19th February 2021
There is a row brewing over Australian energy company Woodside and its Operations in Myanmar. Â Its chief executive said the company would press ahead with a major gas development in Myanmar and suggested the nation’s former civilian leaders ignored the army’s grievances in the lead-up to the military coup.
That is unbelievable, the grievances (if legitimate could have been handled through the constitution) and the UN called in to supervise fresh elections. It looks as though he either hasn’t thought things through, doesn’t understand Myanmar or is being deliberately blind to things.
But Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman said the company could not judge if the army had legitimate grievances.
“It’s not up to us to judge the veracity of grievances they have around the previous election process,” Mr Coleman said, in comments first reported by specialist publication Energy News Bulletin.
“I understand [the Army] put together quite an extensive folder of grievances around the election that they wanted to be heard, and they weren’t being heard.
“They were pushed up against a difficult decision point, the day of the coup was the day the new parliament was due to proceed.”
His comments drew a furious response from human rights groups in both Australia and Myanmar.
Elaine Pearson from Human Rights Watch said Mr Coleman’s comments were “cynical”.
“I think this is really Woodside sitting back and quietly hedging its bets in its own self-interest,” she said.
“This is the antithesis of corporate social responsibility. This is a country which just had a coup. This is not the time to wait back and see what will happen.
“They should be picking up the phone and telling Myanmar’s army they should release civilian leaders and call for an end to abuses by the military.”
Mr Coleman is also directly at odds with several Western governments that have condemned the coup and accused the military of illegally seizing power.
The military said it had seized control because last year’s election, which delivered a convincing victory to Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, was riddled with fraud.
Those claims have been dismissed by independent election observers who say the poll was fair and credible.
But Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman said the company could not judge if the army had legitimate grievances.
“It’s not up to us to judge the veracity of grievances they have around the previous election process,” Mr Coleman said, in comments first reported by specialist publication Energy News Bulletin.
“I understand [the Army] put together quite an extensive folder of grievances around the election that they wanted to be heard, and they weren’t being heard.
“They were pushed up against a difficult decision point, the day of the coup was the day the new parliament was due to proceed.”
His comments drew a furious response from human rights groups in both Australia and Myanmar.
Elaine Pearson from Human Rights Watch said Mr Coleman’s comments were “cynical”. “I think this is really Woodside sitting back and quietly hedging its bets in its own self-interest,” she said.
“This is the antithesis of corporate social responsibility. This is a country which just had a coup. This is not the time to wait back and see what will happen.
Woodside is also pressing ahead with a major deepwater gas development off Myanmar’s west coast, known as A-6, in a joint venture with French company Total SA and the Myanmar-based MPRL.
Activists in Myanmar say the government earns almost $US1 billion ($1.28 billion) annually from natural gas.
They have warned industry profits would help support the military regime, as well as fuelling corruption by the ruling generals.
Earlier this week the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur for Myanmar Tom Andrews also called on international businesses investing in Myanmar to take “immediate action” and “implore” the military to “return power to the people of Myanmar”.
“Businesses and investors should suspend or terminate activities with the Myanmar junta when the risk of involvement in serious human rights abuses can no longer be reasonably managed,” he said.
“I, and many others, would argue we have long passed that threshold.”
ABC Australia
I know that businesses have to look after their own interests, but what has happened to corporate social responsibility? A simple statement such as “we are reviewing the situation constantly and will be able to give updates as things develop.” would have been appropriate and non-controversial.
The Economist is reporting that a boycott by bureaucrats is having an immediate adverse effect. It is undermining the coup and the machinery of government is grinding to a halt. Confirming this is a statement from the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank.
Central Bank of Myanmar deputy governor U Win Thaw, has criticised protesters for targeting the banking sector and warned of potential long-term consequences for the economy unless branches are able to reopen soon.
He was a post-coup appointee. Strange that his opinions are what they are.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of public and private sector workers have joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, refusing to work until the elected government is reinstated.
Private banks have been forced to close most of their branches since the military coup because rank-and-file staff and some management have joined the CDM. As a result, depositors have been unable to withdraw money from their accounts and some businesses are facing cash-flow problems. International transactions have ground to a halt.
In an exclusive interview with Frontier, Win Thaw conceded that if private banks remained closed for an extended period it would have a significant impact on the economy.Â
“Banks play an important role in the economic development of a country. If a boycott by employees is long term, it would have a big negative impact on the economy,” Win Thaw said.
“The banking system is needed to develop the country’s economy. Bank staff shouldn’t refuse to come to work,” he said. “Even though banks have been ordered to meet their responsibilities and the CBM is meeting its responsibility as best as it can, people are pursuing this CDM – it’s like they are destroying their own country’s economy.”
Win Thaw is one of two new deputy governors that the junta, known as the State Administration Council, appointed on February 4. The previous day the military appointed a former Tatmadaw officer, U Than Nyein, to lead the Central Bank.Â
Their predecessors were removed following the coup and the whereabouts of one of the former governors, U Bo Bo Nge, are unclear.
The Frontier
So, the CDM appears to be working. Even with the continued support of Woodhouse the economy is tanking.
Elsewhere in the world, in an act of unbelievable generosity Malaysia is deporting refugees back to Myanmar and an uncertain future.
Malaysia had agreed to return the 1,200 Myanmar citizens after that country’s military, which engineered the Feb. 1 coup, offered to send navy ships to pick them up, Reuters said. These twin actions of Malaysia’s – working with Myanmar’s military to deport the country’s nationals in the wake of a coup – have shocked rights group Amnesty International and a group of Southeast Asian parliamentarians.
BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
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