“Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be

whether they are the powers that ought to be.”

The powers that are in Myanmar are not the rulers that people chose, but were saddled with. Ostensibly this is about to change, with the military junta’s State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) announcing countrywide elections scheduled for November 7, 2010, after a gap of two decades.

The news has been treated with skepticism and the motives behind the junta’s attempts

Gutted by SPDC

at democracy are being questioned. Many see it as the military rulers’ way of giving in to repeated demands for establishing democracy in the country from various quarters including the EU (European Union), ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) and the UN (United Nations) among others. Also, the current economic situation in Myanmar may have motivated the turn of events as the country seems to have reached a breaking point as a result of sanctions imposed on it by the western countries such as the US. Sanctions against import of products from Myanmar have been in place since 1996 and were further stiffened by freezing the country’s assets in US and denial of visa to the military rulers. Also, EU sanctions against Myanmar have ensured that the country is left with no ally other than China, which has been the major supplier of arms and military equipments to the country. Support from Thailand in the ASEAN has helped the current government sail through troubled times.

Going by the junta’s record, free and fair polls in Myanmar is a remote possibility

Suu kyi will not be contesting the 2010 elections

as the military rulers had dismissed the victory of National League for Democracy (NLD) in the 1990 elections and have held onto power since. Also, the regulations set in place by the junta appointed election commission seem to ensure that NLD chief and Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi is barred from elections as the rules bar political prisoners serving term from contesting the elections. Suu Kyi has served 14 of her stipulated 21 years of house imprisonment. Another 2100 political prisoners languish in jails across the country. In protest, all political parties have refused to register with the election commission and NLD among others has decided to boycott the sham elections. Previous laws also ascertain that 25% of total seats will be awarded to the military for establishing a ‘guided-democracy’.

Intervention from international organizations is mandatory if Myanmar seeks a truly democratic government in the future. The current rulers have been accused of various crimes against humanity including unlawful political detentions, death and torture of dissidents, recruiting children as soldiers and forced labor. Also, those affected by Cyclone Nargis in 2008 were forced to resettle in their hometowns along the Irrawady delta after compulsory evacuation by the junta, without any compensation or rebuilding efforts. Bringing the militia to trial on the world forum would exert a pressure on the rulers to initiate a democratic rule in the country.

While India remains highly accommodating and even indulgent of the situation in Myanmar, there has to be a policy of mounting pressure on the military to give up power and let the people of the country decide for themselves.

Salvaging the sludge

A fortnight after the toxic red sludge which escaped from an alumina processing unit in western Hungary, the people in the villages of Kolontar and Devecser are trying to achieve a semblance of normalcy.

Aftermath of spill

Despite warnings issued by environmental group Greenpeace involved in cleanup operations in the regions, the Hungarian authorities have declared the sites affected by the spill “safe”. Most of the evacuees have returned to Kolontar and Devecser, which were the worst hit with 40 square km area covered by the caustic effluent.

 

Authorities speak

The head of the regional disaster relief services, Tibor Dobson confirmed the construction of a new system of dykes in place of the one that broke due to torrential rains and led to the spill. The towns of Kolontar, Devecser and Somlovasarhelyd have been declared safe.

The company responsible for the spill, MAL, was taken over by the government after the disaster and will resume operation from Thursday.

 

Health and environmental risks

Devecser cleanup efforts

The return of the villagers to the affected areas has been widely criticized by Greenpeace. According to studies conducted by Greenpeace on mud samples collected from the site of the spill, the dried sludge poses major health risks. The dried particles measure less than 2 micrometers. Due to their small size, the dust particles penetrate deep into the airways. Also, the agency found high levels of Arsenic and Mercury in the samples and has urged the Hungarian government to alert the people of the conditions on the ground before allowing them to return.

 

Progress in the case

The managing director of MAL, Zoltan Bakonyi, was released after questioning due to insufficient evidence for detention. Another arrest made yesterday in relation to the case was that of Jozsefne F, in charge of environmental protection of MAL.

There is increasing evidence that the higher authorities of MAL were aware of the cracks developing in the reservoir for almost a week before the spill. Some of the workers were allegedly threatened by the employers to keep mum or lose their jobs.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban has repeatedly stressed the need to bring to book all those responsible for the disaster.

 

Compensation

Talks of an out of court settlement are underway and MAL has proposed a sum of 7.5 million dollars by way of compensation, to be paid over a period of five years, to those affected by the disaster.

The EU (European Union) Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva will aid Hungary in the cleanup operations by providing machines and vehicles. However, no monetary help will be provided as the losses do not account for a minimum of 0.6 per cent of the country’s GDP.

 

Current status

The spill accounted for 10 deaths and 45 persons are currently hospitalized. The Hungarian parliament is deliberating extending the current state of emergency imposed in the wake of the disaster to December 31, 2010. Even as the authorities claim “evacuation-preparedness” in case of a second spill, the WHO has been called in to assess the current situation. The government is yet to decide the fate of those who refuse to return to the contaminated regions.

 

The sludge surges on…

After the sludge

Close on the heels of the BP oil spill, another man-managed disaster has shaken the fragile man-environment balance. The toxic sludge that inundated Hungary last week is another example of havoc wreaked on the environment by industrial mismanagement and trivialization of safety measures.

The facts

On October 4, nearly 700,000 cubic meters of toxic sludge escaped through a breach in a reservoir storing the waste from an alumina processing company, 160 km away from Budapest. The effluent flooded an area of 40 sq km and spread through the country’s waterways. The worst hit were the villages of Kolontar and Devecser, located close to the alumina processing unit.

Casualties

At last count 9 persons were dead and 150 were injured by the rust red sludge. Many of the injured were badly burnt due to prolonged exposure to the highly caustic effluents.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the adjacent villages to the town of Ajka, fearing a second wave of spill over due to the reservoir wall breaking down further.

Health and environmental concerns

The toxic red sludge is a by-product of extraction of alumina (aluminium oxide) from bauxite ore, using highly caustic chemical sodium hydroxide. The waste product is extremely

Cleanup operations

alkaline and is red in color due to the presence of harmless iron oxides.

The sludge caused burns among those who came in contact with it and has wiped away all aquatic life in the Marcel and Raba rivers, downstream of the reservoir. The water resources in the affected areas have also been poisoned. As the sludge reached the Danube on last Thursday, it was feared that the major river in the country would also be affected due to the toxic chemicals. However efforts by emergency teams to neutralize the alkaline sludge in the rivers seem to have worked and fishing continues in the Danube.

Another major concern is bio accumulation of heavy metal residues in the waste. The presence of heavy metals such as lead in the sludge which covers the top soil may concentrate in time to become a potential cause of cancer.

Compensation and arrests

The arrest of the chief executive of the company MAL (Magyar Alumínium Termelo és Kereskedelm Zrt) Zoltan Bakonyi was announced by the Prime Minister Viktor Orban. However this is being viewed with suspicion as the CEO of MAL is associated with the Prime Minister’s political arch rival.

The premier’s promise so far has been to bring all those responsible for this disaster to book and the company has been taken over by the government currently.

MAL volunteered to pay 110,000 euros in ‘rapid aid’ to families affected by disaster, denying responsibility for the disaster. This was viewed by many as an insult to the families whose livelihoods and homes were taken away and in a scenario where the effect of toxic waste on the future generations remains undetermined.

Damaged reservoir wall

Current status

The efforts to clear the sludge by emergency workers and residents are underway.They are still on the lookout for bodies of people who were reported missing from fields close to the reservoir when the wall broke.