Myanmar's drugs control programme a

[OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx]

Subject: Myanmar's drugs control programme and the need for foreign investment

Myanmar's drugs control programme and
the need for foreign investment

(Gerald Moore is International Consultant in health and economics based in 
Geneva, Switzerland. )

       It is indeed curious that some sections of the press in neighbouring 
countries to Myanmar never lose an opportunity to criticize the Myanmar 
Government's efforts to control the illegal drug trade.

       In an editorial in the Bangkok Post last week, May 9, it was written, 
quote "In the case of Burma, the government is far too cozy with drug 
traffickers to be trusted: The nation has highly capable police and local 
officials who are at least as dedicated to battle the narcotics scourge as 
their Thai and Lao counterparts. But the best Burmese agents are hamstrung by 
lack of support-or outright interference-from above." End quote.

       One really must wonder where the Bangkok Post gets its evidence to 
write such sweeping and obviously biased generalizations. On what does it 
base its assertion that the Myanmar government is "cozy" with drug 
traffickers? Has it any concept at all of the millions of dollars of 
Myanmar's hard-earned money that is poured into the government's drug 
suppression programme every year, of the ceaseless efforts of Myanmar's 
leaders to provide the hill tribes with alternative agriculture products, of 
the continuous opium poppy destruction campaigns that in 1998 alone destroyed 
some 40,000 acres?

       Does it not take any account of the Myanmar Government's unceasing and 
dedicated support to and cooperation with the Untied Nations Drug Control 
Programme and the US Drug Enforcement Agency, both of which carry out serious 
programmes in Myanmar with the full backing of Myanmar's leaders?

       Have the Bangkok Post's writers any idea of how many Myanmar soldiers, 
including officers, who have been killed or wounded-in the past decade in 
clearing the drug producers traffickers from Myanmar territory, often in most 
difficult terrain and in dangerous circumstances? Indeed, several of 
Myanmar's current leaders ,were once in the front line in these anti-drug 
campaigns.

       Have they any idea of the stringent anti-narcotic laws that exist in 
Myanmar and are strictly applied? Do they realize that several pharmaceutical 
products sold over-the-counter in Thailand such as cough syrups containing 
codeine etc. are banned in Myanmar and any persons caught in possession 
severely punished? Does all this sound like being cozy with drug traffickers?

       At least the Bangkok Post pays tribute to the efforts of Myanmar's 
main anti-drug agency, the CCDAC (Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control) 
which most observers agree has done, and continues to do an excellent job 
despite lack of major external funding from most donor countries with the 
exception of the USA and Japan, two countries that, in cooperation with the 
UNDCP, have continued to give much needed financial support and technical 
assistance. Could the CCDAC have achieved their notable successes if they had 
been "hamstrung by interference from above"? How ludicrous. What is needed, 
however, is an increase in this support, which is relatively insignificant in 
terms of the terrain to be covered and the extent of the problem. As one 
observer pointed out, if the US DEA only allocated 10% of its annual budget 
of several billion dollars to the anti-drug programme in Myanmar, the opium 
problem could be solved within 2-3 years. Without this kind of funding, the 
government must struggle to cope with its own resources. This is a serious 
drain on the national economy. Nevertheless Myanmar has embarked on a 
national programme which aims to eradicate opium production by the year 2015.
       Sadly however, this kind of irresponsible journalism of {he Bangkok 
Post, whatever the motives, does no good to foreign confidence and investment 
in Myanmar which is badly needed. Anti-Myanmar government groups abroad seize 
upon such examples of inaccurate newspaper sensationalism with glee and use 
them in their efforts to deter foreign companies from investing in Myanmar. 
Such groups forget the great strides that Myanmar has made in the past decade 
in developing its natural resources and industrial base, most of which has 
been achieved through its own funds, without the support of funding 
institutions and donors.

       An essential prerequisite of this development has been the atmosphere 
of peace and stability that has prevailed in the past few years. To borrow 
from Winston Churchill, it is hard to think of another country in the 
developing world that has done so much, with so little, in such a short 
period of time, for the benefit of so many. One has only to think of the 
number of new dams, bridges and roads that have been built in the last few 
years in many parts of the country.

       Critics may complain of the strains in the infrastructure that such 
development has brought, for example, the frequent shortages in the 
electricity supply. But how could the lack of rainfall in 1998 have been 
foreseen which brought the water levels in the Mo Bye dam? the main 
electricity supply source for the country, down to inoperable levels? How 
could normal planning for power supplies have coped with the rapid growth in 
buildings, factories and hotels that has taken place, particularly in the 
Yangon area, and particularly without foreign aid? Who could have foreseen 
that from a total electricity demand of 250 megawatts for the whole country 8 
years ago, Yangon alone needs more than 300 megawatts today?

       What Myanmar needs is continued peace and stability, the policies to 
attract new foreign investors to the country, a relatively stable exchange 
rate for its currency and investors who are willing to put up factories and 
plants and offices to stay for the long-term. What Myanmar does not need are 
short-term one-shop operators who pull out when the going gets tough, when 
quick, overnight profits do not materialize or when the air-conditioners do 
not run. Over the next year or two, when the new power stations that are 
being built come on stream, the electricity supplies will be better, the 
economic crisis in the AS AN area should be over, and Myanmar should enter a 
new period of prosperity.

       Those organizations who stuck it out and stayed in Myanmar will reap 
the rewards for their faith and loyalty in the country and its people. Such 
an example is the Swiss company Diethelm, which in the last 5 years has 
established no less than 4.divisions in the country, in health care, consumer 
products and animal health, engineering and travel tourism. Myanmar needs 
more of such companies. It also needs more people who will stand up and 
defend Myanmar in the foreign arena, who will speak for Myanmar as a loyal 
supporter of the UN system, a member country who always paid its dues to the 
UN and which deserves support of other member nations and institutions such 
as the World Bank and IMF in return.

       So when the Bangkok Post next has something to say about the Myanmar 
leadership, perhaps it could write about all that has been achieved, in drugs 
control for example and in improving the life of the Myanmar people, all done 
without much external aid or foreign donor assistance, and resist writing 
sweeping, inaccurate generalizations that do not help any one or any cause.   
 

Author : Gerald Moore

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