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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - PAP's Burma airport project bye bye...</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
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<TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD class=contentheading width="100%">An Australian Company's Hot Potato</TD><TD class=buttonheading width="100%" align=right>
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="70%" colSpan=2 align=left>Written by Ben Bland </TD></TR><TR><TD class=createdate vAlign=top colSpan=2>Monday, 11 May 2009</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>
Downer EDI abruptly abandons a Burma project after the press asks questions
One of Australia's largest engineering companies is abruptly pulling out of Burma after an investigation by Asia Sentinel revealed that a subsidiary was working on the construction of a lavish new airport for the repressive junta in Naypyidaw, the generals' reclusive capital.
Downer EDI's Singaporean consultancy arm, CPG Corporation, was contracted to design the revamped airport at Naypyidaw, working alongside Asia World, the shady Burmese conglomerate whose management are targeted by sanctions in Australia, the US and Europe.
The revelation that it has been doing business in Burma is highly embarrassing for a company that has donated thousands of dollars to Australia's ruling Labor Party and has won billions of dollars in Australian government contracts. Prime Minister and Labor leader Kevin Rudd has been vociferous in his condemnation of the Burmese regime and last year his government ratcheted up sanctions against the generals and their cronies.
The Sydney-based Downer claimed that it had been unaware that its wholly-owned subsidiary was working on the Naypyidaw project until it was contacted by Asia Sentinel last week. The Australian parent company also said it had been unaware of CPG's involvement as a design consultant for the upgrading of the international airport in Rangoon in 2003. <-- yeah right! Its not like they bought CPG for $50 and nobody knew or keep tab on what they do!
"As soon as this matter was brought to the attention of the chief executive, enquiries were made immediately and a decision followed to withdraw from the contract in an appropriate manner," said Maryanne Graham, a spokeswoman for Downer.
The company admitted that its "zero harm" policy had "not been applied at a sub-divisional level" and said that it was launching a "rigorous" review of all its contracts and beefing up its governance procedures to ensure better oversight of future operations.
In 2005, the Burmese military government suddenly announced that it was moving its administrative capital from Rangoon to a new site near the town of Pyinmana in the heart of a malaria-infested jungle in central Burma. The government, which calls itself the State Peace and Development Council, claimed that Rangoon had become overcrowded but most observers believe the move to Naypyidaw was the result of superstition and a paranoid desire to build a city that was better protected from both internal and external ‘enemies'.
Human rights groups claim that much of Naypyidaw, where the generals hide away in luxuriant palaces, was constructed using forced labor, including children, and that many local residents had their land seized without adequate compensation. Such gross human rights abuses are common practice in large development projects in Burma, which usually directly benefit the regime and its cronies while doing little to alleviate the extreme poverty and hardship faced by many Burmese people.
Downer, which is a constituent of Australia's benchmark ASX 200 share index and has a market capitalization of around A$1.7bn (US$1.3bn), is actively involved in a variety of infrastructure, rail and mining projects in Australia, New Zealand and the wider Asia Pacific region.
A report in the New Light of Myanmar, the mouthpiece of the military junta, dated 25 April claimed that the expansion of Naypyidaw airport was intended to increase international travel to the city, even though most foreigners are banned from visiting except on official visits.
The insecure generals, who regularly talk up the threat of internal and external enemies, have been careful to ensure that most of the country's civilian airports can be easily adapted to military use at short notice. The New Light of Myanmar noted rather ominously that the new runway at Naypyidaw airport will be big enough to ensure that "10 aircrafts can land simultaneously" – an exercise not commonly undertaken by passenger airliners. <-- Kiasee motherfucking generals, just like PAP!
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<TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD class=contentheading width="100%">An Australian Company's Hot Potato</TD><TD class=buttonheading width="100%" align=right>
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="70%" colSpan=2 align=left>Written by Ben Bland </TD></TR><TR><TD class=createdate vAlign=top colSpan=2>Monday, 11 May 2009</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>
One of Australia's largest engineering companies is abruptly pulling out of Burma after an investigation by Asia Sentinel revealed that a subsidiary was working on the construction of a lavish new airport for the repressive junta in Naypyidaw, the generals' reclusive capital.
Downer EDI's Singaporean consultancy arm, CPG Corporation, was contracted to design the revamped airport at Naypyidaw, working alongside Asia World, the shady Burmese conglomerate whose management are targeted by sanctions in Australia, the US and Europe.
The revelation that it has been doing business in Burma is highly embarrassing for a company that has donated thousands of dollars to Australia's ruling Labor Party and has won billions of dollars in Australian government contracts. Prime Minister and Labor leader Kevin Rudd has been vociferous in his condemnation of the Burmese regime and last year his government ratcheted up sanctions against the generals and their cronies.
The Sydney-based Downer claimed that it had been unaware that its wholly-owned subsidiary was working on the Naypyidaw project until it was contacted by Asia Sentinel last week. The Australian parent company also said it had been unaware of CPG's involvement as a design consultant for the upgrading of the international airport in Rangoon in 2003. <-- yeah right! Its not like they bought CPG for $50 and nobody knew or keep tab on what they do!
"As soon as this matter was brought to the attention of the chief executive, enquiries were made immediately and a decision followed to withdraw from the contract in an appropriate manner," said Maryanne Graham, a spokeswoman for Downer.
The company admitted that its "zero harm" policy had "not been applied at a sub-divisional level" and said that it was launching a "rigorous" review of all its contracts and beefing up its governance procedures to ensure better oversight of future operations.
In 2005, the Burmese military government suddenly announced that it was moving its administrative capital from Rangoon to a new site near the town of Pyinmana in the heart of a malaria-infested jungle in central Burma. The government, which calls itself the State Peace and Development Council, claimed that Rangoon had become overcrowded but most observers believe the move to Naypyidaw was the result of superstition and a paranoid desire to build a city that was better protected from both internal and external ‘enemies'.
Human rights groups claim that much of Naypyidaw, where the generals hide away in luxuriant palaces, was constructed using forced labor, including children, and that many local residents had their land seized without adequate compensation. Such gross human rights abuses are common practice in large development projects in Burma, which usually directly benefit the regime and its cronies while doing little to alleviate the extreme poverty and hardship faced by many Burmese people.
Downer, which is a constituent of Australia's benchmark ASX 200 share index and has a market capitalization of around A$1.7bn (US$1.3bn), is actively involved in a variety of infrastructure, rail and mining projects in Australia, New Zealand and the wider Asia Pacific region.
A report in the New Light of Myanmar, the mouthpiece of the military junta, dated 25 April claimed that the expansion of Naypyidaw airport was intended to increase international travel to the city, even though most foreigners are banned from visiting except on official visits.
The insecure generals, who regularly talk up the threat of internal and external enemies, have been careful to ensure that most of the country's civilian airports can be easily adapted to military use at short notice. The New Light of Myanmar noted rather ominously that the new runway at Naypyidaw airport will be big enough to ensure that "10 aircrafts can land simultaneously" – an exercise not commonly undertaken by passenger airliners. <-- Kiasee motherfucking generals, just like PAP!
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