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Viewing cable 07RANGOON1001, A SNAPSHOT OF POVERTY IN RANGOON

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07RANGOON1001 2007-10-10 01:03 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Rangoon
VZCZCXRO7666
RR RUEHBZ RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHGO #1001/01 2830103
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100103Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY RANGOON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6656
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1536
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0582
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 4627
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 4115
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 7672
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5231
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1213
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1113
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0076
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 3333
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1016
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 001001 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EEB/IFD/ODF 
PACOM FOR FPA 
TREASURY FOR OASIA:SCHUN 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN PREL BM
SUBJECT: A SNAPSHOT OF POVERTY IN RANGOON 
 
REF: A) RANGOON 952   B) RANGOON 901 
 
RANGOON 00001001  001.4 OF 003 
 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary.  Poverty levels in Burma continue to rise, as a 
result of higher prices and decreasing purchasing power.  During 
visits to several of Rangoon's poorest areas, we observed this 
escalating abject poverty firsthand.  In Hlainthaya and Shwepyitha 
Townships, many people do not have steady jobs and are forced to 
scrounge to make a living.  People spend more than 80 percent of 
their income on food, but can only afford to eat one meal a day. 
Large families of seven or eight live in one-room huts and can 
neither afford to send their children to school nor pay for medical 
care.  Although poverty is becoming more widespread, the Burmese 
Government will not implement poverty alleviating measures and 
refuses to address the root causes of destitution in Burma.  End 
Summary. 
 
Poverty in Burma 
---------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) Poverty levels in Burma continue to rise annually. 
According to the UNDP, 32 percent of Burma's 50 million people live 
in poverty, compared to 25 percent in 1997. (Note: for UNDP 
statistics, the poverty line is 162,136 kyat or $115 per year per 
adult.  End Note.)  71 percent of Burmese live in rural areas; UNDP 
estimates that 36 percent of these people, particularly those living 
in Chin, Shan, and Rakhine States, live below the poverty line.  A 
majority of the Burmese people earns less than $1/day, and spends 
more than 75 percent of their income on food.  On August 15, the 
Burmese Government unexpectedly increased the price of fuel, raising 
prices by more than 100 percent.  This action triggered an immediate 
increase in commodity and transportation costs (Ref B).  Declining 
purchasing power and the rising costs of basic needs, estimated to 
be increasing 23 percent per month, have caused a increase in 
poverty levels throughout Burma. 
 
How the Poorest Live in Rangoon 
------------------------------- 
 
3.  (SBU) Rangoon, compared to the rest of Burma, has one of the 
country's lowest poverty rates.  Nevertheless, 15 percent of 
Rangoon's population (estimated at more than 6 million) lives below 
the poverty line.  During visits to two of Rangoon's poorest 
neighborhoods, Hlainthaya and Shwepyitha, we saw abject poverty 
firsthand.  Getting to both places was easy, as both Hlainthaya and 
Shwepyitha are home to several of Rangoon's largest industrial 
zones.  In each township, however, we found that when we turned off 
the main road, we found ourselves on small and narrow dirt roads 
that led to a different world. 
4.  (SBU) In downtown Rangoon, most people live in houses or 
apartments made of cement.  In Hlainthaya and Shwepyitha, people 
live in one-room huts made of wood, many of which are covered with 
thatched straw roofs.  The poorest homes do not have any roofs, but 
instead are covered with plastic to keep the rain out.  Some huts 
have dirt floors and others have bamboo flooring; there is often 
little or no furniture in these homes.  Residents do not have access 
to electricity or piped water, and instead must obtain water from a 
communal well.  Although the average household size in Burma is 5.2 
people, in Hlainthaya and Shwepyitha, local residents told us that 
between seven and eight people, both adults and children, live in 
huts. 
 
5.  (SBU) More than 250,000 people live in Hlainthaya and Shwepyitha 
Townships.  While some work in factories located in the industrial 
zones, most people are unable to find any real work.  Kyauk Chein, a 
laborer who lives in Hlainthaya with his family, told us that many 
people in his neighborhood scrounge to make a daily living.  Some 
collect tree branches to sell as firewood; others pick leaves and 
plants to sell in local markets.  Kyauk Chein told us that his 
 
RANGOON 00001001  002.4 OF 003 
 
 
friends and neighbors previously sold their blood to local clinics 
for 2,000-3,000 kyat ($1.40-$2.15) a pint.  Locals in Shwepyitha 
told us that young girls who cannot find work in factories often 
work in "karaoke clubs," which are poorly-disguised fronts for sex 
parlors. 
 
Lack of Basic Necessities 
------------------------- 
 
6.  (SBU) Because of the lack of income and rising commodity prices, 
the majority of people living in Hlainthaya and Shwepyitha only eat 
one meal a day.  A typical meal consists of rice, vegetables, and 
perhaps some fish.  Locals told us that they spend approximately 
2,000 kyats ($1.40) a day to feed a family of eight.  Those who 
cannot afford food drink rice water (water boiled with scraps of 
rice).  Residents of Hlainthaya who work in downtown Rangoon 
complained to us about higher transportation costs since August 15. 
Bus fares from Hlainthaya to downtown Rangoon almost doubled that 
day, from 80 kyat ($0.06) to 150 kyat ($0.11).  People who cannot 
afford to get to work still try to ride the bus for 80 kyat, 
residents added.  Some drivers still allow them to ride for old 
fares, but others demand full payment and push them off the bus when 
the riders cannot pay. 
 
7.  (SBU) Lack of affordable medical care and clothing are 
additional woes, local residents noted.  Kyauk Chein told us that he 
had five children, but two died because he could not pay to take 
them to the local clinic.  He, like other residents, worries 
whenever his children become sick and need medicine.  Most of the 
people living in Hlainthaya and Shwepyitha cannot afford to buy 
clothes, and instead have to depend on donations of used clothing to 
clothe themselves and their children. 
 
8.  (SBU) For children living in these areas, school is also a 
luxury.  Because parents spend more than 75 percent of their income 
on food, they usually cannot afford to send their children to 
school.  As a result, many children living in Hlainthaya and 
Shwepyitha are illiterate.  Local residents explained that parents 
often send their children to downtown Rangoon to work.  Children 
find local housing, work in tea shops for low wages, and remit their 
savings to their parents. 
 
Government Neglect 
------------------ 
 
9.  (SBU)  The people we spoke to all complained that the GOB does 
nothing to assist them.  Although the industrial areas of Hlainthaya 
and Shwepyitha have paved roads and electricity, the poorest 
neighborhoods nearby lack basic infrastructure.  If it were not for 
local and international NGOs working in the area, locals asserted, 
people would live in even worse conditions.  The fuel price hike 
only worsened the situation and was the spark that started the 
public demonstrations against the government, residents told us. 
However, instead of addressing the root causes of the protests, the 
government violently suppressed the demonstrations.  The government 
refuses to listen to our pleas for help, they added. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
10.  (SBU) Although abject poverty in Burma is becoming more 
widespread, the government turns a blind eye to the public's 
desperate needs.  Instead, the GOB continues to implement uninformed 
economic policies that line the pockets of the senior generals at 
the expense of the people.  As the economic crisis worsens and more 
people find themselves unable to make ends meet, our continued 
support for NGOs assisting the poor will literally make a difference 
between life and death. 
 
RANGOON 00001001  003.6 OF 003 
 
 
 
STOLTZ