Free primary education leaves schools in Myitkyina in a spot

Over the past two years the Burmese regime has introduced the concept of free primary education, however the great idea is not al its cracked up to be. The move to make education free has coincided with the generals decision to cut its own funding to those same schools. Resident teachers from Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state say that the regime is not providing any support whatsoever for their schools, making the opening of them for this academic year very difficult.

From: The Irrawaddy
http://irrawaddy.org/article3.php?art_id=12666

WFP Forbidden to Buy Rice from Local Dealers

The Burmese regime has announced that the WFP is no longer able to buy rice from local dealers. Furthermore, it will have to get authorization in order to import rice. Thus far the WFP have distributed about 11,000 metric tones of rice to cyclone survivors, but says much more is needed indicating that survivors may need food assistance for up to a year. The government should have ample rice supplies now that it has ruled out exports to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka; however this could soon be used up because of a potential rice shortage. Large swathes of farming land were wiped out by Nargis and the planting season for this year is in doubt.

From: Mizzima
http://www.mizzima.com/nargis-impact/18-nargis-impact/657-intelligence-officials-assigned-to-keep-eye-on-tcg

Intelligence officials assigned to keep eye on TCG

The members of the Tripartite Core Group will not be alone on their rounds of the Irrawaddy Delta as the military have assigned around two dozen intelligence officials to accompany their work. The move has annoyed senior ministers from the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, which is part of the delegation. The intelligence officers have taken spots in the group previously delegated to government officials who would help in the assessments team’s work.

From: Democratic Voice of Burma
http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=1414

Remote villagers lacking proper medical treatment

Aid worker returning from 14 remote villagers in Dadaye Township have told media sources that after five weeks of waiting, cyclone victims in this are still not receiving any medical care. They are suffering from injuries sustained during the cyclone and the injuries include broken bones. The relief teams said that the villagers were treating themselves with herbal and traditional medicines.

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