Myanmar's new capital provides a glimpse of things to come By Peter Janssen

dpa German Press Agency Published: Tuesday March 27, 2007

Naypyitaw, Myanmar- Still under construction at Myanmar's
new capital of Naypyitaw is a new parliament building, a sign that
the country's military leaders are preparing for what they have
uniquely termed "discipline-flourishing democracy."
There is little doubt about who will be providing the flourishing
discipline.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962 when Army General
Ne Win overthrew the government of elected prime minister U Nu.

Ne Win introduced the country then known as Burma to a host of
innovations such as "The Burmese Way to Socialism," a blend of
socialism and Buddhist concepts that eventually proved disastrous for
the economy, led to diplomatic isolationism - even the non-aligned
movement was too aligned for Ne Win - and a host of quirky
regulations such as insisting that cars be driven on the same side of
the road that the steering wheel is on, in Myanmar's case, the right.

Although Ne Win resigned all his political positions in 1988
in the face of nationwide anti-military protests, his legacy for
idiosyncratic decision-making lives on among his military successors
who rule the nation today.

The decision to move Myanmar's capital from Yangon (formerly
Rangoon) to Pyinmana, a remote city that was once the headquarters of
the now-defunct Burmese Communist Party, was already made in 2003,
but only became public knowledge in June 2005, when civil servants
received notice that they would have to move.

On November 6, 2005, the junta began relocating bureaucrats to
their new offices in Pyinmana, 350 kilometres north of Yangon, which
was later renamed Naypyitaw, meaning Royal City (although Myanmar has
no king or royal family.)

The seemingly sudden shift of the capital prompted much
speculation as to the reasoning behind the move, ranging from
astrological considerations to the regime's fears of a U.S.-led
invasion a la Iraq.

The State Peace and Development Council, as Myanmar's junta calls
itself, has its own pragmatic explanation.

"To strengthen and consolidate national unity it is essential
for the leaders to have convenient and easy access to all parts of
the country," Kyaw Hsan, minister of information told a recent press
conference, the first in the new capital to which the foreign press
was invited.

"Naypyitaw is located at the central part of the country linked
with networks or motor road and railroad," he said, adding that
Yangon, the capital under the British colonial period, was too
congested and far from the hinterland.

At present, Naypyitaw can be considered pretty far from Yangon.
Although only 350 kilometres away, a drive to the new capital from
Yangon takes at least eight hours due to poor roads and long waits at
one-way bridges.

If security was one of the generals' considerations in choosing
the capital, an invading force would certainly be slowed down by the
road to Mandalay, which happens to be the same one to Naypyitaw.

After two and a half years, Naypyitaw is still very much a huge
construction site with a sprinkling of ministries, some 1,600
multi-coloured apartment blocks for civil servants and 160 kilometres
of new roads, many of them leading nowhere.

Naypyitaw is being built by a handful of business conglomerates
such as Asia World, Htoo Trading, Eden Group and Max Myanmar that
have close ties with the junta and sometimes dubious business
dealings.

Asia World, for example, is owned by Tun Myint Naing, alias
Steven Law, who is on the USA's exclusion list for a visa because of
his suspected drug trafficking.

Those companies are also behind the dozen or so hotels that
have been opened at Naypyitaw to cater to the trickle of diplomats,
international aid workers and foreign businessmen who visit the
capital.

One such establishment, Myaw Taw Win Hotel, run by Asia
World, is not overly generous to its ground staff. Yadana Oo, 15,
works from dawn to dusk clipping the hotel's yard, for which she
earns 600 kyat (50 cents) a day and gets free board and two meals.

Most of the 80,000 workers building Naypyitaw earn a bit more,
usually 1,500 kyat (1.15 dollars), but skilled workers can expect
double or triple the wages they earn in Yangon, because of the
hardships entailed in living in Naypyitaw.

Many of the civil servants forced to move to Naypyitaw did so
reluctantly and are eager to return to Yangon.

"I miss Yangon a lot," said Khin Maung, 65, an employee in the
Hotels and Tourism Ministry. "When I get my pension I'm going back to
Yangon."

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

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