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BURMA RELATED NEWS
- February 06, 2003.
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HEADLINES
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The Nation - SSA 'seizes' ya ba haul bound for
Thailand
Bkk Post - PM to raise drugs issue with Burma
Mizzima - Bangladesh wants co-operation from
Burma
-------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
SSA 'seizes' ya ba haul bound for Thailand Wiwatchai Somkam Published on Feb 6, 2003 A Shan rebel leader said yesterday that his troops have seized 280,000 methamphetamine pills destined for the streets of Thailand's major cities after a major clash with drug traffickers on the Thai-Burmese border. One ethnic Lisu was killed and three other traffickers injured during the three-hour clash, Colonel Yawd Serk, commander of the Shan State Army (SSA), said in an interview with The Nation at one of his border base camps. The seized methamphetamine was made by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a pro-Rangoon outfit, in their clandestine labs in Thai and Chinese border areas, he claimed. The SSA commander, once labelled by the US as a major drug trafficker, said his group had adopted an anti-drug policy to help Thailand's fight against narcotics. This was to show gratitude for the shelter provided by Thailand |to ethnic Shan, thousands of |whom have been displaced by fighting inside Burma. Many have taken refuge in makeshift camps along the Thai border and live on handouts from relief organisations. The Thaksin government has launched an all-out offensive on drug trafficking, domestically and along the country's borders, through which huge numbers of methamphetamine pills are said to enter the Kingdom. Yawd Serk estimated the Thai government crackdown had delayed the transfer of more than 60 million speed pills from refineries along the Burmese border across from Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son provinces. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Thursday 06 February
2003
PM to raise drugs issue with Burma Nong Khai, Vientiane in cooperation deal Wassana Nanuam and Mongkol Kannikar Joint measures with Burma to fight drug trafficking along the Thai-Burmese border will be highlighted during Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's visit to Rangoon next week. ``I will discuss the drugs issue with the Burmese to work out joint measures against drug trafficking along the border,'' Mr Thaksin said during yesterday's visit to the army headquarters, where he told a gathering of army officers of the government's determination to root out the drugs problem. ``We will have to be specific so that joint solutions could be found to snuff out the problem,'' said the prime minister who is due to visit Burma on Feb 9-10. Mr Thaksin said he appreciated the military's opening of its barracks countrywide for use as drugs rehabilitation centres. The government would continue giving financial support to the programme, he added. Meanwhile, Nong Khai provincial authorities have struck a cooperation deal with Vientiane to combat drug trafficking along the Thai-Lao border. Agreement was reached during a courtesy visit by Nong Khai governor Wongsak Sawasdipanich to Thongsing Thammawong, the mayor of Vientiane, on Tuesday. Mr Thongsing pledged his full cooperation, a source said. Vientiane was also committed to a swift drug suppression policy. As part of the campaign, a Nong Khai-Vientiane bicycle rally carrying anti-drug messages was planned for March. An estimated 500,000 methamphetamine pills were being smuggled through Nong Khai from Laos each month, the source said. The province has a 330km border with Laos. Steps to stem the flow of illicit drugs and curtail their distribution include more frequent border patrols, closer intelligence news gathering, and more drug factory raids. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangladesh wants co-operation from Burma
By Nava Thakuria, Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com) Dhaka, February 5, 2003 Bangladesh wants co-operation from the neighboring countries -India and Burma - for mitigation of flood in the country. Bangladesh Water Resources Minister, Mr. LK Siddiqi told here in a seminar on Sunday. He also added that the shrinking of wetlands and other water bodies for enhancing food production to meet the increased pressure of population become a serious matter of concern in Bangladesh. "So the restoration of wetlands become the need of the hour for the sack of the environment, as well as the human population," told the minister in the seminar on "No Wetlands-No Water", which was organized in the capital city Dhaka on the World Wetlands Day (February 2). "Now time has come to recover the lost wetlands to protect our environment. If necessary, we have to change the cropping pattern to enhance food production, but we must not ruin our wetlands," added Mr. LK Siddiqi. He had emphasized on joint initiatives among the neighboring countries including India and Burma (Myanmar) for flood control during the rainy season. The seminar was jointly organized by the World Water Forum of Journalists (WWFJ), Bangladesh Ministry of Environment and Forest, UNDP, World Conservation Union (IUCN), Bangladesh Center for Advance Studies (BCAS) and Forum of Environmental Journalists of Bangladesh (FEJB) at CIRDAP auditorium. Addressing the seminar, which was chaired by the WWFJ secretary general and FEJB Chairman Quamrul Islam Chowdhury, the Chief Editor of Weekly Holiday Enayetullah Khan argued that the Government should take more pro-active stand at the local level to protect wetlands and other water bodies. Quoting that Bangladesh is the largest living wetlands in the world, Dr Atiq A Rahman, the executive director of BCAS suggested to link poverty and livelihood of people in the wetland management. The Secretary of the Rural Development and Cooperatives, Hedayetul Islam Chowdhury termed that the problems of flood and water logging would be removed, if the wetlands could be preserved. -------------------------------------------------------------------- |