BURMA:JUST SEVEN days after Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma last month, the ruling military junta parcelled out key sections of the affected Irrawaddy Delta to favoured tycoons and companies, including several facing sanctions from the US treasury, according to a Burmese magazine with close ties to the government.
Some of the most notorious business executives in Burma, including Tay Za and Steven Law, also known as Tun Myint Naing, were given control of "reconstruction and relief" in critical townships, under the leadership of top generals. Tay Za was identified by the US treasury as a "regime henchman" earlier this year when it slapped economic sanctions on hotel enterprises and other businesses he owns.
All told, more than 30 companies and 30 executives are to divide up the business in 11 townships in areas affected by Nargis, according to the report.
The document is dated May 9th, a time when the United Nations, aid groups and many countries were pleading with the Burma government to allow access to affected areas in the aftermath of the storm, which killed as many as 130,000 people and left 2.5 million without homes.
Despite promises of greater openness, Burma's rulers have continued to impose restrictions on aid relief, including new and onerous identification requirements for aid workers, according to reports from the region.
The document, which includes the mobile phone numbers for many of the executives, was published in the Voice, a journal published by Nay Win Maung.
Nay Win Maung is a son of a military officer and was brought up among Burma's military elites, giving him connections to military insiders, and his magazines can access government-related news and exclusive information.
"The treasury is targeting the regime's cronies, and the regime wants its cronies to get the money," said Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. "They see it as an opportunity to profit from the international community's compassion. But these are not experts in providing relief; they are experts in running guns and drugs and making a lot of money."
The government estimated it needed more than $11 billion (€7.2 billion) in reconstruction aid shortly after the May 2nd-3rd cyclone, a figure that met with a cool reception at an international donors' conference in Rangoon three weeks ago. Burma is rich in natural resources, but much of the country is desperately poor.
The junta has enriched itself with natural gas fields that bring in about $2 billion in annual revenue, as well as trade in jewels, heroin, amphetamines, timber and small arms.
Some of the conglomerates given business in the delta, such as Law's Asia World and Tay Za's Htoo Trading, were also tasked with building the country's new capital at Naypyidaw, more than 200 miles from the old capital of Yangon. With little notice three years ago, the junta uprooted the capital to a remote area, requiring massive construction of new government buildings, hotels and housing for civil servants.
Much of the country, in fact, is a forced labour camp, with more than 60 prisons, labour camps and detention centres, according to a report this year by the Burma Fund, an anti-government group. People forced into construction are paid minimal wages, if at all.
Hlaing Sein, an officer with the London-based Burma Campaign UK, said that Htoo Trading, which was given control of Heingigyum and Ngaopudaw townships, forced cyclone victims to work for 800 kyat a day, roughly 70 cent, in order to meet a government order to reopen schools by June 2nd.
But a litre of water in the delta now costs almost $1.50, she said.
Tay Za, whose businesses include timber, palm oil and aviation, is said to be close to senior general Than Shwe, the junta leader, in part because of his habit of hiring the children of powerful generals. The Bangkok Post recently reported that though no public warnings were made about the approaching cyclone, air force fighters and private passenger planes from Bagan Air - believed to be a joint venture between Tay Za and Than Shwe's family - were moved the evening before the storm from Rangoon airport to Mandalay, which was not in the path of the storm.