( 19.02.2018 )
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The Report to the People on the Progress of Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine StateIntroduction
1. The current issues in Rakhine State are not only the concern of Rakhine State alone but also the concern of the country as a whole. The stability, peace and development of Rakhine State are absolutely critical for the whole country to become stable, peaceful and developed.
2. While there is so much work to be done for rule of law and development across the country including Rakhine State, the Government is putting a great deal of determined efforts into promoting rule of law and enhancing development. In doing so, the national level development projects and plans as well as those for Rakhine State have been implemented. The implementation of those plans and projects is found to be highly relevant to and in line with the recommendations put forward by the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State. The Advisory Commission on Rakhine State submitted its interim report in March, 2017. The implementation of the recommendations of the interim report started from 1 April, 2018 and in order to increase the momentum, the Government established the Committee for Implementation of Recommendations on Rakhine State with 19 members on 9 October, 2017. The Committee has to release its Report to the People on the progress of its implementation every four months. This report covers the period from 1 April, 2017 when the implementation of the recommendations started before the formation of the Committee up to 31 December, 2017.
The Economic and Social Development of Rakhine State
3. Since both domestic and foreign investments play an important role in the state’s economy, the Rakhine State Investment Commission was established on 7 July, 2017 and the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration opened its state office on 30 October, 2017. Till now, they have verified and granted concessions to a total of 48 investment projects, including 6 livestock and fishery projects, 2 construction projects, 11 hotel and tourism projects in accordance with the Myanmar Citizen Investment Law, as well as 1 mining project, 27 energy projects and 1 service business in accordance with the Foreign Investment Law, with an aim to create job opportunities for local people.
4. Whenever expropriation of private land is unavoidable to execute investment projects, the owners are entitled to compensations for their land and losses. To date, compensations have been provided to 1,001 local people who lost their land and crops due to land expropriation for investment and development projects. The fund to compensate another 7 local people has also been requested in 2018-2019 FY Budget.
5. As a form of Corporate Social Responsibility, the contributions made by the investors to the socioeconomic development of Kyaukpyu are as follows: 50 villages are supported MMK 30 million each to use as revolving funds for village development activities; and heavy equipment operator training was conducted in cooperation with Caterpillar Company. In education and infrastructure sectors, Shwe Gas Project and Southeast Asia Oil and Gas Pipeline Project have contributed MMK 7.62907 billion and USD 876257.65 respectively.
6. (Previous experience has shown that large-scale projects, including SEZs, can have negative consequences on the environment, other economic sectors and local people; therefore,) the Environmental Conservation Department and the Management Committee of Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone have been discussing and coordinating to conduct the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in a comprehensive approach.
7. Also, the coordination and cooperation with ILO are taking place to conduct labour market assessment – LMA. While preparing for LMA, trainings have been delivered to local people to enhance their vocational skills. There have been 22 types of vocational training including those for women provided to a total of 2,160 trainees. With the support of GIZ, dress-making training course was provided in Yangon for the local women from Kyaukpyu, and other vocational training on ironwork, wielding, and electrician training and the training on modern agricultural techniques were also conducted. During the reporting period, 250 jobs can be created in Smart garment factory, Khine Pyi Soe garment factory and Shwe Kyar hand weaving workshop. Likewise, Shwe Project and Southeast Asia Oil and Gas Pipeline Project also offer jobs to 520 local people.
8. As transportation is an important component of socioeconomic development, high priority is given to improving transportation in Rakhine State. Starting from April up to December, 2017, roads and bridges damaged after the attacks in Maungtaw were repaired and earthen roads, gravel roads, concrete roads and concrete bridges were built. Heliports were also constructed. Currently, twenty bridges and two new mountain roads on May Yu Mountain are under construction.
9. In the land transport sector, 6 more bus lines have been expanded in addition to the 42 existing bus lines. For water transport, transportation along the Rakhine coastline and rivers is improved with Kispanadi (1) and (2) vessels running along the Sittway-Kyaukphu route and Aung Takhon vessels running along the Sittway-Buthidaung route. As a part of the Kalatan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project supported by the Indian Government, six cargo vessels of 300 ton capacity started running on 26 June, 2017. In the air transport, approval has been obtained to build the new Mrauk U airport through public private partnership (PPP). At Munaung Airport, construction of 200 foot over-run to the south to the existing runway (4,500´x100´) and RESA earth leveling work has been started. Also in Sittway Airport, construction of the expanded terminal building (180´x60´) has been completed;
10. In the Communications sector, mobile phone penetration is now over 85% and there have been more than 1 million internet users.
11. The efforts made in the electricity sector, starting from 1 April, 2017 up to 31 December, 2017, have resulted in the increases of electricity supply in terms of the number of hours a day, which is illustrated in the following diagram.
12. For drinking water supply, building and repairing 26 earthen ponds were completed in the villages in Rakine State. Thinechaung Earthen Dam (with capacity 249 million gallons) and Dotantaung (1) Check Dam (with capacity 20.39 million gallons) were constructed. Construction of concrete reservoirs, repair of earthen ponds, installation of pipes connecting reservoirs to water collecting tanks were also carried out. Additionally, 234 rural drinking water supply projects were implemented in 233 villages, sourcing water from hand-dug wells, ponds, springs and other sources. A variety of comprehensive rural development activities were also undertaken in 7 villages through Village Development Project, in 235 villages through CDD Project and in 97 villages through Emerald Green Project.
13. In support of agricultural production, mechanization was promoted by giving out loans of MMK 447.953 million to farmers to buy 233 machines and equipment for farming and fishery, and by selling 2 tractors and 575 hand-operated tractors in installments. Moreover, 23,332 baskets of seeds of pure paddy variety, 30 baskets of seeds of winter peanuts, 4 baskets of seeds of green gram, 796 packets of vegetable seeds were distributed to 4,553 households. The training on agricultural techniques was provided to 90 farmers with the support of KOPIA project. The farming equipment operator training was conducted for four times and benefitted 110 trainees. Besides, 1,261 farmer trainings were delivered in all townships of Rakhine State.
14. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are important drivers of the development of the regional economy. Loans are given out to SMEs with the repayment terms from 3 to 5 years at an interest rate of 9%. Cooperating with JICA, Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank provides two step loans, with 3 to 5 year repayment terms, at an interest rate of 8% to farmers all over the country including Rakhine State. As agricultural loans have been provided to farmers in Rakhine State, loans of MMK 86181.15 million were given out for monsoon crops to the farmers in 17 townships and loans of MMK 2408.55 million were given out for winter crops to the farmers in 7 townships in 2017-2018 Financial Year.
15. In the tourism sector, the new Myanmar Hotel and Tourism Law have been drafted and submitted to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw through the President’s Office. Once that law is approved and enacted, there will be more opportunities for small scale family hotel businesses.
16. Encouraging investments and development of businesses, the company registration process has been streamlined by reducing the procedures up to 4 steps from previous 13 steps, and also reducing the registration fee from MMK 1 million to MMK 500,000. Additionally, a telephone hot line (1887) has been set up to provide information needed for incorporating a company or making an investment.
17. As efforts to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change, the following activities have also been implemented: 11,764 acres of community forests have been established; 1,644 acres of Gwa Chaung mangrove forest is planned to designate as protected area; and 390,000 trees were grown through community tree planting movements in 2017-2018. Regarding production and distribution of climate resilient seeds, 441 acres of monsoon paddy seed nursery was established, 415,687 acres was planned and grown for crop diversification during 2017-2018 Financial Year. Improving irrigation systems is another important effort for agricultural development. As such, 100% of 75 projects were completed, including construction, upgrade and repairs of irrigation systems, embankments, spillways, concrete water gate, check dams, and reservoir dams. In Rakhine State, 26 environmental education programs were organized during the period from June to November, 2017 and 5,174 people attended those programs.
Citizenship
18. Since the time the current Government took office, the Muslim people who applied for going through the national verification process were verified in accordance with the Law and the numbers of people who benefitted from those processes are listed below.
19. If the people who want go through the verification process do not hold any forms of identification documents, they need to hold a NV Card first in accordance with the Law. As a form of advocacy for acquiring and holding NV cards, the members of the Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine State have been briefing the rights and responsibilities, associated with holding NV cards, to Muslim village administrators, 100-household heads, local people and fishermen working on fishing boats on every visit of theirs to Rakhine State. During the NV processes, the necessary forms and documents for application of citizenship are also provided.
20. The Government seeks to actively engage the Islamic religious groups in the country to mobilize more participation and cooperation of Muslim people in the verification processes. This active engagement did result in discussions and negotiations between the Islamic religious groups and the members of the Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine State as well as the statements issued by those Islamic religious groups, urging all the Muslim people in Rakhine State to cooperate with the authorities in the national verification process.
Freedom of Movement
21. With regards to the freedom of movement for people holding NVC Card or any forms of identification document, a road map has been developed with time-frames and milestones for removing restrictions. According to the road map, the initial steps have taken in the Maungtaw District, including intensifying security and raising awareness widely among the communities of both sides that actions will be taken against any acts by any side which harm, disturb or block the people from the other side moving around, in accordance with the existing laws, rules and regulations.
Internationally Displaced Persons (IDPS)
22. Work has been started for the closure of the Thetkelpyin IDP Camp and Aung Mingalar Ward in Sittway Township, and the Taungpaw IDP Camp in Myepon Township in line with the international standards.
23. The repair and construction work carried out to improve the shelters in the IDP camps is as follows:
(a) 50 shelters in the Say-tha-mar-gyi IDP camp, Sittway were refurbished;
(b) 12 individual houses were constructed in place of the shelters in the camp in Ramree;
(c) At the IDP camps in Sittway Township, 176 new shelters, 281 new units of shelters, 482 tube well pumps and 508 toilets were constructed.
Humanitarian Assistance
24. Humanitarian assistance has been provided by the Union Government, the public, UNHRD Youth Volunteer Program, Red Cross Movement, ASEAN countries, partner countries and various national and international organizations as follows:
(a) Food and non food items in a total value of MMK 479.60 million by the Union Government;
(b) Food and non food items in a total value of Swiss Franc 17 million by Red Cross Movement;
(c) Food and non food items in a total value of USD 730,000 by ASEAN countries;
(d) Assistance in a total value of MMK 443.75 million by UEHRD Youth Volunteers;
(e)Assistance in a total value of MMK 79.05 million by MA UK Myanmar.
Media Access
25. After the incident in October, 2016, eight media tours were arranged for domestic and international media to visit Maungdaw area and IDP camps in Rakhine State to date. The domestic and international media were also sponsored to accompany on two of the field visits of diplomatic heads from the foreign missions in Myanmar and the military personnel. Currently media access is being provided to domestic and international media twice a month.
26. In order to improve information sharing related to Rakhine State, not only the state-owned media but also the social media such as Facebook and Twitter are used. May Yu FM, with the broadcast range covering the Maungdaw District, has been broadcasting educational and awareness programs in Myanmar, Rakhine and Bengali languages six times a day. Radios are also provided free to the local communities.
Education
27. The projects and activities implemented in the education sector in Rakhine State from April to December, 2017 are listed below:
(a) Out of 424 schools that were closed after the violent incident, 290 schools have been reopened.
(b) Stipend of MMK 28.53 million and 4,000 school uniforms in a total value of MMK 8.00 million were supported to 2,189 basic education students in Rakhine State.
(c) MMK 22.5 million has been supported to 450 teachers assigned in Maungdaw and Buthidaung Township in Rakhine State. Security is being provided by the Government for its staff.
(d) In order to assist 61 local Muslim students to be able sit in the examinations of the University of Distance Education, intensive courses were offered at the Government Technical Institute (GTI) in Thandwe from 27-10-2017 to 29-11-2017.
(e) 9 Muslim students were admitted at the University of Distance Education (Sittwe) and 39 Muslim students at the University of Distance Education (Toungup).
(f) Pilot projects for literacy campaign are planned in Shwe Zaa, Maung Ni, Pan Taw Pyin, Shwe Zaa Sayti Pyin and Thayet Oat villages for the children from local Muslim communities to gain basic Myanmar language skills.
(g)Education is being provided to the students from IDP camps at Thetkaepyin Ywama post-primary school, Thinganet post-primary school and Tharyargone post-primary school. The students who completed their studies at those schools can continue their education at Thetkaepyingone high school. Teacher trainings will be provided to those who have not completed the trainings.
Health
28. Awareness has been raised among all the communities in Rakhine State to get the message across that anyone can access healthcare services. As a result, healthcare services were provided as shown in the following table.
29. At every hospital and healthcare center, the signboards, giving information in Rakhine, Bengali and English languages, are posted to inform that everyone is welcome to seek healthcare services and also that hospitals and healthcare centers are “protected zones” where the people coming to receive care are granted with a safe environment.
30. Health education and health news reports are regularly broadcast in Bengali language on May Yu FM radio as parts of its program. Five topics on health education programmes were broadcast in October, five in November, and increased to seven in December.
31. The Community Health Care Training was conducted for two times and joined by a total of 72 community health workers, including Muslim health workers.
32. 197 items of medicines and hospital equipment were provided to 24 public hospitals within Rakine State. Likewise, medicines and medical equipment, X-ray machine and laboratory equipment were also provided to Tanung Pyo Letwe Hospital in Maungdaw Township.
33. At Buthidaung Township Hospital, it has been planned to set up a small blood bank with the support of JICA. Arrangements have been made to procure necessary machines and equipment including cold chain cabinet powered with solar system to store blood and to transport them to the Hospital.
34. So as to have a proportionate ratio between the population and health personnel in Rakhine State, 34 new doctors, one new dentist and 64 new nurses have already been recruited and appointed. As part of the government program to increase healthcare capacity, a total number of 430 nurses and midwives were trained at the Nurses and Midwives Training Institute (Sittwe) as well as a total number of 101 trainees were trained in a six-month training course on Public Health Supervisor (Grade 2) in Sittwe.
35. As one of the efforts to upgrade health infrastructure in Rakhine State, a master plan on upgrading of Sittwe General Hospital is being drafted and survey activities for measuring hospital buildings both inside and outside as well as topographic survey have been conducted. The activities to be implemented phase by phase have been prioritized.
36. To contribute to combatting malnutrition across the state, a survey is being conducted to assess the nutritional status and physical growth of the children in Rakhine State. A total of 30 enumeration areas (EAs) are selected and the survey has been completed in 4 EAs and is still ongoing in 2 EAs. In the routine nutrition program, the nutritional status of the children is regularly checked and 37 kinds of nutrition supplements and other medicines including vitamin tablets and micronutrient tablets have been provided to date.
37. During the reporting period, healthcare personnel, including Muslim healthcare workers, were trained on immunization. Supplementary oral polio immunization campaigns were conducted in Rakhine State and those campaigns also covered Maungdaw Township and Buthidaung Township. The campaigns benefitted 79,196 children as the first batch and 71,330 children as the second batch in Maungdaw Township as well as the first batch of 57,587 and the second batch of 57,587 children in Buthidaung Township. Similarly, the Japanese Encephalitis mass immunization campaigns reached 28,265 children in Maungdaw and 34,507 children in Buthidaung.
38. As part of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), 614 children under one and 137 pregnant women were provided required vaccines in Muslim villages within Pauktaw Township.
Drugs
39. To reduce the threats of drug abuse, the following measures were carried out:
(a) Two trainings for Volunteer Narcotic Drug Supervisors were conducted, with a focus on reducing drug abuse and the rehabilitation of those who had stopped using narcotic drugs.
(b) Legal actions were taken against a total of 18 personnel, two police officers and 16 police of other ranks who were found guilty in narcotics related corruption cases.
(c) To raise awareness about narcotics among the public, 441 educational talks were conducted, gathering 21,697 people including students.
(d) From 1 January 2017 to 22 November 2017, there were a total number of 138 drug-related crimes investigated in Rakhine State and 191 people were brought to court. Different kinds of narcotic drugs which were worth about MMK 65 million were seized.
Communal Participation and Representation
40. Restrictions on registration of civil society organizations have been relaxed and a total of 88 organizations have been registered during the reporting period.
41. In accordance with the Ward/Village Tract Administration Law and Rules, the new elections for ten- and hundred- household heads were held and a total number of 1,063 heads were elected in 151 wards and 912 village tracts.
42. Terms of reference and code of ethics for the Camp Management Committee in IDP camps are under review for amendments.
Inter-communal Cohesion
43. The activities undertaken for inter-communal cohesion are summarized below.
(a) The Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine State met and discussed with members of 15 CSOs and youth representatives in Rakhine State on 28 October 2017.
(b) The Diversity Management in the Age of Globalization Forum was held in Nay Pyi Taw on 21 and 22 November, which gathered national and international experts, people from all walks of life and people from different communities of Rakhine State. After the Forum, a meeting on local development and inter-communal cohesion was convened with the participation of the representatives from religious organizations in Rakhine State, various ethnic groups, and minority groups at the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.
(c) As a cultural communication and mass participatory movement, an audition was conducted on 25 September, 2017 for Peace Music Festival in Sittwe, Rakhine State.
Security Sector
44. To strengthen the security in Rakhine State, the following measures were taken.
(a) A total number of 30 police officers and police of other ranks from Myanmar Police Force attended Community Policing (Multiplier) Training Course No. (1/2017). 10 police officers from Myanmar Police Force also joined the Community Policing Training conducted in Japan.
(b) Systematic Crowd Management (Multiplier) Training Course No. (1/2017) was provided to 130 police officers and police of other ranks.
(c)(Multiplier) Training on Gender-Based Violence was conducted for 30 police officers and police of other ranks from Myanmar Police Force.
(d) All the police personnel on duty are required to wear visible name badges.
(e) 14 CCTV cameras were installed at the checkpoints of No. (1) Border Guard Police Headquarters, the police squad stations and Chaung Pauk Wa police outpost.
(f) Local Dialect Training Course No. (1/2017) was delivered to 30 police officers and police of other ranks from Rakhine State.
(g) 13 police officers and 14 police of other ranks, totaling 27 policemen were found guilty of violating police code of conducts and the actions were taken against them in accordance with Myanmar Police Force Discipline Maintenance Law.
Access to Justice
45. The civil servants of the judicial sector of Rakhine State were sent to the following trainings and workshops related to the principles and procedures of rule of law:
(a) Fair Trial Standards, and Human Rights Additional Refresher Training delivered at Rakhine State High Court, jointly organized by Union Supreme Court and UNDP;
(b) Multiplier training on the principles of rule of law, access to justice, accountability and transparency, gender equality and international standards for justice conducted at Thandwe District Court, joined by 10 trainees from 21 to 25 October, 2017, at Kyaukphyu District Court, joined by 9 trainees from 11 to 16 December, 2017.
Cultural Development
46. The following activities have been carried out, among others, to promote cultural development in Rakhine State:
(a) As part of the efforts made for the inclusion of Mrauk U on the UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites, GIS Team is making field visits to the villages in Mrauk U area; the hill where the Mrauk U Palace is situated and its surrounding areas are cleaned up; awareness is raised among the communities in the urban wards for proper disposal of waste; and stone posts are set up for use as signs of demarcation of zones.
(b) Manuscript copies of stone inscriptions in the Mruak U Museum have been underway, namely Pyaingcha, O Htain, Wunti Nat Taung, Zonedat Letyarpyanchi, Htayin Nawin, Pangonethein Pagoda, U Mya Wah, Shitthaung Pagoda, Bawdi Shwegu, Lesekan Wall stone, and Vesali Period inscriptions.
(c) Manuscript copies of stone inscriptions in the Sittwe Cultural Museum have also been in progress, namely a part of throne with inscription and stone inscriptions in Sanskrit language, Bukwe stone inscriptions from Pyinlegaung Temple and an anonymous stone inscription.
(d) The applications for Sri Moha Dev Bari Hindu Temple and U Ye Kyaw Thu Monastery to be conserved and protected as historic buildings were submitted.
(e) In addition, the historical data of the following historic, cultural and religious sites and monuments in Sittwe have been collected and documented: Sadhamma Jotikayone Temple which was built in 1885; U Sandima Temple two lion statues built in 1879; Theintawgyi in Amyotha Temple built in 1254 ME; Shwepya Temple built in 1901 and Theintawgyi built in 1916 within the compound of Shwepya Temple.
Border Issues and the Bilateral Relationship with Bangladesh
47. The improvements achieved in dealing with border issues, bilateral relationship with Bangladesh, and border trade and investments are briefly described below.
(a) During the visit of Minister for Home Affairs of Bangladesh in October, 2017, the “MoU on Establishment of Border Liaison Office – BLOs” and “MoU on Security Dialogue and Cooperation” were signed between the two countries on 24 October, 2017.
(b) For the purpose of enhancing bilateral trade and investments, the two countries are taking turns hosting Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meetings once a year. As a result, the total export, import and trade achieved were USD 0.222 million, USD 0.002 million, and USD 0.224 million respectively.
(c) Maungdaw Trade Center could resume its trade activities starting from 14 October, 2017 and it has achieved USD 0.397 million worth of the total export to date.
Regional Relations
48. The Government is briefing and updating neighbouring countries in the ASEAN Region, on a regular basis, on the situations in Rakhine State and its policies and plans on Rakhine State via the following various ways – communications with ASEAN embassies in Myanmar; communications, through Myanmar embassies, with the governments of the neighbouring countries and the ambassadors of other foreign embassies based in those respective countries; at the ASEAN summits, ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meetings and ASEAN Senior Officials’ meetings; at 13th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting; at 31st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management and related meetings; and also during receptions of responsible persons from international organizations.
Implementation of the Commission’s Recommendations
49. The Government is making every effort for effective implementation of the recommendations of the Commission and some of these efforts are outlined below.
(a) “The Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine State” chaired by the Union Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement was established with 19 members, through the Order No. 83/2017 dated 9 October, 2017.
(b) During the year 2017, 10 coordination meetings of the Committee were held with a focus on supporting and coordinating immediate, short-term and long-term plans and priorities to be carried out by respective ministries for successful implementation of the recommendations on Rakhine State.
(c) The Secretariat of the Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine State is operated by a multi-disciplinary team formed with a range of government officers and staff from different related ministries, external IT technicians and experts on related subject matters.
(d) The operational expenses for the Secretariat Office of the Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine State are borne by the President Office.
(e) The financial and technical support and contributions needed for different sectors of the development of Rakhine State have been systematically mobilized under the leadership of Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine -UEHRD.
Conclusion
50. In sum, it is reported to the people that the Government is making continuous and unremitting efforts to provide sufficient electrical power supply and to improve transportation and communications, which are fundamental to the socioeconomic development and creation of employment opportunities in Rakhine State, and also is stepping up the work for freedom of movement, closure of IDP camps and national verification process, through special projects, which are critical elements to end conflict in the long run as well as for strengthened security arrangements.
