http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21028931
As I have written earlier, it is only the Chinese who are befitting and not the countries that ally with it.
According to its Chinese co-owners, the metal extracted here, in the north-west Sagaing Region, is of the purest quality and much sought-after globally.
Most is destined for Japan, Malaysia and the Middle East, but Geng Yi, the young managing director from Beijing, believes Burma itself will soon be an important customer.
Although five decades of military rule have turned Burma - or Myanmar as the generals named it - into the poorest nation in the region, it has ambitions to become a "golden bridge" between the mega-economies of India and China. To achieve this goal, cash from abroad is urgently needed.
"To be frank, we don't have much capital to implement our economic reforms," says Koko Hlaing, the government's chief political adviser. "Capitalism cannot be implemented without capital."
But in the new Burma such deals are under public scrutiny.
The country recently held democratic elections, ended censorship and released hundreds of political prisoners. Now many are questioning authority for the first time in their lives.
Two cousins, whose faces are now famous across Burma, have become figureheads for opposition to a $1bn scheme to expand the mine, which will affect 8,000 acres (3,000 hectares) of farmland and 26 villages near the town of Monywa.
The farmers' daughters, dubbed the Iron Ladies by a local poet, have led thousands of villagers, monks, environmental campaigners and other activists in protest, against what they say is the unlawful seizure of their land.
"When it rains, water drains through the dump and on to our land. There's something acid in it," she says.
"We don't want compensation. We just want to grow our crops and live here as we have for generations."
U Wi Tatatema, a 21-year-old monk from the central city of Mandalay, says he read about the mining project in the newspapers and came to give his support.
"When I saw the village women sitting on the ground and singing the national anthem in protest, I cried," he says. "The mountains are as precious as our parents - so I felt as if they were slaughtering my own mother." Plans to relocate a sacred pagoda which was once home to a famous Buddhist teacher, helped to mobilise hundreds more of his fellow monks.
As I have written earlier, it is only the Chinese who are befitting and not the countries that ally with it.
According to its Chinese co-owners, the metal extracted here, in the north-west Sagaing Region, is of the purest quality and much sought-after globally.
Most is destined for Japan, Malaysia and the Middle East, but Geng Yi, the young managing director from Beijing, believes Burma itself will soon be an important customer.
Although five decades of military rule have turned Burma - or Myanmar as the generals named it - into the poorest nation in the region, it has ambitions to become a "golden bridge" between the mega-economies of India and China. To achieve this goal, cash from abroad is urgently needed.
"To be frank, we don't have much capital to implement our economic reforms," says Koko Hlaing, the government's chief political adviser. "Capitalism cannot be implemented without capital."
The copper mine, is a joint venture between China's Wanbao company - a subsidiary of the arms manufacturer, Norinco - and the deeply unpopular business arm of the Burmese military, which has lucrative stakes in everything from banking to beer, as well as a monopoly on the gems sector.
Its close connection to the men in khaki has also given it preferential contracts with foreign firms, such as this one clinched in 2011, before the nominally civilian government came to power.But in the new Burma such deals are under public scrutiny.
The country recently held democratic elections, ended censorship and released hundreds of political prisoners. Now many are questioning authority for the first time in their lives.
Two cousins, whose faces are now famous across Burma, have become figureheads for opposition to a $1bn scheme to expand the mine, which will affect 8,000 acres (3,000 hectares) of farmland and 26 villages near the town of Monywa.
The farmers' daughters, dubbed the Iron Ladies by a local poet, have led thousands of villagers, monks, environmental campaigners and other activists in protest, against what they say is the unlawful seizure of their land.
"When it rains, water drains through the dump and on to our land. There's something acid in it," she says.
"We don't want compensation. We just want to grow our crops and live here as we have for generations."
U Wi Tatatema, a 21-year-old monk from the central city of Mandalay, says he read about the mining project in the newspapers and came to give his support.
"When I saw the village women sitting on the ground and singing the national anthem in protest, I cried," he says. "The mountains are as precious as our parents - so I felt as if they were slaughtering my own mother." Plans to relocate a sacred pagoda which was once home to a famous Buddhist teacher, helped to mobilise hundreds more of his fellow monks.
No comments:
Post a Comment