Established 1914 Volume XVI, Number 32 1st Waning of Kason 1370 ME Tuesday, 20 May, 2008 Emergence of the State Constitution is the duty of all citizens of Myanmar Naing-Ngan. * Development of agriculture as the base and all-round development of other sectors of the economy as well * Proper evolution of the market-oriented economic system * Development of the economy inviting participation in terms of technical know-how and investments from sources inside the country and abroad * The initiative to shape the national economy must be kept in the hands of the State and the national peoples * Uplift of the morale and morality of the entire nation * Uplift of national prestige and integ- rity and preservation and safeguard- ing of cultural heritage and national character * Uplift of dynamism of patriotic spirit * Uplift of health, fitness and education standards of the entire nation * Stability of the State, community peace and tranquillity, prevalence of law and order * National reconsolidation * Emergence of a new enduring State Constitution * Building of a new modern developed nation in accord with the new State Constitution Four economic objectives Four social objectives Four political objectives Senior General Than Shwe meets storm victims Government takes prompt action to carry out relief and rehabilitation work NAY P YI TAW, 19 May—Chairman of the State Peace and Develop- ment Council Com- mander-in-Chief of De- fence Services Senior General Than Shwe this morning inspected storm- hit Kungyangon in Yangon Division and storm-hit Dedaye and Pyapon in Ayeyawady Division and consoled storm victims there. Accompanied by General Thura Shwe Mann of the Ministry of Defence, Member of the SPDC Lt-Gen Tin Aye, Commander-in-Chief (Navy) Vice-Admiral Soe Thein, Commander-in- Chief (Air) Lt-Gen Myat Hein, Lt-Gen Myint Swe of the Ministry of Defence Chairman of Yangon Division PDC Commander of Yangon Command Maj-Gen Hla Htay Win, Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation Maj-Gen Htay Oo, Deputy Minister for Health Dr Paing Soe, sen- ior military officers of the Ministry of Defence, of- ficials of the SPDC Of- fice, Senior General Than Shwe arrived in Kung- yangon by Tatmadaw helicopter at 7.50 am. Next, Senior General Than Shwe and party in- spected condition of storm-hit Kungyangon and rehabilitation work in a motorcade. At the brief- ing hall of the relief camp at Aung San Thuriya Hla Thaung Sports Ground, Senior General Than Shwe heard a report pre- sented by Minister for Energy Brig-Gen Lun Thi on loss and damages in Kungyangon Township, distribution of relief sup- plies, and reconstruction of hospitals, schools, gov- ernment offices and reli- gious buildings by Asia World Co and progress of rehabilitation and recon- struction tasks. (See page 8) Senior General Than Shwe comforts storm victims at the relief camp in Kung- yangon Township. MNA Senior General Than Shwe inspects arrange- ment of shelter for victims in Dedaye Township. MNA 20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:30 AM 1
Transcript
Established 1914
Volume XVI, Number 32 1st Waning of Kason 1370 ME Tuesday, 20 May, 2008
Emergence of the State Constitution is the duty of all citizens of Myanmar Naing-Ngan.
* Development of agriculture as the base and all-rounddevelopment of other sectors of the economy as well
* Proper evolution of the market-oriented economicsystem
* Development of the economy inviting participation interms of technical know-how and investments fromsources inside the country and abroad
* The initiative to shape the national economy must be keptin the hands of the State and the national peoples
* Uplift of the morale and morality ofthe entire nation
* Uplift of national prestige and integ-rity and preservation and safeguard-ing of cultural heritage and nationalcharacter
* Uplift of dynamism of patriotic spirit* Uplift of health, fitness and education
standards of the entire nation
* Stability of the State, community peaceand tranquillity, prevalence of law andorder
* National reconsolidation* Emergence of a new enduring State
Constitution* Building of a new modern developed
nation in accord with the new StateConstitution
Four economic objectives Four social objectivesFour political objectives
Senior General Than Shwe meets storm victimsGovernment takes prompt action to
carry out relief and rehabilitation work
NAY PYI TAW, 19May—Chairman of theState Peace and Develop-ment Council Com-mander-in-Chief of De-fence Services SeniorGeneral Than Shwe thismorning inspected storm-hit Kungyangon inYangon Division andstorm-hit Dedaye andPyapon in AyeyawadyDivision and consoledstorm victims there.
Accompanied byGeneral Thura ShweMann of the Ministry ofDefence, Member of theSPDC Lt-Gen Tin Aye,Commander-in-Chief(Navy) Vice-Admiral SoeThein, Commander-in-Chief (Air) Lt-Gen
Myat Hein, Lt-Gen MyintSwe of the Ministry ofDefence Chairman ofYangon Division PDCCommander of YangonCommand Maj-Gen HlaHtay Win, Minister forAgriculture and IrrigationMaj-Gen Htay Oo,Deputy Minister forHealth Dr Paing Soe, sen-ior military officers of theMinistry of Defence, of-ficials of the SPDC Of-fice, Senior General ThanShwe arrived in Kung-yangon by Tatmadawhelicopter at 7.50 am.
Next, Senior GeneralThan Shwe and party in-spected condition of
storm-hit Kungyangonand rehabilitation work ina motorcade. At the brief-ing hall of the relief campat Aung San Thuriya HlaThaung Sports Ground,Senior General ThanShwe heard a report pre-sented by Minister forEnergy Brig-Gen Lun Thion loss and damages inKungyangon Township,distribution of relief sup-plies, and reconstructionof hospitals, schools, gov-ernment offices and reli-gious buildings by AsiaWorld Co and progress ofrehabilitation and recon-struction tasks.
(See page 8)
Senior
General
Than
Shwe
comforts
storm
victims at
the relief
camp in
Kung-
yangon
Township.
MNA
Senior
General
Than
Shwe
inspects
arrange-
ment of
shelter
for
victims
in
Dedaye
Township.
MNA
20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:30 AM1
2 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 20 May, 2008
PERSPECTIVES* Oppose those relying on external elements, acting as stooges, holding negative views* Oppose those trying to jeopardize stability of the State and progress of the nation* Oppose foreign nations interfering in internal affairs of the State* Crush all internal and external destructive elements as the common enemy
People’s DesireTuesday, 20 May, 2008
The severe storm that hit Yangon andAyeyawady Divisions caused heavy loss of lifeand destruction to some regions of thedivisions with houses and structures destroyedand trees, lamp-posts and billboards knockeddown.
Traffic, power supply andcommunications were disrupted by the fallentrees and lamp-posts, thereby causing delaysto commodity flow.
Better transport is indispensable forcommodity flow, trade and commerce as wellas for improvement of socio-economic life ofthe people. Therefore, the Tatmadaw and thepeople cleared the debris caused by uprootedtrees in concert with the use of heavymachinery in order to bring about bettertransport. At present, with better transport,one can travel from one place to another,thereby contributing to swift commodity flowand trade and commerce.
Domestic and overseas airlines, inlandwater transport and train services which weretemporarily disrupted returned to normal afew days after the severe storm.
Traffic in downtown Yangon hasreturned to normal with all roads and streetsserviceable. As relentless efforts were madefor restoring power supply, most of townshipsin the affected regions are now being suppliedwith electricity.
In the meantime, hospitals in the affectedregions have been facilitated with doctors,nurses and medicines so that they can fullyprovide health care services to storm victims.
Disasters can occur any time. The State,the Tatmadaw and the people are to makeconcerted efforts in times of emergency. Onlythen, will they overcome any difficulty causedby the catastrophe.
Overcome difficultiesthrough concerted efforts
Storm victims of Pyaponget relief supplies
YANGON, 19 May—A wellwisher group,comprising entrepreneurs of local companies and ledby Dagon International Co Ltd Chairman U WinAung, donated relief supplies to the storm victims atKyaikkasan pagoda in Leik Ukon compound, Ward18, Pyapon Township, on 17 May.
Relief supplies included bags of rice, gram,potatoes, clothes, sweaters, mosquito nets, medicines,purified water, foodstuff and tarpaulin.
Member of National Disaster PreparednessCentral Committee Minister for Hotels and TourismMaj-Gen Soe Naing and officials viewed the donationand afterwards greeted the storm victims.
Similarly, vehicle dealers association of SouthOkkalapa donated clothes, purified water and foodstuffworth K 2 million to the storm victims in HmawbyWard in Pyapon.—MNA
Devotees water Bo trees at pagodasYANGON, 19 May —
Pagodas in Yangon werepacked with devoteestoday as board of trusteesof the pagodas celebratedceremonies to markBuddha’s Birthday whichfalls on Full Moon Day ofKason today.
Members of theSangha consecratedBuddha Images andreligious associations anddevotees watered Bo treesat Shwedagon, MahaWizaya, Sule, Bota-htaung, Shwephone-pwint, KabaAye,Kyaikwaing, Kohtetgyi,Chaukhtetgyi, Maelamuand Buddha’s Tooth Relicpagodas today.
Pots filled with waterwere arranged at thepagodas so that devoteescould pour water to Botrees at the pagodas till 9pm.
As Buddha alsogained the enlightmentand entered Parinivvanaon the same day. The FullMoon Day of Kason iscelebrated as a religioussignificant day. — MNA
Devotees pour water at a Bo tree at SulePagoda.—MNA
Sayadaws water a Bo tree at Shwedagon Pagoda on Fullmoon Day.MNA
Shwephonepwint pagoda packed with devotees
on Fullmoon Day. —MNAWater pouring ceremony at Bo tree atBotahtaung Pagoda in progress.—MNA
20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:30 AM2
THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 20 May, 2008 3
Abbas says to quit if nopeace deal reached in 2008
A Pakistani soldier stands guard at the site of a suicide attack in Mardan on18 May, 2008. A suicide bomber killed at least 13 people on Sunday in anattack close to the gates of an Army training centre in the northwestern
Pakistani town of Mardan, military and provincial officials said.—INTERNET
JERUSALEM, 18 May—Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas onSunday said he wouldresign if he fails to reach apeace agreement withIsrael by 2009, accordingto Israeli lawmaker YossiBeilin’s office.
Abbas made the remarksduring a meeting withBeilin, a strong proponentfor a peace agreement withthe Palestinians, on thesidelines of the WorldEconomic Forum in theEgyptian Red Sea resortof Sharm el-Sheikh, where
US President George WBush met with severalMiddle East leaders inefforts to push forward thesluggish peace process.
“I didn’t take thepresidency upon myself inorder to serve the role ofpresident but rather topursue a mission, and Ihave no point in con-tinuing in this capacity ifit becomes apparent thatwe can’t reach peace,”Abbas said, which wasquoted by a statementreleased by Beilin’s office.
Abbas added that Israel
will not have a betternegotiation partner thanthe current leadership ofthe Palestinian NationalAuthority, which “beli-eves the Palestinianinterest is a historicreconciliation with Israeland a Palestinian statealongside it.”
Since Abbas and IsraeliPrime Minister EhudOlmert resumed the long-stalled peace talks andpledged to forge a dealwithin 2008 at a US-hosted conference inAnnapolis, Maryland, thePalestinians have com-plained that the peace talksare not making progress.
Internet
A Chinese man carrying
his mother on his back in
a basket takes a rest on a
fallen rock on the way to
a shelter following
Monday’s powerful
earthquake in southwest
China’s Sichuan
province,
on 16 May, 2008.
INTERNET
AU optimistic on Chad-Sudanrelations after talks
KHARTOUM, 19 May—The new head of the AfricanUnion said on Sunday hewas optimistic tensionsbetween Chad and Sudanwould ease, after holdingtalks in both countries.
Sudan cut diplomaticrelations with Chad lastweek, blaming it for anattack on Khartoum whichkilled more than 200people. Chad deniesresponsibility and has
accused Sudan of master-minding attacks onN’Djamena in the past.
“We are confident ... thatwe are going to engage in aprocess of de-escalationconcerning Chadian-Sudanese relations,” AUchief Jean Ping toldreporters in Khartoum aftertwo hours of talks withPresident Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Ping arrived on hisfirst mission to Sudan from
the Chadian capital at theweekend after talks withPresident Idriss Deby.
“I got informationcoming from the twocapitals which made meoptimistic,” he said, declin-ing to give any furtherdetails. Ping said theAfrican Union shouldinvestigate accusations bySudan and Chad of supportfor rebels in their respectivecountries.—Internet
Colombian authorities onSunday rejected chargesfrom Venezuela that theirtroops had crossed thefrontier in the latestincident to test frayingrelations between theAndean neighbors.
Venezuela over the
weekend accused 60Colombian soldiers ofentering its territory inwhat Caracas said was aprovocation that aimed todestabilize the region.
The tension exacerbatessharp divisions in theAndes, where ColombianPresident Alvaro Uribe is
a close Washington allyand Venezuela’s HugoChavez a purveyor of anti-US sentiment.
“There has been noincursion,” ColombianDefense Minister JuanManuel Santos told localradio, saying a river in thearea would have preventedtroops crossing. “It wouldhave been practicallyimpossible for it to happenas they say.”—Internet
Gunman kills 8 in midnightshooting spree in Philippines
MANILA, 19 May—Eight people have been killed bya lone gunman who fired a M-16 rifle at four houseslate Sunday night, local media reported Monday.
Neighbors told police investigators that the gunmanwent from one house to the other and fired randomshots in Calamba city of northern Laguna Province.Six other people were injured, the TV network ABS-CBN News reported.
Local police chief Superintendent Ricardo Padillatold ABS-CBN News that a retired senior police officerhas been placed under custody in connection with theshooting spree.
Padilla said the police have difficulty in determiningthe real motive, but investigators suspected the lonegunman may have grudges against the victims or wasunder the influence of drugs.—Internet
Twelve people killed inS Africa in xenophobic attacksJOHANNESBURG, 18 May— Twelve people were
murdered this weekend following the xenophobicattacks against foreigners in Gauteng Province, Policesaid on Sunday.
Police Spokesman Govindsamy Mariemuthoo saidthe “sporadic violence” that has rocked the city hadclaimed 11 lives in the Eastern Rand and one inAlexandra.
Mariemuthoo said the violence spread to Hillbrow,Jeppe, Cleveland and central Johannesburg, over theweekend.
Internet
Egypt deploys signal corpsforce in Darfur
CAIRO, 18 May—Egypt has deployed its signal corpsforce in the western Sudanese region of Darfur as partof the AU-UN Hybrid Force there, the Egyptian MENAnews agency reported on Sunday.
The corps comprising 92 technicians took positionin Darfur, which will be followed by another 83-strongforce of Signals battalion to join the Egyptian contingentin the war-torn region, MENA quoted a statement bythe UN Information Center in Cairo as saying.
Deteriorating security, harsh conditions and otherobstacles in Darfur have considerably slowed thedeployment of the UN-African Union Hybrid Operationin Darfur (UNAMID) in the Sudanese region, accordingto UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno.
When fully operational, UNAMID, authorized bythe UN Security Council in July, 2007, will becomethe largest peacekeeping force in the world, withalmost 26,000 troops and police officers and nearly5,000 civilian staff.—Internet
Policemen inspect theremains of a vehicleused in a car bomb
attack that targeted anIraqi Army patrol inBaghdad on 18 May,
2008. —INTERNET
20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:30 AM3
4 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 20 May, 2008
Medical team helps stormvictims with medical treatment
YANGON, 19 May — A medical team led by DrDaw Mya Mya Yi and Dr Daw Kyi Kyi Nyunt ofYangon General Hospital on 16 May opened a healthcare centre at the Dedanaw Home for the Aged inDedanaw Village, Kungyangon Township, YangonDivision and gave medical treatment to storm victimsand presented clothes donated by Myanmar Nursesand Midwives Association and University of Nursing(Yangon) to them.
The medical team also gave talks on use ofpurified water, personal hygiene and systematicdisposal of garbage to local people.
Next, they opened a health care centre at GangawMonastery in Ingalon Village and provided stormvistims with health care services.
The team is made up of doctors, nurses andtechnicians from the Central Women’s Hospital andUniversity of Medicine-2, North Okkalapa and gavemedical treatment to 104 storm victims.
MNA
YANGON, 19 May —Minister for Industry-1 UAung Thaung inspectedthe damages due to thestorm-hit No 2 SoapFactory under theMyanma PharmaceuticalIndustries here on 17 May.
After preparing thedamages, the factoryrestarted 60 percent of itsproduction process. Next,the minister inspected
A&I Minister inspectsembankments in
Ayeyawady DivisionYANGON, 19 May — Minister for Agriculture
and Irrigation Maj-Gen Htay Oo together with DeputyMinister U Ohn Myint on 16 May inspected Alekyunand embankment Nos 1, 2 and 3 in Ngapudaw Townshipand presented relief supplies to the storm victims atHsinchaya village in the township.
The minister looked into embankments andsluice gates in Labutta Taungkyun and LabuttaMyaukyun, Uthayaw and Ugaungpu embankmentsand presented relief supplies to storm victims in PyinsaluTownship. He also inspected embankment Nos 1, 2, 3and 4 of Betukyun.
Next, the minister met with personnel in Bogaleand gave instructions on rehabilitation tasks,reconstruction of embankments, growing of monsoonpaddy and oversaw Daunkgyikyun embankment,Ashaykyun and Anaukyun of Daunkgyikyun byhelicopter and presented relief items to storm victimsat Htawpaing relief camp.
At Pyapon Township Audit office, the ministertogether with Minister for Hotels and Tourism Maj-Gen Soe Naing met with chairmen of Pyapon Districtand Township PDCs and departmental personnel andgave necessary instructions.
Next, they inspected water purifying machinethat can provide 2000 bottles of purified drinkingwater per hour.—MNA
NAY PYI TAW, 18 May—Officers and other ranksfrom two naval vessels ofTatmadaw (Navy) basedin Pyapon and DedayeTownships together withdoctors, nurses and localRed Cross members wentto Hteinwaing, Don-chaung, Tamangyi,Kyaikkatha, Payleik,
Industry 1 Minister inspects factoriesproduction process ofDiamond Soft Drinks andIce Factory of MyanmaFoodstuff Industries, PaintFactory of Myanma Paperand Chemical Industries,the printing section of No1 Cigarette Factory ofMyanam FoodstuffIndustries and No 2 TextileMill of Myanma TextilesIndustries.
The minister visited
No 2 Flour Mill (Yangon)of Myanma FoodstuffIndustries, FinishingWood-based Factory(Bayinnaung) ofMyanma General andMaintenance Industries,Marble Slab (Phawkan)of Myanma CeramicsIndustries, production oflamp-posts at ConcreteFactory and PackagingPaper Factory of
Myanma Paper andChemical Industries. Atthe factories, the ministergave instructions toofficials to make moreeffort for the productionprocess of the factories.
MNA
Navy extends helping hand to storm victimsTatme, Gaygu, Thnhtatand KyatphamwetaungVillages by boat andparticipated in the healthcare services in storm-hitareas and in clearing offallen trees in thecompounds ofmonasteries and schoolson 17 May.
Likewise, a naval
vessel based in Yangoncarrying CI sheets, robes,tarpaulins, schooluniforms, bottles ofdrinking water, barbedwires, edible oil, utensilsand kitchen itemsweighing 20 tons left herefor Hainggyigyun,Ayeyawady Divisionyesterday.—MNA
Solar energy system seen at relief camp in Kyondah village in Dedaye Township.—MNA
Medical treatment being given at relief camp in Kyondah village in Dedaye.—MNA
Timber dumped in Pyapon Township.—MNA
20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:30 AM4
THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 20 May, 2008 5
YANGON, 19 May —Under Secretary-Generaland Emergency ReliefCoordinator of the UnitedNations Mr John Holmesand party, accompanied byDeputy Director-Generalof the Protocol Departmentunder Ministry of ForeignAffairs U Soe Win andActing ResidentRepresentative of UN MrDaniel B Baker, flew toLabutta in Ayeyawadytoday and visited a reliefcamp there.
They were welcomedthere by Minister forCooperatives Maj-GenTin Htut and officialsconcerned.
During the visit, theyviewed providing medicaltreatment to survivors ofthe storm by the specialmedical team of theTatmadaw.
Maj-Gen Tin Htut
UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator visitsrelief camps in Labutta, Bogale, Wakema
Chinesemedical team
arrives inYangon
YANGON, 19 May—Amedical service team of thePeople’s Republic of Chinaarrived at YangonInternational Airport withtwo IL-76 flights yesterday.
The 50 member team,led by Dr Xiang Shi Ping,was welcomed there byChinese Ambassador toMyanmar Mr Guan Muand officials concerned ofthe Ministries of Healthand Foreign Affairs.
Two ambulances, twominibuses, medicines andfoodstuff weighing 32tons were on the sameflights.— MNA
Laotian medical service team arrives in Yangon
briefed them on damages,rescue works, providingrelief aids to survivors,rehabilitation, setting upof relief camps,arrangements for stormsurvivors and transpor-tation of relief aids tostorm-affected areas inLabutta. The minister andofficials concernedanswered the questionsraised by Mr John Holmesand party.
Afterwards, officialsconcerned conducted MrJohn Holmes and partyaround the relief camp.
During the visit, MrJohn Holmes and partywent to People’s Hospitalin Labutta and viewedproviding medicaltreatment to patients andconditions of the hospitalswhich have been repaired.
They also vieweddamages at the town in a
motorcade and unloadingrelief aids from awatercraft and transpor-tation of relief aids to thestorm-affected areas in thetownship by boat.
Afterwards, they flewto Satsan Village inBogale Township whereCol Tin Aung of No 66Light Infantry Divisionbriefed them on damages,providing relief aids tosurvivors and health careservices at the relief camp.
After visiting SatsanVillage, they flew toWakema and visited therelief camp set up at No 1Basic Education HighSchool where stormsurvivors in LabuttaTownship are takingshelter. At the relief camp,they questioned the stormsurvivors. They flew backYangon this afternoon.
MNA
YANGON, 19 May—The vessel ‘Thanpaday-tha’ left No 1 Jetty ofPhonegyi Road, here, for
Relief aids donated to storm victimsYANGON, 19 May—As wellwishers
and donors have been donating cash andsupplies to storm victims, HumanitarianCoordinator for Southeast Asia Mr JeanMichel Jordan, on behalf of SwissAgency and Development andCooperation (SDC) donated 5 multi-purpose tents, 2 rolls of Tarpaulin and 2generators worth US dollars 2,5190 and
Muslim Aid (Serving Humanity) USdollars 3000 worth water purifying tabletsthrough acting Director-General of SocialWelfare Department U Aung Tun Khineat Fire Services Department(Head Office)in Mayangon Township here thisafternoon. The acting Director-Generalaccepted the donations and spoke wordsof thanks.—MNA
Relief supplies shipped to MawlamyingyunMawlamyingyun, Ayeya-wady Division, today afterloading 159 tons of reliefsupplies donated by
international and internalwell-wishers.Relief sup-plies onboard the vesselwere foodstuff, clothes,blankets, canvas tents,tarpaulins, roles oftarpaulin, galvanized ironsheets and constructionmaterials, bottles ofpurified water, generatorsand water purifiedmachines.—MNA
YANGON, 19 May—Amedical service team of theLao People’s DemocraticRepublic arrived at YangonInternational Airport in aflight Y7-100 yesterday.
The 23-member team,led by Professor DrBounthaphany Bounxoueiand Professor Dr VanliemBouravong, was welcomedthere by Laotian
Ambassador to MyanmarMr Kouily A Souphakhet,the director-general ofdepartment of fire servicesand officials concerned.
MNA
Mr John Holmes and party visit relief camp in Satsan Village inBogale Township. — MNA
A medical team from Laos arrives at Yangon International Airport. — MNA
A medical team led by Dr Xiang Shi Ping arrives at Yangon International Airport. — MNA
20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:30 AM5
6 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 20 May, 2008
The world has seen natural disasters since itsearly stage. Every country has ever faced natural disasterssuch as earthquake, storm, floods, volcanic eruption andtsumani. In a natural disaster, the loss of human lives andproperty is based on the strength of the disaster. So,natural disasters are unavoidable.
Our country suffered the cyclone ‘Nargis’ recently.In fact, a storm has no border. According to the climatechanges, a storm moves along its route. Myanmar peoplehave never faced such a severe storm in their life, so theydid not think that the storm would be very destructive.Despite the public notices about the upcoming naturaldisaster on radio and TV as well as in the newspapers,the people did not take it serious. They did not havefirsthand experiences about severe storms, so they didnot care about the possible natural disaster.
Although the storm has abated, the victims havenot been in a position yet to lead a comfortable lifebecause the disaster was followed by monsoon.Therefore, they have to continue to show resilience now.
The storm and its aftershocks are receiving mediacoverage for public information. Since 3 May, the PrimeMinister has been supervising the relief and rehabilitationtasks in the storm-hit areas, while ministers and deputyministers are making field trips to the villages, and theVice-Admiral, the Adjutant-General, militarycommanders and commandants are rendering assistanceto the victims. In addition, servicemen, members of theMyanmar Police Force, Red Cross Society, UnionSolidarity and Development Association and duty-conscious people are contributing voluntary serviceswith heart and soul.
My eyes were filled with tears when I watched onTV that the Prime Minister comforted the victims, gaveaway snacks and fed meals to the children in the reliefcamps. The Prime Minister has frequented the storm-affected areas. So, it is fair to say that all the members ofthe National Disaster Preparedness Central Committeeare now shouldering rehabilitation tasks with might andmain. It is tangible proof that relief and rehabilitationworks are being carried out in an effective way. Ministers,deputy ministers, departmental officials, entrepreneurs,well-wishers, social organizations and artistes arecontributing cash donations and voluntary serviceswholeheartedly.
Therefore, it can be deduced from those profoundevidences that Myanmar people have no experiencesabout a severe cyclone, but they are capable of preparingthemselves for the worst. And they are strongly equippedwith family spirit and Union Spirit and they remainunited in times of emergency.
While braving the natural disasters, the nationinvited humanitarian relief from the internationalcommunity. Now, international relief supplies arecontinuously flowing into the nation. Ships with reliefaid on board from the Republic of India arrived at thenation. Many aircraft from various international airlinesare landing on Yangon International Airport every day.So far, the aircraft have run 165 flights. The government,the people and the Tatmadaw are capable of dealing withthe disaster, as evidenced by the scenes that reliefsupplies donated by internal and international donorsare being unloaded from the airplanes, and they arebeing distributed by car, by helicopter, by sea and bymilitary warship, the aid was being provided to thevictims, the victims are taking shelters in the tents,health care is being given to the victims, and servicemenand duty-conscious people are carrying relief suppliesin the rain.
The loss of human lives and property is heavy.
Let’s replace earth bricks with stone onesKyaw Min Lu (Shwepyitha)
Thousands of people were killed and missing. The nationlost a large number of cattle, crops, houses andinfrastructures. In the private sector, agriculture, fishery,salt and industrial enterprises were ravaged, while a hugenumber of State-owned building in the electric power,communication and transport sectors and socialinfrastructures were destroyed severely. The area of theaffected regions is very large, and some of them relymuch on waterways for transport. About 2000 squaremiles of land came under the tidal waves triggered by thestorm. It is a formidable task to make these areas returnto normal.
However, now many plans in this regard have beentranslated into reality. In compliance with the instructionof the Prime Minister “Every survivor shall continue tosurvive”, emergency tasks were launched as soon aspossible. Now, hundreds of thousands of storm victimshave been evacuated to the relief camps. In order toachieve such great success, members of the Tatmadaw(Army) were rescuing the victims in the lands, whilevessels of the Tatmadaw (Navy) were searching andrescuing victims in the rivers and creeks in the delta.Moreover, helicopters of the Tatmadaw (Air) took part inthe rescue tasks. While carrying out rescue works alongthe coast of the nation, the Navy vessels at the risk of livesmanaged to rescue 18 foreigners from Panama-registeredcargo ship MV Comsic Leader that was stranded in thesouthern part of Thameehla Island.
Emergency tasks are divided into three phases—rescue phase, relief phase, and rehabilitation andresettlement phase. The government allocated five billionkyats as initial funds on these phases. So far, more than 50billion kyats have been spent. Internal and internationaldonors have donated a large number of supplies. Up to 18May, the supplies totaled cash donations and suppliesworth 7.808 billion kyats by internal donors, and 1.62million US dollars and 2671.10 tons of relief items byinternational community. They will continue to donaterelief aid to the nation. Myanmar is very grateful to thedonors for their generous donations.
The State is trying its best to send all relief suppliesto the storm victims as soon as possible. It can also befound that the donation accepting and supervisorycommittee is accepting cash and kind donated at homeand abroad and distributing them to the storm-hit regionswithout delay. There are tons and tons of relief items. So,navy ships, Tatmadaw aircraft, Tatmadaw vehicles, privatevehicles and ships owned by Inland Water Transporttotaling hundreds have to be carrying relief suppliesagain and again.
It is known to all that the area of the delta region isvery vast and it has limited transportation. But the regionhas now smooth transport. It is because in the time of theTatmadaw government, more bridges were built acrossrivers and creeks and a network of roads emerged. It willbe difficult for such a great amount of relief items to reachevery storm-hit region immediately. Despite the difficulty,the State is taking systematic measures for relief aiddistribution by opening 12 forward relief camps, sixmiddle relief camps and three rear relief camps in ordernot to cause delay. To take systematic measures and foremergency, CDMA and satellite phones have beendistributed.
In reality, it is very lucky for us to be born and bredin a country blessed with worldly values. While the Stateis contributing a lot to the sector of relief aid distribution,public wellwishers, monks and companies are alsocontributing their donations. They tried their utmost tomake contributions wherever necessary. It is theundeniable fact that those participating in relief work and
reconstruction tasks including the Prime Minister andhelpful young people are making great effort to giveassistance to all the storm-ravaged regions. It is a greathonour for Myanmars that a tremendous national taskhas been implemented successfully.
Health care is of utmost importance for the stormvictims. It is necessary to cure the people with injuriesand illness due to the storm as well as prevent infectiousdiseases following the natural disaster. That is why thedeputy health ministers themselves are meeting thevictims and many medical teams led by specialists arein the storm-hit regions to give health care services. Wehave now been able to breathe a sigh of relief althoughwe were worried about the victims’ health in theaftermath of the storm.
UN agencies such as WHO, WFP, ICRC, andINGOs such as World Vision, Save the ChildrenMyanmar and Forciv Myanmar actively participated inrelief and rescue work. Accompanied by relief andrescue teams concerned, those organizations renderedhumanitarian aid to the victims with heart and soul. It isalso hoped that they will continue their cooperation andaid till the successful completion of the work.
Thanks to the cooperation and assistance of theState, the Tatmadaw, various departments, public donorsand INGOs, rescue and relief works have been nearlycompleted. Besides, as the third step, reconstructionand resettlement works have been started in someregions. Some towns and villages started repairing theirhospitals, schools, departments and houses. Like aphoenix, we have to make our own efforts to rise fromthe ashes. We have to shape our own future. Again, I amvery glad to hear that private construction companieshave been assigned to implement reconstruction tasksin the storm-ravaged regions.
The delta region, known as the granary ofMyanmar, suffered great destruction of its farmlands.Some embankments also broke. In spite of anydifficulties, agricultural work has to be carried out soonas monsoon is setting in. The ministry concerned hastaken steps to repair the damaged dams andembankments. Plans are under way to distribute paddystrains resistant to sea water, fertilizers, pesticides anddiesel to the farmlands to which sea water flowed. Ashundreds of thousands of cattle were lost, arrangementsare being made to import cattle. Meanwhile, plans areunder way to shift to manageable scale mechanizedfarming by using power tillers.
All necessary measures are also being taken toprovide drinking water and open schools in time in thestorm-battered regions. Measures were taken in Yangonas well as in other towns regardless of region. InYangon, mobile phone lines have resumed theiroperation and households have enjoyed electricity dayby day. Most of the roads and streets have been clearedand they have now returned to normal.
Overall, we had to suffer the cyclone Nargis andits aftershocks as we have never experienced such astorm. No country, government and people can bearsuch a severe storm.
The severer the storm, the more damage andcausalities. We did have great damage and loss. Butnow the storm has left and we overcome it. Because wemade concerted efforts with the strength of the State, theTatmadaw, the people and donor countries. Now I havebreathed a sigh of relief for the victims. All in all, wehave undertaken a historic national task successfully.
(To be continued)(Translation: MS+ST)
*******
20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:30 AM6
THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 20 May, 2008 7
Staff of Htoo Co and AirBagan assist relief works
in Bogale TownshipYANGON, 19 May-The staff of Htoo Trading
Co Ltd and Air Bagan have been assisting the stormvictims in relief and resettlement tasks in BogaleTownship since 6 May. They donated materials forrelief and resettlement works to storm victims inKyeingyichaung village on 18 May.
They also donated 900 bags of rice , 15 powertillers, 10000 baskets of paddy strains, foodstuff, 3pumps, medicines and 3 toilets. They are also providingfree health care service to storm victims with 10doctors.
They have also repaired Bogale TownshipPeople’s Hospital, BEHS Nos1,2, BEMS 1, BEPSs inAutpaing and Aung Thapyae villages, communicationoffice, retransmititting station, Township Dhammayon,Township Sangha Nayaka Committee and 4monsteries.—NLM
YANGON, 19 May—Minister for NationalPlanning and EconomicDevelopment U Soe Tha,Minister for SocialWelfare, Relief andResettlement Maj-GenMaung Maung Swe andMinister for Health DrKyaw Myint met residentrepresentatives of UNagencies and officials ofinternational non-
Ministers meet officials of UN Agencies and INGOs
said the relief suppliesdonated by internationalcommunities were sentimmediately to the storm-hit areas. The list of reliefitems and storm-hit areaswas recorded precisely.
The supplies donatedby the UN agencies andINGOs were directly sentto those areas. Theseorganizations need toinform the sub-
effective action would betaken against those whomisappropriated the reliefitems for their self-interest and otherpurposes.
He said it is necessaryfor the UN agencies andINGOs to cooperate withthe government in speedydelivery of the reliefsupplies to the victims.The UN agencies andINGOs need to inform
YANGON, 19 May—Employees of MyanmaPosts and Telecom-munications in Pyaponand Nay Pyi Taw haverepaired communicationcables in Pyapon
YANGON, 19 May—Agroup of local companiesand wellwishers donatedthe relief aid to stormvictims in BogaleTownship, Ayeyawady
governmental organi-zations and socialorganizations fromabroad totaling 52 at themeeting hall of NationalAchieves Department ofthe Ministry of NationalPlanning and EconomicDevelopment yesterdayand discussed systematicdistribution of reliefsupplies to storm victims.
Minister U Soe Tha
committees and naturaldisaster preparednesscommittees at differentlevels under the NationalDisaster PreparednessCentral Committee so thatthe committees can makearrangements for dis-tribution of the suppliesto the storm-hit areas.Moreover, NDPCC hadissued news release No 3on 17 May 2008. In thenews release it is said
NDPCC of donations andthe places they deliveredthe supplies. They alsoneed to contact townshipnatural disaster pre-paredness committees atdifferent levels. Thecommittees concerned areready to provide necessaryassistance to thoseorganizations.
Those present tookpart in the discussions.
MNA
Minister U Soe Tha briefs on systematic distribution of relief aids to storm survivors.—MNA
A library seen after being repaired in Bogale.—MNA
Responsible personnel of Htoo Trading hand over relief aids to stormsurvivors.—NLM
Telephone service in Pyapon under repairTownship.
Out of 750 telephonelines, over 100 telephoneservices and 450 CDMAmobile phones are in goodcondition. About 400telephone lines are
expected to be on servicein a week.
Public com-munication phones inPyapon have already beenrepaired .
MNA
Relief aids for BogaleDivision, yesterday.
Wellwhishers ledby Thidagu Sayadaw DrShin Nannisara, localcompanies and BogaleTownship Association
(Yangon) donated rice,edible oil, chilli, food,clothes and others to stormvictims in Pyapon andBogale.
MNA
20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:30 AM7
8 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 20 May, 2008
(from page 1)After attending to the needs, Senior General
Than Shwe gave guidance, saying that the govern-ment took prompt action to carry out the relief andrehabilitation work in storm-hit regions shortlyafter the storm, and has laid down and is imple-menting the three phases of Disaster PreparednessProgramme. And it has spent K 50 billion of fundson the project.
In the first phase, priority is being given tofulfilling the food, clothing and shelter needs ofstorm victims and prompt medical attention. In thesecond phase, reconstruction of ravaged villages,accommodation of local people, renovation ofroads, bridges and communication links and reha-bilitation tasks such as opening of temporary clin-ics and schools are being carried out in affectedvillages, he added.
In the meantime, measures for regeneratingagricultural, fishing and salt-making works and pro-viding cattle, tractors, boats and fishing nets tostorm-hit regions are being taken.
In the third phase, steps are to be taken forgrowing of windbreakers capable of preventing dis-aster and building of causeways linking villages, hedisclosed, and stressed the need for officials to carryout relief and rehabilitation works and take disasterpreparedness measures in an effective way.
Next, Senior General Than Shwe greeted andconsoled storm victims being accommodated inshelter boxes at the relief camp.
After that, Senior General Than Shwe lookedinto clinics of Directorate of Medical Services.
At 9.10 am, Senior General Than Shwe andparty arrived at the relief camp in Kyonda Village,Dedaye Township where they heard a report presentedby Minister Brig-Gen Lun Thi on opening of the reliefcamps in villages of the township. And Senior GeneralThan Shwe gave necessary instructions.
Later, Senior General Than Shwe and partyviewed medical treatment being given to stormvictims of the relief camp.
Next, they looked into measures taken forsupply of electricity through solar power system,opening of CDMA Station, supply of drinking wa-ter, supply of electricity to the relief camp withgenerators and cooking with the use of gas stoves,and greeted storm victims.
Next, Senior General Than Shwe and partyproceeded to Pyapon where they were welcomed by
Senior General Than Shwe meets…Adjutant-General Maj-Gen Thura Myint Aung, Com-mander of South-West Command Brig-Gen KyawSwe and Minister for Hotels and Tourism Maj-GenSoe Naing.
Accompanied by the Adjutant-General, theCommander and ministers, Senior General ThanShwe inspected measures being taken for rehabilita-tion of Pyapon.
On arrival at Saya Zawgi Yapyi Hall, SeniorGeneral Than Shwe heard a report presented byMinister Maj-Gen Soe Naing on loss and damagesin storm-hit Pyapon and Kyaiklatt Townships, open-ing of relief camps, distribution of relief items,supply of drinking water, medical treatment givenby Directorate of Medical Services, local healthstaff and doctors from India, prevention ofwaterborne and infectious diseases and reconstruc-tion work being carried out by Dagon InternationalCo, Yuzana Co and Pyae Phyo Kyaw Co.
The commander gave a supplementary report.After hearing the reports, Senior General Than
Shwe gave guidance, saying that the nation-buildingendeavours cannot be carried out by the governmentalone. The policy of the State is that only when theState, the Tatmadaw and the people make concertedeffort will the nation-building endeavours meet withsuccess.
In line with the policy, the Tatmadaw has
been striving together with the people under theleadership of the State in building of the nationsince its assumption of the State responsibilities,he noted.
The nation has been able to overcome anycrisis and difficulty through the concerted efforts ofthe State, the Tatmadaw and the people, he said.
The country was hit hard by the severe stormbut relief and rehabilitation works are being carriedout through the concerted efforts.
In future also, the nation-building endeavourswill be carried out in line with the policy of the Stateand it is sure that the nation will meet with successin the long-run.
In addition to relief and reconstruction work,continued efforts will be made for disaster prepar-edness, he disclosed.
In that regard, causeways linking villages andembankments need to be built in coastal regions andregions close to the sea. And hospitals and dispensa-ries in storm-hit regions are to be upgraded whilestriving for upgrading of 200-bed hospitals and 100-bed hospitals in major cities and opening of morerural health care centres in strategic regions.
Next, Senior General Than Shwe and party wentto Relief Camp No 1 where they inspected theaccommodation of the victims. He then comfortedand encouraged the victims. The Senior Generallooked into supply of drinking water.
Senior General Than Shwe and party inspectedreconstruction of Pyapon People’s Hospital by car.Next they proceeded to Dedaye, Pyapon District,in the afternoon and inspected reconstruction tasksthere.
On arrival at the control office in BogyokeStreet, Senior General Than Shwe heard a report byEnergy Minister Brig-Gen Lun Thi on damage toDedaye, rescue work, distribution of relief sup-plies and reconstruction and resettlement tasksbeing carried out by Eden Group Co. CommanderBrig-Gen Kyaw Swe reported on matters related tosurplus rice and rerunning of rice mills and Minis-ter for Agriculture and Irrigation Maj-Gen HtayOo on reclamation of land and repair of dams andreservoirs.
Senior General Than Shwe gave necessaryinstructions. Next, he and party went to the reliefcamp near Dedaye Bridge where they inspectedaccommodation and comforted the victims. Later,the Senior General enquired about the providing ofhealth care by medical staff and arrived back inYangon in the afternoon.
MNA
Senior General Than Shwe meets with storm victims in relief camp in Kyonda village in DedayeTownship.—MNA
Senior General Than Shwe inspects supply of electric power with solar system to relief camp inKyonda village in Dedaye Township .—MNA
20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:31 AM8
THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 20 May, 2008 9
(from page 16)work and resettlement instorm-hit areas in Yangonand Ayeyawady Divi-sions. Senior GeneralThan Shwe gave neces-sary guidance.
Present were GeneralThura Shwe Mann of theMinistry of Defence, PrimeMinister General TheinSein, members of SPDCLt-Gen Khin Maung Thanand Lt-Gen Tin Aye, Com-mander-in-Chief (Navy)Vice-Admiral Soe Thein,Commander-in-Chief(Air) Lt-Gen Myat Hein,Lt-Gen Myint Swe of theMinistry of Defence andCommander Maj-Gen HlaHtay Win.
Prime Minister Gen-eral Thein Sein said du-ties were assigned to mem-bers of NDPCC ministersto carry out region-wiserelief work. Achievementshave been made due to the
Senior GeneralThan Shwe inspects…
cooperation of social or-ganizations, local people,departmental personnel,national entrepreneurs andartistes.
He said priority wasgiven to food, clothing andshelter needs and healthcare services of the stormvictims in relief camps.Now work can be doneproperly, he added.
He said national en-trepreneurs and social or-ganizations are taking partin reconstruction of dam-aged buildings by thestorm.
As regards the healthof the victims, the physi-cians from central leveljoining hands with localhealth staff are carryingout disease preventivemeasures.
He said relief meas-ures are being taken instorm-hit areas and ar-rangements are being
made for local people tolive in shelter. Most of thelocal people began to livein their own places. Ar-rangements have also beenmade for rebuilding oftheir houses in the openseason, he said.
He said as the secondphase, necessary assist-ance is being provided forfarmland reclamation, es-tablishment of tractor sta-tions and cultivationcamps and fishing instorm-affected areas.
Relief work andhealth care services cannow be handled and tasksfor reconstruction ofbuildings and houses inflooded areas are beingimplemented, he added.
Lt-Gen Myint Sweand the Commander-in-Chief (Navy) reported onmeasures taken in storm-hit areas in Yangon Divi-sion and Hainggyi Island.
The Senior Generalsaid that it was necessaryto keep accurate recordsof the affected areas inorder that resettlementwork could be carried outsystematically and effec-tively. Resettlement workhad to be assigned to thetroops deployed region-wise. In the first stage,temporary shelters shouldbe set up in the affectedregions for the victims tobe able to return to theirrespective towns and vil-lages. Enough plasticsheets should be provided.And at the same time,measures should be takenfor building strong houseswhen the rainy season wasover. Moreover, roofingsheets should be providedsufficiently for the re-maining houses and otherbuildings.
To provide health careservices, temporary clin-
ics have been opened instrategic areas and morehealth assistants should beappointed. Regarding edu-cation, measures should betaken for the reopening ofschools up to basic educa-tion level. For the timebeing, priority should begiven to supply of foodand safe drinking water.Moreover, it was neces-sary to rebuild the mainlivelihoods of the localpeople – fisheries,agriculturel and salt-mak-ing industries.
Reclamation of landwould have to be done foragriculture, small boats,powered boats and fish-ing nets provided for fish-eries and salterns preparedfor salt works.
In the first stage, theneeds for food, clothing,shelter and medical careshould be met and at thesame time developmentwork such as reconstruc-tion of villages, resettle-ment, livelihood, transportand communicationwould have to be done. Inthe second stage, besidesdevelopment work, coco-nut and betel nut treesshould be planted in frontof houses, embankmentsbuilt behind houses andbridges constructed wherenecessary to prevent natu-ral disasters.
Shortly after CycloneNargis hit, the State Peaceand Development Coun-cil formed the NationalDisaster PreparednessCentral Committee withthe Prime Minister as its
head and initially allottedK 5 billion for relief op-eration. However, over K50 billion has been spenton relief and reconstruc-tion work up to now andthe government will usemore funds if and whennecessary.
Senior General ThanShwe and party visitedrelief camps in YangonDivision and comfortedthe victims.
At 3.40 pm, SeniorGeneral Than Shwe andparty went to Atwinpadanrelief camp in HlinethayaTownship. They inspectedaccommodation of the vic-tims in the tents donatedby nations of the world.
Senior General ThanShwe inspected water sup-ply for the victims andcordially greeted them.
He also inspected ar-rival of relief items, in-stallation of hand pumpsand construction of fly-proof latrines and repairof No 7 Basic EducationMiddle School before theschool season and gaveguidance.
Senior General ThanShwe and party went tospecial relief camp onYadanabon Street in Ward17 in Dagon Myothit(South). He cordially metthe victims in the campand the clinic.
Senior General ThanShwe and party also metthe victims in the reliefcamp on MaungmaganKantha Road in Ward 16in Dagon Myothit(North).—MNA
A convoy of cars carrying relief aids arrive in Pyapon.—MNA
Relief supplies of UNICEF for storm victims arrive at YangonInternational Airport.—MNA
Earthquake reportYANGON, 19 May —
A moderate earthquake ofintensity 5.9 Richer Scalewith its epicenter (Region
Indonesia) outside ofMyanmar about 1100miles south of Kaba-AyeSeismological obser-
vatory, was recorded at21 hr 01 min 50 sec MSTtoday.
MNA
YANGON, 19 May—AN-12 flight carrying10 tons of constructionmaterials donated by RedCross Society of Canada,five C-150 flightscarrying about 50 tons ofmedical equipment, waterbottles, purified water,blankets and plasticsdonated by the UnitedState of America, MAI
Relief supplies from foreigncountries arrive
carrying 6 tons of drynoodles, purified waterand clothes donated byBaiyoke Hotel Group ofThailand, AN-10 flightcarrying 12 tons ofclothes, blankets,tarpaulin sheet andmedicines donated by theUS, DC-8 aircraftcarrying 24 tons ofmedicines and tents
donated by IFRC and DC-8 flight carrying 38 tonsof medicines and medicalequipment donated byUNICEF arrived atYangon InternationalAirport today. The reliefsupplies donated byforeign countries havebeen transported to thestorm-hit regions withoutdelay.—MNA
momentumMinister for Health Dr Kyaw Myint greets specialists and nurses who will leave for storm-
affected regions.—MNA
Relief aid donated by IFRC seen at Yangon International Airport.—MNA
Members of MWAF hand over relief aids donated by wellwishers to
victims of Dagon Myothit (Seikkan).—MNA
Health staff of Ministry of Health and Directorate of Medical Services
giving medical treatment to patients in Labutta Township.—MNA
20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:31 AM10
THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 20 May, 2008 11
Tourists take photos
inside the grounds of
the Royal Palace, the
residence of the King
of Cambodia, in
Phnom Penh in this
file photo.
INTERNET
Dancers Stella Arauzo (R) and Adrian Galia from the Antonio Gades companyperform “Carmen” during a dress rehearsal in Madrid on 13 May, 2008. — XINHUA
A gosling looks for food infront of a plastic coyoteposted as a scarecrow on alawn, in Tewksbury, Mass ,on 15 May, 2008. The plasticmodel is designed to scareaway geese and keep themoff the lawn, but appeared to have little effect on the young bird.—INTERNET
ISLAMABAD, 18 May— India’s ForeignMinister travels toPakistan this week for hisfirst meeting with leadersof a new civiliangovernment and to reviewa peace process that hasbeen in the doldrums formore than a year.
Indian External AffairsMinister Pranab Muk-herjee will meet hisPakistani counterpart,Shah Mehmood Qureshi,on Wednesday, a day aftertheir top civil servantshold talks.
The nuclear-armedrivals launched peaceefforts in 2004 after nearlygoing to war a fourth timeafter Islamist militantattacks in India linked to anearly 20-year revolt,
TEHERAN, 18 May —Iran has denounced “terrorattack” on its embassystaff in Baghdad and heldthe United States respon-sible for violating diplo-matic immunity in Iraq,the official IRNA newsagency reported onSaturday.
Foreign Minister Man-ouchehr Mottaki made theremarks, while stronglycondemning the terrorattack, said IRNA.
“Such incidents arerelated to the presence ofthose who are responsiblefor the insecurity in Iraqand their presence pro-vides the excuse forthem,” Mottaki was quo-ted as saying.
The top Iraniandiplomat also asked Iran’sAmbassador to Baghdad
LONDON, 18 May —British Prime MinisterGordon Brown faced asummer of industrialunrest on Friday whenunion leaders warned thata million public sectorworkers were poised tostrike over pay.
The union warningscame only days afterBrown ended a revolt inhis Labour Party byoffering emergency taxcuts.
Brown’s popularity hascrumbled in the polls lessthan a year after he tookover from Tony Blair,raising doubts overwhether he can stay on asprime minister.
Labour was pushed intothird place in localelections this month andrisks losing a safe
ROSEBURG, (Oregon),18 May— Senator BarackObama, hoping that a pairof contests in Oregon andKentucky on Tuesday willallow him to essentiallyclinch the Democraticnomination, will make asymbolic return to Iowa,the state that launched hisunderdog bid for the WhiteHouse.
Obama plans Iowa trip withvictory in sight
Polls suggest Obamawill win Oregoncomfortably while hisrival, Senator HillaryClinton, is expected toprevail in Kentucky by awide margin.
But the Obamacampaign expects thatwhen the results from thetwo contests are added tohis existing tally, he will
have racked up more thanhalf of the pledgeddelegates awarded in thestate-by-state contests,making him the likelywinner in his battle withClinton to become hisparty's nominee to facepresumptive Republicannominee John McCain inNovember.
MNA/Reuters
British Union strike threats addto Brown’s woes
parliamentary seat nextThursday in a contesttriggered by the death ofthe sitting member.
After weeks of partydissent over the abolitionof a 10 per cent tax bandthat had benefited low-earners, Brown’s
government announced itwould borrow an extra 2.7billion pounds (5.3billionm US dollars) at atime when the publicfinances are tight in orderto fund tax cuts for 22million people.
MNA/Reuters
India to resume Pakistan talks, meetnew leaders
which Pakistan sym-pathises with, againstIndian rule in the Kashmirregion. While ties havewarmed, the two sideshave made no signifi-
cant progress on theirmain dispute over thedivided, Muslim-majorityHimalayan region theyboth claim.
MNA/Reuters
Iran blames US for attackon diplomats in Baghdad
Hassan Kazemi Qomi towork with Iraqi officialsto transfer the woundedembassy staff to Iran formedical treatment, accor-ding to IRNA.
An Iraqi InteriorMinistry source said onFriday that five Iranianembassy staff werewounded when theirvehicles came under fireon Thursday night innorthern Baghdad.
“Unknown gunmenopened small-arms fire ontwo sport utility vehicles(SUV) of the Iranianembassy at about 9:30pm(1900 GMT) nearBuratha Shiite mosque inAteifiyah neighbour-hood,” the source toldXinhua on condition ofanonymity.
MNA/Xinhua
BEIRUT, 18 May— Lebanese Army CommanderGeneral Michel Suleiman considered that Lebanon’sinternal fighting would only serve Israel, local Elnashrawebsite reported Saturday.
Suleiman, during an inspection tour of Armypositions and outposts in southern Lebanon, said“embroilment of the resistance in the infighting istantamount to an explicit service to the Israeli enemy,”while the later prepares an new aggression on Lebanon.
Internal fighting also “prepares the environment forterrorism, ” Suleiman added.
He affirmed that the reason the Lebanese Army didnot use “ artilleries” was to preserve civil peace duringthe last week’s clashes, “in order to stop blood shed,and prevent more internal divisions”.
The Army commander said that all parties shouldgive up “provoking and escalating” language whichhave been use for the past years and have resulted in thelatest internal clashes. —MNA/Xinhua
Lebanese Army saysinternal fighting
serves Israel
20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:31 AM11
12 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 20 May, 2008
TRADE MARKCAUTION NOTICE
British American Tobacco(Brands) Limited, a com-pany organized under thelaws of Enland & Walescarrying on business,through its licensees andaffiliates, as TobaccoManufacturers and Mer-chants, having its principaloffice at Globe House, 4Temple Place, London,WC2R 2PG, United King-dom is the owner and thesole proprietor of the fol-lowing trademark:-
Reg. No. 4/5422/2007Used in respect of:-“Cigarettes, tobacco, to-bacco products, cigarette fil-ters, smokers’ articles, light-ers, matches.” (internationalClass 34)Any unauthorized use,imitation,infringements orfraudulent intentions of theabove mark will be dealtwith according to law.
Tin Ohnmar TunB.A (LAW) LL.B, LL.M (UK)
P.O.Box 109,Ph: 73043
(For. British AmericanTobacco (Brands)Ltd.,
U.K.)Dated: 20 May, 2008
Inventing
UK banks may swapup to $175b
mortgage assets
Released PakistaniAmbassador tellsabout captivity
Saudi ready to pump more oil, sees no need
Anti-Qaeda members killedin Iraq’s Diyala Province
French FM welcomes agreement to end Lebanese crisis
ISLAMABAD, 18 May—Pakistan’s Ambassador toAfghanistan TariqAzizuddin has said thatthe kidnappers had notshown harsh attitudeduring his abduction.
Talking to reportershere at his residenceSaturday, Azizuddin saidthat he remained inPakistan during the entireperiod and the kidnappersforced him to make avideo-film requesting thegovernment to get hisrelease.
Azizuddin was releasedlate Friday. He washeading to the Afghancapital Kabul with hisdriver when hedisappeared in the Khybertribal district bordering
Afghanistan on 11February. Azizuddin saidthat during his captivityhis guard and driver stayedwith him. He said that thekidnappers were localpeople and they calledeach other Mujahid. Hesaid that before his releasethe kidnappers were verydisturbed. They said thatthey had reports of actiaonagainst them.
Speaking on the sameoccasion, Adviser onInterior Rehman Malikruled out any deal with thekidnappers and said thatAzizuddin was released bythe law enforcementagencies. He said no onewas released in exchangefor the ambassador.
MNA/Xinhua
LONDON, 18 May—Britain’s banks are set toswap between 80 billionand 90 billion pounds (175billion US dollars) ofmortgage-backed assetsfor Treasury bills, nearlytwice the base level set bythe Bank of England lastmonth, the FinancialTimes reported on Friday.
The British Bankers’Association said details ofwhich banks were access-ing the facility wereconfidential, but a spokes-man said “it wouldn’t besurprising” if banks wereaccessing more funds asthere were still strains inthe market.
“All of the banks areplanning to use thisfacility,” an industry sourcesaid. “The reports in themarket at the time werethat it would be 50 billionto 100 billion, so thisdoesn’t feel un-expected.”
Citing debt marketsources, the FT said bankshad approached ratingagencies about how tostructure deals that willreceive the necessary
triple-A rating. With banks still
reluctant to lend to eachother many months intothe credit crunch, the Bankof England last monthunveiled a plan to swaplenders' risky mortgageassets for at least 50 billionpounds of governmentdebt. The Bank said at thetime that there was noupper limit and that thetotal value of the rescueplan would depend onbanks’ operational needs.Governor Mervyn Kingsaid it could well “gohigher” than 50 billionpounds as the figure hadbeen based on discussionswith top banks, but 119institutions were eligible.
MNA/Reuters
RIYADH, 18 May—Theworld’s top oil exporterSaudi Arabia told theworld’s largest energyconsumer the UnitedStates it was ready to pumpmore oil, but saw no needto do so for now, a USofficial said on Friday. Onhis second visit to thekingdom this year, USPresident George W Bushmet Saudi King Abdullahon Friday to renew hisappeal for more oil fromOPEC to tame record oil
prices. The kingdom reiterated
its pledge to givecustomers all the oil theywant, but saw no unmetdemand, Stephen Hadley,Bush's national securityadviser, told reporters afterthe meeting.
US oil prices hit a recordnear 128 US dollars abarrel on Friday. The USsays more oil would helplower prices, while OPECofficials blame the highprice on factors beyond
their control, such asspeculation and the weakdollar.
MNA/Reuters
United Auto Workers leave a union meeting in Detroit, on 18 May, 2008.American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc workers received details of atentative contract agreement that could settle an 11-week strike by the UAW
union.—INTERNET
BAGHDAD, 18 May—Gunmen attacked an anti-Qaeda group base in atown in Iraq’s Diyalaprovince on Saturday,killing three of the groupmembers and woundingsix others, a provincialpolice source said.
The attack took placein the morning whensome 20 armed menstormed the base of the
Awakening Councilgroup in the town ofWajihiyah, 20 kilo-metres east of theprovincial capitalBaquba, the source toldXinhua on condition ofanonymity.
Around midday, awoman suicide bomberblew up an explosive vestoutside another base ofAwakening Council
group in central Baquba,killing a policeman and anearby woman andwounding more than tenother people.
Several council mem-bers were among thewounded people.
The Awakening Cou-ncil involves local armedgroups, especially somepowerful anti-US Sunniinsurgent groups, whofight the al-Qaeda networkafter the latter exercisedindiscriminate killingsagainst both Shiite andSunni Muslim com-munities.—MNA/Xinhua
France’s domination of Moroccanauto-market threatened
RABAT, 18 May—French automakers’ continueddomination of the Moroccan car market has cameunder a serious threat from Asian manufacturers whoare slowly penetrating all the major sectors of theNorthern African country’s economy, industry sourcessaid. “The high penetration of Asian cars could soonthreaten the dominance of French brands which stillrepresent 40 per cent of the market,” AbderrahimBenkirane, president of the Moroccan Association ofMotorvehicle Importers (AIVAM), said in an interviewwith the Thursday edition of the Le Matin daily.
MNA/Xinhua
PARIS, 18 May—FrenchForeign Minister BernardKouchner has welcomedthe signing of an agree-ment, concluded under theauspices of the ArabLeague, by the LebaneseGovernment and theHamas-led opposition, toend a crisis that had turnedinto an armed struggleover the past few days.
“I welcome the agree-ment, signed under theaegis of the Qatari PrimeMinister of and the ArabLeague, with a view toending the crisis that hasengulfed Beirut over thelast few days,” the ForeignMinister said in astatement Thursday.
“I would like to reaffirmthe support of Franceto the institutions of
Lebanon, especially thegovernment and theLebanese Army”, whosework “was crucial in
creating the necessaryconditions to end thecrisis”, said Kouchner.
MNA/Xinhua
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20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:31 AM12
THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 20 May, 2008 13
Juice may beat fruit forpreventing heart disease
NNE YORK,18 May — Grapes, applesand their juices can prevent thedevelopment of athero-sclerosis inhamsters eating a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet, French researchershave found.
Fruit juices had a more powerfulanti-atherosclerotic effect than thefruit itself, Dr Kelly Decorde of theUniversite Montpellier and collea-gues found,showing for the first timethat processing fruit can have a “majorimpact” on its health benefits.
Most of the fruit people eat isprocessed, the researchers say, but in-formation on the nutritionalcomposition of a fruit is typicallylimited to its raw form.
To investigate how juicing might
affect the content of phenolic com-pounds, which are powerful antioxidantscontained in fruits, the researchers fedhamsters grapes, grape juice, apples,apple juice or water, along with a dietdesigned to promote atherosclerosis —the buildup of fatty plaque deposits in thearteries that can lead to heart attacks orstrokes.
A control group of animals ate normalchow.
The amount of fruitthe hamsters consumed was equivalentto three apples or three bunchesof grapes daily for a human. Hamstersgiven juice drank the equivalent of fourglasses daily for a person weighing 70kilos (154 pounds).
MNA/Reuters
Listening to music found tolower blood pressure
NEW YORK,18 May —Listening to half an hourof music each day maysignificantly lower yourblood pressure, accordingto research reported at theAmerican Society ofHypertension meeting inNew Orleans this week.
In the study,researchers found thatpeople with mild hyper-tension (high bloodpressure) who listened toclassical, Celtic or Indian(raga) music for just 30minutes a day for onemonth had significantreductions in their blood
pressure. “Listening to music is
soothing and has oftenbeen associated withcontrolling patient-re-ported pain or anxiety andacutely reducing bloodpressure,” study investi-gator Dr Pietro A Modesti,of the University of Flo-rence in Italy, noted in awritten statement from themeeting. “But for the firsttime, today’s resultsclearly illustrate the impactdaily music listeninghas on ambulatory bloodpressure.”
Ambulatory blood
pressure refers to readingstaken repeatedly over thecourse of a day.
A total of 48 adults ages45 to 70 who were takingmedication to control mildhypertension took part inthe study. Of these, 28listened to 30 minutesof “rhythmically homo-genous” classical, Celticor raga music daily whilepracticing slow, con-trolled breathing ex-ercises. The remaining 20participants, serving as thecontrol group, made nochanges to their dailyroutine. — MNA/Reuters
Online maps reveal noise levels across England LONDON, 18 May—
Maps showing noiselevels in towns acrossEngland were publishedon Friday in an attempt toreduce the disruptioncaused by factories,planes, trains and cars, thegovernment said.
Residents in 23 townsand cities will be able tocheck how noisy theirarea is by visiting a newgovernment website,www.defra.gov.uk/noise-mapping.
The site collapsed on
Friday morning due to“unprecedented demand”.A message said engineerswere working on theproblem.
Ministers say themaps represent the mostthorough attempt yet tograsp the scale of a problemthat some studies havelinked to serious illness andeducational difficulties.
The maps, drawn up tomeet a European Uniondirective, will be used tohelp cut noise in the worst-affected areas.
“They will provide aspringboard to go forwardand tackle unnecessary andunreasonable noise pol-lution,” said EnvironmentMinister Jonathan Shaw.
MNA/Reuters
Russian cargo spaceship docks with “ISS”MOSCOW, 18 May — A Russian cargo
spaceship has docked with theInternational Space Station (ISS), theMission Control near Moscow said onSaturday. The Progress M-14 spaceshipdocked with the station at 01:39 MoscowTime on Saturday (2139 GMT), theMission Control said.
The cargo spaceship delivered some2.5 tons of food, water, fuel, equipmentand gifts from the crews’ families toRussian cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and
Oleg Kononenko and NASA astronautGarrett E Reisman.
The spaceship, which blasted off fromcentral Asia’s Baikonur space centre inKazakhstan Thursday, is an unmannedversion of the Soyuz spacecraft. It isexpected to be filled with waste and burstduring its way back to Earth afterundocking.
The Progress is one of two cargotypes of spacecraft supplying the ISS.
MNA/Xinhua
Spanish police arrest fivesuspected hackers
MADRID, 18 May— Five suspected hackers whowere accused of attacking government websites in theUnited States, Asia and Latin America have beenarrested, Spanish police said Saturday. They werearrested this week in the Spanish cities of Barcelona,Burgos, Malaga and Valencia.
Among the arrested are two 16-year-old youths whobelong to “one of the most active groups of hackers onthe Internet,” which have disabled 21,000 web pages intwo years, the police said in a statement.
The members of the group have never met, but theyhave allegedly organized and coordinated attacks overthe Internet, working in particular with hackers in LatinAmerica, according to the police.— MNA/Xinhua
A Eurofighter combat jet. Two senior executives at Britain’s largest defencefirm, BAE Systems, were questioned by US authorities probing corruptionclaims over a massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia, the Sunday Telegraph
said.—INTERNET
A dog shows off it’s skills during a flying disk performance at theVenusFort family dog Festa in Tokyo recently. —INTERNET
Italy’s DanieleBennati, second fromlleft, outsprints PaoloBettini, fourth fromleft, to win the eight
stage of the Giro,Tour of Italy cycling
race, fromCivitavecchia to San
Vincenzo,on 18 May, 2008.
INTERNET
20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:31 AM13
14 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 20 May, 2008
S P O R T SMourinho hopes to find coaching
job within one month
Jose Mourinho
Inter Milan supporters celebrate in front of the gothiccathedral after their team clinched the Italian soccertitle, in downtown Milan, on 18 May, 2008. InterMilan won its third straight Italian league titleSunday as Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned from a six-week injury layoff and scored twice in a 2-0 win overParma in the final round of the season.—INTERNET
Ibrahimovic stars as Inter win thirdstraight Italian title
Fiorentina forward Osvaldo of Argentina scoreswith a bicycle kick during the Italian Serie A top
league soccer match between Torino andFiorentina at the Olympic Stadium in Turin, Italy,
on 18 May, 2008. Fiorentina beat Torino 1-0 tosecure fourth place and Italy’s final Champions
League berth.—INTERNET
Wayne Odesnik from USA returns a ball during his1st round match against Ivo Minar from CzechRepublic at the ARAG ATP World Team Champion-ship in Duesseldorf, western Germany on 18 May,2008. Odesnik won the match 6-2, 6-1.—INTERNET
Giovani hat-trick givesRijkaard a winning send off
Australia to bid for clubWorld Cup
MELBOURNE, 18 May — Australia will bid to host theClub World Cup in 2009 and 2010, Football Federa-tion Australia (FFA) said on Sunday.
The tournament involves the champion clubs fromworld governing body FIFA's six confederations andanother from the host country.
Japan, which is bidding again, has hosted the lastthree tournaments and will host it later this year. TheUnited Arab Emirates are also bidding, the FFA said ina statement.
"We believe Australia has very strong credentials,"FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said in the state-ment.
"Australia has quality facilities, good systems andinfrastructure and the capacity to develop more, stablegovernance and football fans and all-round sports fanswho are knowledgeable and passionate."
Buckley said the FFA was keen on hosting majorsoccer events. — MNA/Reuters
Valencia agree to let Canizaresleave at end of season
MADRID, 18 May — Valencia have agreed withgoalkeeper Santiago Canizares to rescind his contractfrom the start of next week, the Primera Liga club saidon Friday.
"I want to thank him for everything he has given thisclub. He has been an icon and we wish the very best ofluck," president Agustin Morera told a news confer-ence. "We would have liked it all to have finished ina better way but he deserves to leave the club with a bigsend off." — MNA/Reuters
Laudrup to leave Getafe at end of season
Cafu, Serginhoto leave
AC Milan MILAN, 18 May — Cafu
and Serginho will leaveAC Milan at the end of theseason, the Brazilian fullbacks said on Friday.
Last season's Europeanchampions are letting thepair go after deciding tobring in fresh bloodfollowing a poor cam-paign, with Barcelonadefender GianlucaZambrotta a target.
World Cup winnerCafu, 37, will return toBrazil but is unsure if hewill retire.
"I have had five mar-vellous years in which Ihave managed to win eve-rything," the former ASRoma right back toldMilan Channel.
MNA/Reuters
LISBON, 19 May —Former Chelsea managerJose Mourinho said Sun-day that he hoped to returnto coaching within fourweeks.
“There’s a week left be-fore the end of leagues. Istill don’t know where I’llwork but I hope to be work-ing in one month,”Mourinho was quoted assaying.
“I don’t know where (I’llbe working) but I’m sure that I will be working.”
The 45-year-old, who left Chelsea last September,recently denied reports he had held talks with Serie Aleaders Inter Milan.
Mourinho, who lifted the Champions League withPorto before guiding Chelsea to two Premiership titlesand an FA Cup, is one of the most sought-after coachesfollowing his abrupt departure from Chelsea.—Internet
ROME, 19 May — InterMilan won their thirdstraight Italian Serie A ti-tle with a 2-0 victory atParma on Sunday.
Sweden forward ZlatanIbrahimovic scored bothgoals after coming off the
bench to secure thenerazzurri’s 16th Scudettocrown.
AS Roma’s hopes ofsnatching the title on thelast day of the season fal-tered as they were held toa 1-1 draw at Catania, but
Ibrahimovic’s double ren-dered their result mean-ingless anyway.
“That was tough, par-ticularly the last month anda half,” Inter midfielderDejan Stankovic told SkyTV. “Everyone can saywhat they want but we’rethe best. Congratulationsto Roma who play greatfootball and who believeduntil the end but Inter havebeen top for the last twoyears.
“It’s more exciting towin it on the final day,with this weather (heavyrain) and with Parma whowere fighting for theirlives.”
Fiorentina claimed thelast Champions Leaguequalifying position afterfinishing fourth followingtheir 1-0 win at Torino.
Internet
MADRID, 18 May — Ahat-trick from Giovani dosSantos helped Barcelonato a 5-3 victory away torelegated Real Murcia onSaturday which gavecoach Frank Rijkaard awinning send off in hislast league game in charge.
Murcia took an earlylead through Juan Ochoa,but three from Giovani andone each from SamuelEto'o and Thierry Henrymade sure of third placein the Primera Liga forBarca.
Near the end, IvanAlonso pulled one backfor Murcia from the pen-alty spot and Abel Gomezcurled in a free kick.
Barca finish the seasonwith 67 points from 38
games, three ahead offourth-placed AtleticoMadrid who visit Valen-cia on Sunday. Barca havethe superior head-to-headrecord over Atletico.
Murcia striker Alonsoheaded against the cross-bar early on and had an-other pushed round thepost soon after as the visi-tors struggled under thehigh ball. — MNA/Reuters
MADRID, 18 May — Getafe coachMichael Laudrup announced on Fridayhe will leave the Primera Liga side at theend of the season.
The former Denmark internationalsteered Getafe to the UEFA Cup quar-ter-finals in their debut campaign inEurope, a second successive final of theKing's Cup and ensured they will re-main in the Primera Liga for a fifthseason in a row.
"My time at the club has come to anend," Laudrup told a news conference.
"I'm making this announcement sothat the club can have a chance to look fora replacement and in order to express mythanks to them for having given me thisopportunity. "This club is a very recentarrival to the first division, but despitethat people said to me when I took overhere that I had gone to a club which hadgreat expectations. —MNA/Reuters
20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:31 AM14
THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 20 May, 2008 15
R 489 Published by the News and Periodicals Enterprise, Ministry of Information, Union of Myanmar. Edited and printed at The New Light of Myanmar Press,No 22/30 Strand Road at 43rd Street, Yangon. Cable Newlight, PO Box No. 43, Telephones: Editors 392308, Manager 392226, Circulation 392304, Advertisement 392223,Accounts 392224, Administration 392225, Production/Press 392369
WEATHER Summary of observations recorded at 9:30 hoursMST: During the past 24 hours, weather has been partlycloudy in Magway Division and Kayah State, rain orthundershowers have been isolated in Shan and ChinStates, Bago and Ayeyawady Divisions, scattered inKayin State, lower Sagaing, Mandalay and YangonDivisions, fairly widespread in Rakhine State and wide-spread in the remaining States and Divisions with locallyheavyfalls in Mon State and Taninthayi Division. Daytemperatures were (3°C) to (4ºC) below May averagetemperatures in Kachin, Shan and Mon States, upperSagaing and Ayeyawady Divisions, (5ºC) to (6°C) be-low May average temperatures in Rakhine State, Magway,Bago, Yangon and Taninthayi Divisions and about Mayaverage temperatures in the remaining areas. The note-worthy amounts of rainfall recorded were Mawlamyine(9.37) inches, Thaton (6.69) inches, Longlon (5.59)inches, Dawei (4.61) inches, Mogok (3.00) inches,Myitkyina (2.79) inches, Myeik (2.56) inches andMachanbaw (2.36) inches.
Maximum temperature on 18-5-2008 was 84ºF.Minimum temperature on 19-5-2008 was 74ºF. Rela-tive humidity at (09:30) hours MST on 19-5-2008 was89%. Total sunshine hours on 18-5-2008 was (0.3)hours approx.
Rainfall on 19-5-2008 was (Tr) at Mingaladon, (0.12)inch at Kaba-Aye and (0.04) inch at Central Yangon.Total rainfall since 1-1-2008 was (23.70) inches atMingaladon, (27.95) inches at Kaba-Aye and (30.28)
inches at Central Yangon. Maximum wind speed at Yangon(Kaba-Aye) was (8) mph from Northwest at (15:30) hoursMST on 18-5-2008.
Bay inference: Monsoon is strong in the South Bayand Andaman Sea and weather is partly cloudy in theEast Central Bay and Andaman Sea and partly cloudyelsewhere in the Bay of Bengal.
Forecast valid until evening of 20-5-2008: Rain orthundershowers will be widespread in Kachin, Rakhine,Mon and Kayin States, upper Sagaing, Yangon andTaninthayi Divisions, fairly widespread in Bago andAyeyawady Divisions, scattered in Mandalay Divisionand isolated in the remaining States and Divisions withlikelihood of isolated heavyfalls in Rakhine State andTaninthayi Division. Degree of certainty is (80%).
State of the sea: Squalls with rough seas are likelyat time off and along Myanmar Coasts. Surface windspeed in squalls may reach (40) to (45) mph.
Outlook for subsequent two days: Likelihood ofcontinuation of thundery conditions in the CentralMyanmar areas.
Forecast for Nay Pyi Taw and neighbouring areafor 20-5-2008: One or two rain or thundershowers.Degree of certainty is (80%).
Forecast for Yangon and neighbouring area for20-5-2008: Some rain. Degree of certainty is (80%).
Forecast for Mandalay and neighbouring area for20-5-2008: One or two rain or thundershowers. Degreeof certainty is (80%).
Strong quake hitsIndonesia’s SumatraJAKARTA, 19 May—Earthquake hit magnitude of
6.0 rocked Bengkulu Province in Sumatra Island ofIndonesia on Sunday afternoom, but there were noreports of damage or casualty, the country’smeteorology agency said.
&&
Seven killed as storm“Halong”sweeps across N PhilippinesMANILA, 19 May—At
least seven people werekilled and thousandsforced to leave theirhomes as tropical storm“Halong” swept across the
northern Philippines overthe weekend, thePhilippine Star reportedon Monday.
The Nationalnewspaper quoted theNational DisasterCoordinating Council(NDCC), the nationaldisaster relief agency, assaying that the identities ofthe three dead remainedunconfirmed.
NDCC spokesmanAnthony Golez said thevictims were mostly killedby electrocution or fallenobjects such as trees andiron sheets.
MNA/Xinhua
The quake struck at19:17 Jakarta Time (1217GMT) with its epicentre at73 kilometres southeast ofMukomuko Town in theprovince and with a depthof 15 kilometres below thesea bed, official of theagency Jajat Sudjatmikosaid.
The intensity of thequake was felt up to thenearby province of WestSumatra, but the intensitywas wholly weak, he said.
“The shakes of thequake was so weak that theycaused no damage orcasualty” he told Xinhua.
MNA/Xinhua
20-5-08 NL 7/31/18, 1:31 AM15
1st Waning of Kason 1370 ME Tuesday, 20 May, 2008
NAY PYI TAW, 19 MAY – The State Peace and Development Council of the Union of Myanmar has released Announcement No (6/2008) dated 19 May, 2008.The full text of the announcement is as follows:
Union of MyanmarState Peace and Development Council
Announcement No (6/2008)Fullmoon Day of Kason, 1370 ME
(19th May, 2008)Days of mourning designated
1. Cyclone Nargis started to enter the Union of Myanmar through Hainggyigyun at 9:00 am on 2 May, 2008, and left only at 12:30 pm on 4 May, 2008.2. The Cyclone hit Ayeyawady, Yangon and Bago Divisions and Mon and Kayin States in the Union of Myanmar claiming many lives and causing enormous
destruction to houses, schools, hospitals, religious buildings, watercraft, plantations and forests including food supplies.3. It is hereby announced that the three days from 20 May 2008 to 22 May 2008 inclusive have been designated as the days of mourning for the loss of lives of
the people and the flags shall be flown at half mast starting from 9 am on those days.
By order
Sd/ Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint OoLieutenant-GeneralSecretary-1
State Peace and Development Council
Half-mast flags to mourn victims for three days
Senior General Than Shwe inspects relief andrehabilitation work in Yangon Division
Rebuilding of main livelihoodsof local people necessary
NAY PYI TAW, 19 May– Chairman of the StatePeace and DevelopmentCouncil Commander-in-Chief of Defence ServicesSenior General ThanShwe, accompanied byGeneral Thura ShweMann of the Ministry ofDefence, member ofSPDC Lt-Gen Tin Aye,Commander-in-Chief(Navy) Vice-Admiral SoeThein, Commander-in-Chief (Air) Lt-Gen MyatHein, Deputy Minister forHealth Dr Paing Soe, sen-ior military officers of theMinistry of Defence andofficials of SPDC Office,arrived in Yangon fromNay Pyi Taw by Tatmadawaircraft yesterday to inspectrelief and rehabilitationwork in storm-hit areas inYangon and AyeyawadyDivisions.
Senior General ThanShwe was welcomed atYangon International Air-port by Prime MinisterGeneral Thein Sein, Lt-
Gen Myint Swe of theMinistry of Defence,Chairman of Yangon Di-vision Peace and Devel-
opment Council Com-mander of Yangon Com-mand Maj-Gen Hla HtayWin, Chairman of Yangon
City Development Com-mittee Mayor Brig-GenAung Thein Lin and sen-ior military officers.
At 2.20 pm at YangonCommand, Chairman ofNational Disaster Prepar-edness Central Commit-
tee Prime Minister Gen-eral Thein Sein and mem-bers reported on relief
