New Delhi (Mizzima) – If there is anything of value that Cyclone Nargis has left in its wake for the devastated victims, it would be the increasing number of CDMA phones in the Irrawaddy delta of Burma.
Local villagers said, while they continue struggling for their livelihood fighting shortage of food and scarcity of drinking water, any help provided to them has a lot of significance.
Among the many assistance provided by international agencies including the United Nations, a commodity - CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) – plays a great role in helping survivors cope with the situation, post Cyclone Nargis.
A salt trader in Laputta town in the Irrawaddy delta said the CDMA phones have greatly helped in reorganising his business, which was devastated by the cyclone in May 2, 2008.
He explained that he could easily connect to people in various towns including Rangoon and get updated information of the market situation or the price of salt, which greatly benefits him as he no longer needs to travel to those areas or depend on local travellers.
“By using the telephone, we can immediately learn about the business in the area,” he said. “For instance, if we want to find out about the current price of fish, we can ring up the people right from the site of the fishery business,” he added.
The Burmese military junta’s Myanmar Posts and Telecommunication (MPT), following the deadly cyclone, in 2008 has allotted about 3,000 CDMA phones in the delta and 5000 in 2009 in Irrawaddy.
With the prices of a CDMA phone ranging from Kyat 1.7 million (approximately USD 1,700) to Kyat 2.2 million (USD 2,200), only businessmen and a few rich people could afford to buy them.
However, with the increase in the number of phones, even grassroots people are being benefitted as they no longer need to spend a lot of money travelling from village to village or town to town to communicate with relatives or even with friends.
The businessmen at Laputta said, many owners of the CDMA phones, usually people close to the authorities, are reselling them at lower prices or are running Public Call Offices (PCOs), which allows local villagers to pay and communicate.
“At least something is better than nothing,” said the businessman, adding that earlier telephones of any sort were rarely found in the delta.
Similarly, CDMA, which is popularly known as coastal phones in Burma, has not only benefitted businessmen but also helped aid workers, who are deployed in the delta, to share information.
An aid worker in Bogale Township said, the increase in the number of CDMA phones has helped him and his friends in carrying out relief activities as they are able to exchange information easily and analyse the ground situation.
CDMA phones need the base unit and a SIM card and handset for operation. It can be used without a base unit in Rangoon and coastal areas. But it needs the base unit in areas, which are far away from cell phone towers.
Currently, these coastal CDMA phones are operating in about 50 cities including Pathein, Maubin, Bogale, Pyapon and Haigyi Island in the Irrawaddy division, making communication easier and quicker than before.
In Burma, where military rulers have tight control over almost everything, telephones including the Global Mobile System (GSM), CDMA and TDMA are given in limited numbers each year.
And every time the government allots new telephones, it often lands up in the hands of people close to the authorities, who then resell them.
“Before Cyclone Nargis, we found only four or five radio phones in entire Laputta. But now, we see a lot of coastal phones even in the villages close to the sea,” the businessman said.
With call charges ranging from Kyat 50 to Kyat 100 (about 5 to 10 cents) per pulse, villagers find it convenient to communicate, said another businessman in Bogale town.
“Through these PCOs villagers can use the phones easily,” he explained.
He said the increase in the number of CDMA phones have also benefitted the people in the region by allowing people to share information with each other where they could communicate within minutes about impending disasters including storms.
“If there is another sign of disaster, we can immediately send messages or inform the people. Within an hour, the news can reach several people,” he said.
On Wednesday, Natee Prasitketkit, the Director of Disease Control Department in Maesot district, Tak Province a border town with Myawaddy township in Burma said that the department is coordinating with Burmese health officials in Myawaddy to increase surveillance on suspected victims of the flu, both Burmese and tourists from western countries. Currently the Burmese authorities in Myawaddy have tested 72 foreigners but have not found any case, according to a report in a Thai newspaper Komchadluek.
Thailand’s Public Health Ministry on Wednesday reported that laboratory results conducted on three patients confirm all are free of the A (H1N1) virus. Two Thai men and a 50-year-old German woman all tested negative.
In addition, pamphlets about influenza A (H1N1) and health instructions have been distributed at all international airports in the country while medicated hand gel, hygiene masks and the antiviral drug Oseltamivir have been sent to Thai embassies in 21 countries where influenza A (H1N1) cases have been reported. The ministry will also introduce measures to screen foreigners travelling to Thailand by train from Malaysia and Singapore.
