Among the biggest donors to the 25-m-high statue in Naypyitaw are members of the current junta as well as ex-generals and ministers of former military regimes.
This week the military regime also admitted surprise at the armed resistance to its rule and proposed a voting system it believes will improve its dismal election record.
Colonel Naing Bo Bo was honored along with monks and people close to the regime while others were awarded for their “outstanding performance” under military rule.
Residents Refuse to Move for Australia-Myanmar Joint Venture Mine
The Bawdwin mine in 2015. / The Irrawaddy
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By Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint 27 January 2021
Yangon Residents living near the Bawdwin mine which was once one of the globe’s largest sources of lead and an important source of silver and zinc have refused to move to make way for more mining.
The Bawdwin Joint Venture (BJV) Co Ltd is planning to resume operations at Bawdin, about 22 km from Namtu in northern Shan State.
The joint venture includes two domestic companies – EAP Global Mining Co Ltd and Win Myint Mo Industries Co Ltd which have a 24.5 percent of stake each – and Australia’s Myanmar Metals Limited with a 51 percent stake.
Photo: RFA
When journalist Aung Kyaw Min filed a brief story Dec. 11 about the need for repairs on a wooden bridge in Maungdaw township of western state of Rakhine, the road engineer responsible didn’t like it.
The engineer, Maung Win, didn’t register his disapproval with a simple letter to the editor – the standard right of reply that is a pillar of the fourth estate in a democracy. He took the scorched-earth approach often preferred by Myanmar authorities to intimidate journalists.
He filed a defamation case with police against the reporter under much-cited Article 66 (d) the Telecommunications Law that provides for up to two years in prison for “extorting, coercing, restraining wrongfully, defaming, disturbing, causing undue influence or [threat] to any person by using a telecommunications network.”