Burma’s military rulers have begun the relocation of civil servants and central government ministries to an isolated compound near Pyinmana, hundreds of miles north of Rangoon.
In a statement to diplomats on Monday, Kyaw Thu, deputy foreign minister, said the regime had decided to move the entire government to remote Pyinmana to help with the “formidable tasks of building a modern and developed nation throughout the whole country and, in particular, the border areas”.
The Burmese regime selected Pyinmana, halfway between Rangoon and Mandalay and surrounded by mountains and dense forests, as a “command and control centre based at a strategic location central in the transportation and communication networks of the entire country”.
Foreign diplomats and international aid workers said the move suggested the military junta was retreating into a physical bunker.
One long-time aid worker said: “It’s part of this isolationist mentality. Not only has the west tried to isolate the regime but they’ve tried to isolate themselves.”
Construction of the massive compound began more than two years ago, possibly fuelled by the junta’s paranoia that Burma could be the next target of a military offensive by the US.
However, Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, the information minister, on Monday rejected the suggestion that the junta feared a US invasion.
Others suggest the project was driven by the delusions of grandeur of Than Shwe, Burma’s senior general, who sees himself as part of a line of Burma’s great historical rulers.
While construction of the complex has long been an open secret, few believed the move would take place.
Government officials, many of them civilians, were reportedly devastated on Friday when relocation orders were unexpectedly issued to 10 ministries, including foreign affairs, home, commerce, health, transport, and communications.
The first convoys of trucks with office equipment and personnel moved out of the capital at the weekend.
Rangoon residents said civil servants were warned they would be charged with treason if they sought to avoid the move by resigning from their poorly paid jobs.
In its statement, the foreign ministry advised diplomats: “If you need to communicate on urgent matters, you can send a fax to Pyinmana.”
