Burma: “They’re faking it everywhere”

They’re faking it everywhere. They fake it by video taping, and then leaving that area. They’re just looking for an opportunity to video tape when authorities come. People are suffering from the storm. They are building elaborate stages, with velvet backdrops, and writing things like who is donating what for the storm victims. They want to make it elaborate. They don’t actually look after the people who are suffering. The generals are on these stages, looking grand, with guns around their waists. — Resident of Pyapon, Irrawaddy delta

From a recent interview by RFA’s Burmese service:

Interviewee: Pyapon hasn’t got any aid yet. Social organizations, such as Rice Merchants Association, keep going from Rangoon, taking aid materials and food for their regions. Today, 20 vehicles came from Kyaukbadaung with onions and potatoes. They came to donate them. Small groups from the Rice Merchants Association bought things for the areas they’ve been assigned, like Pyapon. With the money they collected, they bought noodles at Nyaung-bin-lay Market. They bought food and drinks to take there. They divided the onions and potatoes for different areas. The cars will take these things up to Ma-u-bin…The onions and potatoes that we got from Kyaukbadaung will be divided in Ma-u-bin, and we’ll take them there. We’ve gone there and donated before.

Interviewer: Have you heard anything about foreign aid materials?

Interviewee: In rural areas, we haven’t seen any foreign aid materials. People over there can’t eat them, can’t expect them, and haven’t seen them.

Interviewer: The military is saying, and also showing on TV, that they would help, they would do these things. I even saw the prime minister carrying dried noodles. Do they ever come and donate and help?

Interviewee: No, Sir. The dried noodles that they said was unloaded from the helicopters turned out to be dried noodles from Win Thuzar store, the kind that’s worth 50 a packet. We’ve only seen that kind. General Maung Maung Aye’s brother, Ko Soe, died in the storm. The aid goes to them. Their relatives get rice bags. That’s all they do. They don’t do anything for the general public.

Interviewer: Are they giving these things free or selling them?

Interviewee: They’re still unloading from the helicopters. There’s no plan to distribute them to the people. We’ve only seen them helping the military families, like the relatives and siblings of 55th and 66th division commanders.

Interviewer: So what’s the situation with the victims?

Interviewee: The victims are just waiting for groups that would like to donate. The USDA is not doing anything. There are no groups from the State.

Interviewer: Is there anything unusual? Can you tell us a bit about it?

Interviewee: We’ve been hearing that the rice that’s been distributed is of poor quality. But from the rice depot from Rangoon – Aung Than Oo, chairman of the Myanmar Rice Merchants – in storage F in Lanmadaw, Pongyi Road, and also in storage number 100 – there is rice in those places. Also, opposite from that area, in storages with a dome roof, there are rice bags. In this area, there are about 100,000 rice bags – in those storages in Lanmadaw, Pongyi Road. Also, in Hlaing Thaya, what we call the industrial zone, in those areas and in Shwe Pyitha industrial zones, there is a huge storage on 3 acre land. There are over 100,000 bags of rice.

Interviewer: Yes, brother. What are they going to do with those 100,000 bags?

Interviewee: That’s for export. The company owned by Aung Thet Mann, son of Thura Shwe Mann, is doing that. It’s not for distribution to people.

Interviewer: So now the international community is saying they are going to help. People inside the country must hear it, right? Do you hear anything people are saying about this?

Interviewee: People are really unhappy about this. It’s only because we can’t do anything in return, but we feel very hurt. Everyone who hears this news is irritated. People who are supposed to enjoy these things are instead having to be satisfied with things from Win Thuzar store. They only get a few cans of rice for show. They’re faking it everywhere. They fake it by video taping, and then leaving that area. They’re just looking for an opportunity to video tape when authorities come. People are suffering from the storm. They are building elaborate stages, with velvet backdrops, and writing things like who is donating what for the storm victims. They want to make it elaborate. They don’t actually look after the people who are suffering. The generals are on these stages, looking grand, with guns around their waists. They’ve been helping people, they’ve been feeding people. It looks like they’re actually going to act only when it’s too late.