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Information Sheet No.A-0849(I)



MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE
YANGON
Information Sheet
                               No.A-0849(I)                         26
Mar.MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE
YANGON

(1)		Secretary-1 Meets Members of House of Representatives of Japan
		Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt

received members of the House of Representatives Ms. Kazuko Nose and Ms.
Akiki
Yamanaka of Japan, Ms. Kitapata of Asia Population and Development Association
and Ms. Kiyoki Ikedami of International Planned Parentshood Federation at
Dagon Yeiktha of the Ministry of Defence on 25 March.

(2)		Wadaw Sluice Gate Commissioned into Service 
		Wadaw Sluice Gate, built by Irrigation Department, was commissioned into
service at Nyaungdonkyun, Maubin Township, Ayeyawady Division on 25 March.
With its six, 6-foot by 8-foot valves the sluice gate, built at a cost of K 74
million, will benefit 15,000 acres of land. Of the sluice gates to be built at
Nyaungdonkyun, Panhline, Mezali, Wadaw, Hlinedaw, Maletto, Taboktanong,
Kattiya, Zeebyukyun and Myage (Aywekwin) have been completed, benefiting
103,900 acres. Construction of Htani Sluice Gate which will benefit 15,000
acres and Moemakha Sluice Gate which will irrigate 60,000 acres are in
progress. Kywedayut Sluice Gate which will benefit 187,000 acres is to be
built soon. 
		Efforts are being made to encourage national entrepreneurs who have capital
and economic management skills to reclaim vacant, virgin and fallow lands and
wetlands as large-scale modern farms producing agricultural produce on
commercial scale are required to gain national progress within a short period.
Permits have been granted to reclaim over 244,000 acres in Ayeyawady Division,
over 58,000 acres in Yangon Division, over 74,000 acres in Bago Division, over
233,000 acres in Magway Division, over 542,000 acres in Taninthayi Division
and about 3,000 acres in Shan State, totalling nearly 1.2 million acres in the
entire nation.
		Dykes, drainage canals, feeder canals and sluice gates are needed in
transforming large areas of land into farms. Wadaw Sluice Gate will prevent
15,000 acres in Khanaunggyikwin from flooding during the rainy season and will
supply water to grow crops in the summer. Wadaw Sluice gate Project is
included in Nyaungdonkyun Land Reclamation Task which is covered by Lower
Myanmar Land Reclamation Project 2, which is being implemented by the
government. Building of sluice gates at Nyaungdonkyun has led to cultivation
of crops earlier, boosting agricultural produce and growing cold season crops
in the low land areas.
		Over 3.2 million acres have been put under monsoon paddy and over 1.4
million acres under summer paddy in Ayeyawady Division. The division is
estimated to produce 300 million baskets of paddy from monsoon and summer
paddy fields. 

(3)		State-Owned No. 1 Steel Mill Commissioned into Service
		The State-owned No. 1 Steel Mill located near Kyaukswekyo Village, Aunglan
Township, Magway Division, was commissioned into service  on 25 March. It was
completed in 25 months of construction project which started work on 22 August
1996. The 1,000-ton capacity mill can produce iron rods of various sizes and
shapes and it is targeted to produce 250,000 tons per year.

(4)		Eleven More Exchange Arms for Peace
		The 11-member group of Myeik/Dawei District Unity Front led by township in-
charge Myo Win realizing their past misdeeds and the government's genuine
goodwill exchanged arms for peace on 20 March. They exchanged arms for peace

at a Tatmadaw (Defence Services) camp near Thara-twin village in Coastal
Region Command area. 
Special Feature
		This office is presenting a Newsletter from Myanmar Embassy in Ottawa for
your information.
The View from the Embassy of Myanmar, Ottawa 
Editorial
Re-defining the term " Humanitarian" 
		What is the humanitarian thing to do? one might ask. Is it sending a gravely
ill patient halfway round the world so that his healthy wife in Myanmar could
continue to practice her politics, OR is it asking her to leave local politics
for a while, fly to his beside so that he may not be deprived of his
environment, his sons and the high standard of medical care that Britain could
provide in this crucial phase of his illness. The answer seems to be simple
and straight forward, until some Western governments who are supposed to be
representing humane societies suddenly encourage the sick patient to do the
strenuous 7000-mile journey and calling it ' humanitarian", when in fact they
are placing his health at a greater risk. Any form of conventional wisdom
would expect the opposite to be true but that does not seem to be the politics
of the day as practiced by the big powers. Their definition of what is
humanitarian no longer means assisting a wife to visit a dying husband
especially if she happens to be a player in their political game. It has been
a perplexing and even mind boggling experience when the media, certain NGOs
and some governments start to request an entry visa for a Michael Aris even
before his wife, whom he is supposed to be visiting, have made such a request
to the authorities in Myanmar. Meanwhile they have been repeatedly stressing
the humanitarian need to have it issued urgently in case the patient dies. It
is becoming obvious that a lot of people outside are doing the thinking and
talking for Ms. Su Kyi at this stage. Even then is it not the utmost moral
obligation of civilised societies to make sure that the health and welfare of
a human being be not compromised for any reason, leave alone making him a
sacrificial lamb of a political game. 
		Besides, the Aris family in England has publicly pleaded that Michael's
illness "be treated as a family matter, with compassion, and not used for
political purposes". The masses of people in Myanmar, in their traditional way
of thinking, would find it odd that kindness and human values are being re-
defined to suit a political situation, and would whole heartedly agree and
sympathise with the ARIS family on this matter.
		What is proper in the Myanmar tradition is that when a "yaung" ( the male
hair-do) is away and sick, the "sa-don" (the female hair-do) must follow.Now
is the time, they would expect, that the "sa-don" (Suu Kyi) follows the
"Yaung" (Michael) and be together with their sons enjoying each other, leaving
aside material ambitions, in the remaining days, hours and seconds before he
enters the twilight of this existence. A Myanmar wife owes this much to her
husband and father of their sons. This is humanity plain and simple. Why does
anybody want to change it?


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