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Bias and bribery in Lae Kyi civil cases

HURFOM: In 2012, the secretary of Lae Kyi Village in Yebyu Township adjudicated and settled three local disputes. It is common practice at the village level for administrators to determine legal cases, and in Lae Kyi, the responsibility for arbitration was handed to the village’s second-in-command, Secretary U Naing Oo. However, villagers alleged that in each of last year’s settlements, only the parties that paid bribes won the cases, even when evidence indicated they were complicit in wrongdoing. U Naing Oo reportedly received between 100,000 and 200,000 kyat per trial, and residents expressed concern that local level injustice continues despite the larger movement toward democracy in Burma. Read more

Chapel controversy in Kwey Wan Village

HURFOM: In 1993, residents contributed their own savings to build a Buddhist chapel in Kwey Wan, a village of about 1,000 households located in Mudon Township of Burma’s southern Mon State. The center has since been used for Mon language classes in summer and as a hub for community activities and prayer throughout the year. It came as no surprise last month then, when Village Administrator U Soe Naing proposed converting the chapel into his administrative office, that the announcement was met with immediate disapproval. Read more

Plantation owners along pipeline project await compensation

HURFOM: In late 2012, HURFOM began documenting and reporting on restoration efforts being undertaken along a 12-year-old gas pipeline originating near Kanbauk in Tenasserim Region and ending in Myaing Kalay, Karen State. Certain portions are being dug up and repaired, while others are being moved across streets or fields to straighten the trajectory of the line. The original pipeline was constructed parallel to the Ye to Moulmein railway, but updated segments are often being laid closer to the Ye to Mudon motorway. Read more

Illegal wireless access and local corruption underscore telecommunication challenges

HURFOM: High atop Dey Byu Mountain in an area controlled by the New Mon State Party, the predominant ethnic Mon resistance group, a solitary transmitter picks up wireless signals from Thai cellular broadcast towers across the nearby border. For several years, this single receiver and the “cellular repeater” devices connected to it have provided the majority of area residents with cheap wireless phone service. Read more

Investment law and people’s rights in Burma

Burma, also known as Myanmar, is opening to democracy. A key factor in achieving a smooth democratization process is economic growth, but growth that relates exclusively to increased foreign investment and freer markets will not adequately alter the country’s socioeconomic landscape. Burma requires investment that reaches across a wide range of sectors and benefits the millions of people who continue to live in poverty. Read more

Infrastructure projects signal reform and reservations on the border

Infrastructure brings hope and fears to Eastern Burma

In the past few months, two remarkable infrastructure projects have been planned for the areas extending north and west of the town of Three Pagodas Pass on the Thai-Burmese border. The first entails rejuvenating a road that has been used as little more than a hunter’s footpath for over 60 years and connects the border crossing to Kyainnseikyi, a town 53 miles north. The other project is part of a high-profile proposal announced by Railway Minister U Aung Min on May 15 to reconstruct a more than 60-mile section of the “Death Railway,” a World War II-era rail line stretching 170 miles from Thanbyuzayat in Burma to Ratchaburi Province, Thailand. Read more

Administrative appointments disappoint in Kaw Taung

HUFROM: New central government policies established in 2012 were designed to grant greater authority to local communities when choosing their leaders. However, in Kaw Taung in the Tenasserim Region of southern Burma, residents are criticizing a recent round of appointments by city authorities that returned almost all previous village administrators to their posts, despite overwhelming public disapproval. Locals are asking whether the authorities acted in contradiction to the law, and are seeking to amend and protest the selection process. Read more