance to fund pro-democracy and civil society groups remains limited, activists say.
Since the early 1990s, funding agencies from Western countries have provided annual grants and other funds for Burma’s democracy movement, particularly the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the International Republican Institute, the Danish Burma Committee of Denmark and the Norway-based Norwegian Burma Committee (NBC).
However, most international donors underestimated the democracy movement and opposition groups in Burma and along the border, Nyo Ohn Myint, the head of the Foreign Affairs Office of the National League for Democracy (Liberated Area) told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
He said many international NGOs and foreign experts who work on Burma issues miscalculated the democracy movement and were ill-prepared for a civil uprising like that in September 2007.
“NGOs that could influence donors at the international level thought Burma’s democracy movement was going nowhere (before the monk-led uprising),” he said.
“So they (NGOs and Burma experts) recommended that donors not increase grants to political campaign groups that could shape the political landscape to perhaps remove the regime.”
He said NGO workers can not think like government officials on Burma issues.
During the “Saffron Revolution” in September, several dissident groups based on the Thai border faced serious funding shortages, he said. Worse still, no emergency funds were available to border pro-democracy groups that have connections with activists and monks inside Burma.
“Donors should rethink how to provide funds to democracy movements in an effective way,” said Nyo Ohn Myint, who fled Burma after the bloody crackdown in 1988.
He said grants and funding provided by international organizations were usually small.
“It makes us ‘mission impossible’ (to achieve change),” he said.
The exiled National Council of Union of Burma which includes several key ethnic leaders received
US $20,000 from a Western donor for “inside political work,” he said.
He asked, “How can we do inside movement work with this amount?”
Some political groups formed by activists and dissidents have channeled funds and other assistance to inside Burma, but they have never publicly acknowledged their work.
During the crisis, some activists inside Burma said they could accomplish more if they had much needed assistance. In the past, some prominent activists were arrested simply because they could not afford transportation fees or money to rent a safe place to hide.
Aung Moe Zaw, the leader of the Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS), said a few international funding agencies are interested in providing assistance to Burma’s fragile democracy movement.
“But we need more aid for the democracy movement,” he said. “I mean not just money alone, but also other capacity building assistance.”
He praised the Washington-based NED of giving support to the movement.
“The NED is the only one that openly supports our democracy movement,” the said. The DPNS receives grants from NED.
The NED provided more than US $3 million to Burmese dissident groups, civil society groups and Burmese media groups in exile in its 2006 annual budget.
Burmese dissidents say, however, the amount of aid to the movement is small and lacks a long-term plan and consistency.
Bo Kyi, the joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), said money and international assistance is essential during a critical period.
“We need to make sure there are funds available during a time of crisis,” he said, referring to the September uprising.
Bo Kyi, a former political prisoner and the co-founder of the AAPP in Mae Sot opposite Myawaddy, said grants provided by international groups to the Burma movement are less than the value of a missile (dropped on Iraq).
Comparing the West’s funding of democracy-building projects around the world, particularly in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, he said, “We just receive pocket change.”
A prominent activist who is involved in political training in Burma agreed that grants are inadequate.
“If we want to see change in Burma, these small grants won’t make any significant change,” he said. He requested anonymity because he wants to maintain a good relationship with donors.
Activists point to the military regime’s investment to maintain and prolong military rule.
“Look at how much money they (military rulers) spend to run the military machine,” said Bo Kyi.
UN reports estimate the regime spends more than 40 percent of the national budget on the military.
The armed forces budget has increased over the past decade. It is estimated the regime receives US $2 billion each year from gas revenue.
“What do you expect us to do with peanuts or little funding—remove the regime?” asked Nyo Ohn Myint.
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