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Myanmar's generals
build their 'Xanadu'
By Larry
Jagan
BANGKOK - For months Yangon has been
rife with rumors that the country's military
rulers were planning to retreat to the hills in
central Myanmar for fear of a foreign invasion
from the sea.
But according to the
blueprints for the new military complex, it is
actually going to replace the inland port city of
Yangon, with its famed shimmering pagodas, as the
country's capital.
"This is typical of
[military ruler] Than Shwe's pretensions to be the
new Burmese monarch. Like the Burmese kings who
ruled before him he is building a new
palace-capital for posterity," said Thailand-based
senior Myanmar analyst Win Min.
But
according to diplomats and government officials in
Yangon, the real reason for the relocation inland
to Pyinmana, 400 kilometers to the north, is for
safety from possible outside intervention.
Myanmar's military rulers have faced
ever-tightening international sanctions since
1997, when the US stopped new investments in the
country. On Tuesday, the sanctions were renewed
for another year when the US Senate voted
overwhelmingly in favor of this action.
The military's headquarters, government
ministries and the new parliament are all
scheduled to be moved to the new inland location -
many people in Myanmar are already calling it
"escape city" - within the next 12 months.
"It's one of the biggest constructions I
have ever seen," a Western diplomat in Yangon told
Inter Press Service (IPS), referring to the new
complex on an area measuring 10 square kilometers.
Mansions for the senior generals,
government offices and national headquarters for
the country's ethnic groups are being built. The
national headquarters is to be 30 meters high,
according to the architectural plans.
Although a new parliament is under
construction, it is unclear from the plans whether
there are plots allocated to the political
parties, particularly incarcerated leader Aung San
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, said the
government official.
Bunkers, tunnels, a
large military hospital, apartments, a huge
airstrip and a golf course are being built, said
eye-witnesses.
The plans have been in the
pipeline for several years and construction
started on it nearly two years ago. "The planned
retreat is essentially strategic," said an Asian
diplomat who regularly deals with Yangon.
The US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003
reinforced the generals' fear that Washington
might attack Myanmar, according to analysts.
Myanmar's military strategists have long argued
that the country's defenses were vulnerable to an
attack from the sea.
Myanmar's generals
are said to suffer from a siege mentality. "Than
Shwe has a bunker mentality, and when he's
completely secure he'll launch his offensives,"
said Win Min.
Analysts believe that the
move inland is also intended to give the regime
better access to the frontier areas, especially
those of the Chin, Karen, Kayah and Shan, where
most ethnic groups that have ceasefire pacts with
Yangon are strong.
"Although the ethnic
organizations have ceasefire agreements with the
junta, the top generals remain highly suspicious
of them and want to be in a better position to
control them if they need to," Win Min told IPS.
But now, according to the plans, the whole
military and government administration is to be
relocated to Pyinmana. Even foreign embassies are
likely to have to follow the government when it is
finally transplanted into the hills.
Several ministries are scheduled to move
to the new capital in the next few months,
according to diplomats.
Civil servants
have been panicky about the shift. "The civil
servants do not want to move. There's no
infrastructure such as schools for their kids,"
said Win Min.
The lack of accommodation
for families at Pyinmana means only bureaucrats
who are single are likely to be transferred in the
first phase. As a result, many young public
servants are desperately trying to find marriage
partners to help postpone their reassignment to
the new capital.
Thousands of villagers
have been uprooted and relocated to make way for
the construction of the new capital. Over the past
18 months at least 10,000 people are said to have
been removed from the site.
At the
beginning of May, another 3,000 residents were
ordered to vacate their villages. More than 5,000
villagers are scheduled to be relocated at the
start of next year.
The International
Labor Organization (ILO) has received complaints
of extensive forced labor and relocations. In a
recent report, the ILO representative in Yangon
said there had been allegations that villagers
were forced to construct camps and facilities for
several army battalions and an air defense
squadrons deployed on the site.
"At least
14 villages had to provide 200 workers each on a
daily basis for the work," according to the ILO
report. Typically, the Myanmar government
dismissed these allegations as baseless.
The construction work involves several
prominent Myanmar companies, including Htoo
Trading owned by the wealthy magnate and arms
dealer Te Za, who is reputed to be very close to
Than Shwe.
"The delay in the reconvening
of the National Convention and the drafting of the
constitution may actually be related to the
completion of the new capital at Pyinmana," a
Western diplomat in Rangoon told IPS.
A
political roadmap announced in August 2003 calls
for the reconvening the National Convention to
draft a new constitution; a national referendum on
the draft of the constitution; holding a general
election to produce parliament representatives;
and formation of a new democratic government.
(Inter Press Service) |
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