Message-ID: <199701191414.XAA01248@inetnif.niftyserve.or.jp> Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 23:10:00 +0900 From: Martin Sieg <mailto:QWA01214@NIFTYSERVE.OR.JP> Subject: Destructive development in Burma To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
Devel-L friends,Much of what I have read on this list concerns efforts to find the most ben ificial methods and processes of development, for application in the real worl d.
What I would like to know is: how many people fight for the right to implem ent truly helpful development projects? How much effort is made by the "exper ts" and other concerned people to prevent so called development that is in rea lity destructive?
The following is an exmple of what I mean. ________________________________________________________________________ Excerpt from NEW FRONTIERS: Monthly Briefing on Tourism, Development and Environment Issues in the Mekong Subregion (November 1996)
TOURISM-RELATED PROJECTS ANGER MANDALAY RESIDENTS [TN: 18.10.96]
Farmers in Mandalay are upset about losing land they have cultivated for centuries because of a dam project at Taungthaman Lake, 20 kilometers south of the city.
"The government has dammed the lake because they want to see tourists go water-skiing," said a local resident involved in governmental development projects. As a result, 30 villages have lost farmland and their way of life without any compensation.
Before being dammed at two points, the bottom of Taungthaman Lake had been used for farming when it dried up in the dry season. "There's a famous old bridge across this lake," the source explained. "In the dry season, we used to see farmers walking under the shade of the bridge on their way to planting rice and nuts. It was a beautiful sight for tourists, and they enjoyed walking around in a place that would fill up with water in the rainy season." It is believed that the government is planning to build hotels around the lake.
Many Mandalay residents also complain about other changes in the city. They say the government has, for example, torn down a beautiful old wooden market to build a huge concrete market downtown.
One source said he had seen a blueprint of a redevelopment plan for Mandalay which included the knocking down of old buildings in the downtown area to clear the way for wider roads. Tourists to Mandalay reported they ended up leaving sick and tired of hearing construction drills that are destroying the city's appeal.
Locals also still talk bitterly about the controversial digging of a new moat around the old royal palace in 1995 to "beautify" the site for Visit Myanmar Year. Once resident living near the palace said 10 people died, and this was "common knowledge" among his neighbours. "It's like 500 years ago in other countries," he said. "Slaves digging a moat in front of a palace. Like slaves building pyramids in Egypt. But it's still happening in my country." _____________________________________________________________________________
Please send me ANY other information you might have on development efforts rel ated to Burma, to: mailto:QWA01214@niftyserve.or.jp
Thank you,
Martin Sieg People's Forum on Burma, Tokyo