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BURMA RELATED NEWS - July 15,
2001.
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HEADLINES
---------------------------------------------------------------- AP - Myanmar Garment Workers Protest US Bill To Stop
Imports
PD -
Myanmar-Chinese Congratulate Beijing's Successful Olympic
Bid
Free Realtime - Myanmar Implementing Extended Prawn Breeding Plan
TI - Indo-Myanmar
border trade declining
The
Nation - 300 on drugs blacklist
Bkk Post -
Postbag - Respect is first step to helping Burma
Bkk Post -
No opium without takers
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Produces 6,000 Power Tillers Annually
---------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday July 14, 10:20 PMMyanmar Garment Workers
Protest US Bill To Stop Imports
YANGON, Myanmar (AP)--Thousands of workers in more than 400 garment
factories sent an open letter to the U.S. Embassy saying a proposed bill
prohibiting import of Myanmar products would cause great hardship to 300,000
textile workers and their families in Myanmar, authorities said Saturday.
The letter was in response to a bill submitted to the U.S.
Senate on May 22 prohibiting the import of Myanmar products.
The U.S. has strongly criticized Myanmar's military regime
for alleged violations of human rights, and some economic sanctions are already
in place.
"On behalf of the employees, we would like to request
madame charge d'affaires' appreciation and kind understanding of our situation
and the very source of livelihood of the over 300,000 employees and their
dependent families, about 1.5 million people, and the multiplier effects on the
whole population," stated the letter to the U.S. Embassy official, Priscilla
Clapp.
"Socio-economic sufferings and woes befall us, as we are
going to be laid off if the factories were to shut down," the letter said,
adding that although the bill was apparently aimed at exerting pressure on the
government, "the poor mass will be the target and will have to bear the punch."
At a briefing at the Union of Myanmar Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, Vice President Htein Win said that out of the $401 million worth
of apparel exports last year, Myanmar companies received $40.1 million, of which
2% went to the government in taxes and the remaining $39.3 million was paid for
overhead and wages.
---------------------------------------------------------------- People's Daily
Sunday, July 15, 2001, updated at
17:01(GMT+8)
Myanmar-Chinese Congratulate Beijing's Successful Olympic Bid Representatives from 184 Myanmar-Chinese and overseas
Chinese social organizations in different parts of Myanmar jointly signed a
letter of felicitation on Sunday in congratulation of Beijing's successful bid
to the right of hosting the 2008 Olympic Games after hearing the news of the
successful bid.
The letter said July 13, 2001 was the day that deserved
celebration by the Beijing citizens, Chinese people and overseas Chinese and
Chinese citizens residing in all parts of the world, adding that Chinese
generations abroad are proud of and excited over the successful bid.
The success of Beijing's bid for hosting the Olympic games
was significantly important and will greatly inspire the national spirit of the
Chinese nationalities, the letter stressed, describing that it was the victory
of the great unity of the Chinese people of different nationalities as well as
that of the broad masses of overseas Chinese and Chinese citizens residing
abroad.
The letter pointed out that Beijing's hosting of the 2008
Olympic Games will initiate a new era of Chinese sports as well as a new
starting point for the Chinese nationalities.
The letter also expressed convince that the 2008 Beijing
Olympic Games will become a most remarkable one since historic times.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Free Realtime
Myanmar Implementing Extended
Prawn Breeding Plan
YANGON, Jul 15, 2001 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Myanmar is
implementing a three-year plan of extending prawn breeding in the country since
June 1, 2000, targeting to extend the breeding area up to 48,600
hectares.
According to the Myanmar Ministry of Livestock and
Fisheries Sunday, the prawn breeding areas being extended cover the country's
seven state and divisions along its long stretch of coastline of 2,276
kilometers.
At the very beginning of the period, there had been
altogether 27,316 hectares of prawn extended and so far the area covered has
gone to a total of 40,536.19 hectares, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the Fisheries Department of the ministry has
opened 12 insemination camps along the country's coastline from Maungtaw in
western Rakhine state to Dawei in southern Tanintharyi division, it
disclosed.
In addition, eight privately-owned prawn insemination
camps have been built, targeting to produce 231.8 million fries annually, of
which 191.8 million fries by the privately-owned camps, while 40 million fries
by government-operated camps, it said.
It added that up to the end of May this year, a total of
92.27 million fries had been sold by the camps owned by the fisheries department
and the private sector.
According to the sources, from June 2000 up to May this
year, a total of 318.096 tons of prawn had been produced from 55.48 hectares of
prawn breeding ponds with the average prawn harvest per hectare showing 5.728
tons.
Myanmar is rich in fishery resources and the fishery
sector has become one of the productive mainstays of its economy.
Official statistics show that the country produces over
910,000 tons of fish and prawn annually, the export of which covers 49 countries
and regions with nearly 60,000 tons, earning about 150 million U.S.
dollars.
Fishery sector is the third productive mainstay of
Myanmar's economy after agriculture and forestry, contributing 7.3 percent to
the country's gross domestic product and standing as the third largest foreign
exchange earner
---------------------------------------------------------------- The Times of India -
July 15, 2001.
Indo-Myanmar border trade declining MOREH, Manipur: The volume of border trade between India
and Myanmar is sliding, thanks to the dumping of cheap Chinese goods in the
North East and a 'not-so-supporting' government, besides red tape, traders in
this chandel district town of Manipur claim.
In 2000-01, Indian export through Moreh was only Rs 57
lakh while in 1997-98 it was about Rs 5 crore, a decline of about 70 per cent,
president of Moreh Chamber of Commerce (MCC) N. Kumar said.
China was dumping its goods in India through Myanmar,
besides Nepal and Bhutan, and people were losing interest in Indian goods as
Chinese products were cheap, Kumar said.
Indian products were pushed back from the border as
Myanmar has also become a dumping ground for China. Besides, poor people of the
North-East also prefer the cheap products and, that was why the trading
community was facing a struggle for survival, he said.
From needle to building materials and from almirah to
electronic goods, Chinese items included everything people needed in their
day-to-day use.
MCC secretary Prakash Jain said that most of the business
establiments and shops in Moreh were being closed down as traders were not
getting government support whereas the Myanmar government was backing its
traders in several ways, including finance.
In a one-way traffic of business, Myanmar was draining out
Indian money through Moreh, Jain said, adding both the Central and Manipur
governments should act fast to revive trade in Moreh.
Moreover, a Chandel district officer said, Myanmarese
officials at the ground level enjoy the authority to take decisions in disputed
cases any time, while local Indian officials could not take quick decision on
any matter.
The MCC demanded immediate review of the Indo-Myanmar
trade agreement signed in 1994. From its inception, the agreement was not
reviewed, he said.
The MCC also submitted a memorandum to Union minister of
state for commerce and industries Dr Raman Singh recently requesting him to take
up measures to enhance Indo-Mayamar free border trade commencing from 1995.
The memorendum also urged the Centre to allow the traders
to export all items under OGL to boost trading.
The superintendent, land custom, Moreh, A. Swamy, said
that from March 1 last, the government removed restrictions on 1,429 items for
international trade but his office was dealing with only 22 items as agreed
exchangeable commodities.
In the memorandum to the Union minister, the MCC said that
it wanted to export items like cycle, cycle parts, cotton yarn, stainless steel
utensils, menthol, peas, incense sticks, spices, chemicals, fertilisers,
agricultural products, consumer durables, life saving drugs, cosmetics,
textiles, cotton lungies and dress materials.
And the items it wanted to import were teak wood
furniture, rice, resin, ground nut seeds or oil, peanuts, bamboo based household
products, raw cotton, textiles, dress materials, herbal roots and bricks.
The memorandum demanded 100 per cent financial assistance
from the bank against the value of import-export goods. The traders further said
that they wanted to transact business through letter of credit over and above
the barter system.
The traders requested the government to improve
communication system, abolition of state taxes, construcation of warehouses and
weigh bridge, pass for Indian traders to visit Mandalay in Myanmar and for
Myanmarese traders to visit Imphal. (PTI)
---------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - July 15,
2001.
300 on drugs blacklist
Nearly 300 commissioned and non-commissioned policemen are
now on the blacklist for punitive actions for their alleged involvement in the
illicit drug trade, according to top police officers.
The number of policemen on the blacklist in Bangkok alone
tops 80. The Region 8 of Police Force has another 100 on the blacklist, plus 70
from Region 5 and 45 from Region 6.
The national force has a total of 9 regional units plus
the metropolitan police force.
The blacklist of policemen from other units has yet to be
finalised for submission to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra.
Metropolitan Police Bureau Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Anan
Piromkaew disclosed yesterday that the names of 80 policemen under his
responsibility, which were withheld, would be handed over to the premier
today.
Today is the deadline for all police units nationwide to
send the names of policemen suspected of involvement in the drug trade to the
premier.
National Police chief Pol Gen Pornsak Durongkawibool,
however, that he would probably need more time to get all units to forward their
blacklist.
Metropolitan police chief Anan said prime minister
Thaksin, who is chairman of the Police Commission, would have the final
authority to decide the fate of policemen suspected of drug trade
involvement.
The premier said separately that the government was
serious about getting rid of bad policemen and other officials involved with
illicit drugs.
"It is the duty of all superiors to take both criminal and
disciplinary actions against their subordinates. If they do not know what their
subordinates are up to, they cannot be good bosses," he said.
The premier's statement followed yesterday's three
separate seizures of a gigantic amount of amphetamine pills by military and
police officers in Tak and Chiangrai provinces.
In Tak's Mae Sod district, the authorities found more than
2.6 million pills after a crash between 20 armed traffickers and the army's 399
drug-suppression unit ' leaving one Thai soldier dead.
This is the first major drug seizure since Thaksin paid an
official visit to Burma last month where he discussed drug-control strategies
with the military.
Pol Cap Anan Sukklam, the inspector of Mae Sod district
police, said the traffickers had smuggled the amphetamine pills across Moei
river to the Thai border.
Third Army Region Commander Lt Gen Watanachai Chaimuanwong
said the killed solider was Sergeant Seksan Suwansil .
The traffickers escaped crossing Moei River back to Burma
before the military unit sent to support the operation arrived at the scene,
according to the regional army chief.
Seperately, as part of the government's drug crack down
campaign, two ethnic Chinese "drug lords" were also summarily executed by police
in Bangkok.
Police Col. Wichai Sangprapai said the raid was a major
victory against one of the country's biggest criminal rings, operated by ethnic
Chinese from China, Taiwan and Malaysia.
The two alleged traffickers were only identified by police
as A-Chong, an alias used by a 40-year-old Chinese national sought by
authorities, and Sonny, believed to be a 50-year-old Malaysian.
Police, acting as buyers, tried to purchase 10,000
amphetamine pills from the duo.
In another separate incident, a Burmese trafficker was
arrested in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district. The Burmese, aged 27, was held with
60,000 amphetamine pills .
The suspect was only identified as Ping whose last name is
unknown. Police said Ping sold pills retail customers in a
restaurant.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - July
15, 2001.
Postbag - Respect is first
step to helping Burma
Chanyacharungchit So Prof Dr Kriengsak Charoenwongsak is churning out that
tired old saw about investment inevitably leading to democracy in Burma
(Perspective, July 8). The evidence so far, however, would seem to suggest that
such a view is blinkered in the extreme. Far from enhancing democracy,
investment has simply served to line the pockets of wealthy politicians and
businesspeople. Worse, it has often gone hand-in-hand with the exploitation of
ordinary Burmese, who according to numerous reports, are often forced to work in
slave-like conditions on foreign investment projects.
Thailand might argue that it will invest in
infrastructure, but who will use this infrastructure? How can ordinary people
use roads, when they haven't the money for black market petrol-often the only
source given that petrol is heavily rationed? How much will ordinary people
benefit from electricity, if they have to pay extortion money to corrupt
officials, trying to supplement their pitiful incomes, to obtain it in the first
place?In her book "Freedom from Fear," Aung San Suu Kyi outlines these
practices, and then goes on to say "... now is not yet the time to invest. And
to those who would ask what the alternative to 'investment now' would be, I
would say: 'invest in the future'. That is to say, invest in democracy in Burma
if only for the sake of your own profits."It is not enough to point to recent
releases of NLD politicians as 'evidence' that greater engagement with Burma
will lead to a more democratic society.
These releases are a step in the right direction, but they
do not in themselves spell democracy when hundreds of political prisoners in
Burma remain behind bars.
Yes, Thailand should forge better relations with the
Burmese, but it should do so with the Burmese people, not their un-elected
military leaders. Elli
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - July
15, 2001.
No opium without takers Eradicating opium from Burma is simple. All you have to do is stop the refiners, the pushers and, above all, the drug users U Win Naing It is an undeniable fact that raw opium has been produced
in some northern hilly areas of Burma during the past 150 years or so. Burmese
had no knowledge of this drug until the British introduced it to Burma after the
first Anglo-Burmese war in 1824. Since then, poor people living on the hills
have been planting poppies to make a living.
These local inhabitants never invented anything to develop
raw opium into finer drugs. They are simple farmers with little knowledge. They
do not know what's going on 100 miles away, let alone the complicated process of
producing and marketing narcotic drugs. They don't have the means to distribute
the drugs all over the world.
Heroin, methamphetamines and other dangerous drugs are
made by educated people with technical expertise. They are the "outsiders" who
have access to drug-producing chemicals, which are again developed by
intelligent people, not the ignorant farmers of Burma.
So who is responsible for the drug scourge?The farmers who
grow the poppies? The laboratory workers who turn raw opium into heroin? The
traffickers who transport the drugs to foreign markets? The wealthy people who
run the drug syndicates? The countries that produce chemicals for drug
refineries? Government officials who are involved in drug trafficking?And there
are many more who are involved in this dirty business one way or
another.
The world reaction to the ever-increasing production of
drugs strongly centres on raw material producing countries like Burma,
Afghanistan and Columbia. What has not been highlighted is the involvement of
other countries which helped to transform the raw materials into marketable
narcotic products.
Countries like China, India and Thailand are equally
responsible for the booming drug trade. They provide basic chemicals such as
acetic anhydride, ephedrine and caffeine that are the vital ingredients in
refining the opium. Special manufacturing tools and equipment are also made in
these countries. Without these chemicals and manufacturing tools, the raw opium
could not be developed into saleable drugs. The world should hold these chemical
producing countries responsible as well-no more, no less.
If the international community is truly interested in
wiping out narcotic drug production, it should work to stop the production of
these chemicals or prevent them from getting into the hands of drug
refiners.
SHARED GUILT
In every business a minimum of two parties have to
participate to make a deal. Some people say drugs are produced because there are
consumers. But others would say that consumers exist because drugs are
available. To me, it works both ways-and it does not matter who started the
cycle. The producer and the consumer always co-exist. Both are responsible for
every single outcome of their actions.
Consumer nations like the Untied States of America, Great
Britain and European countries are waging war against drug-producing countries.
That is good, but why don't they wage the same kind of war against drug users in
their own countries? When some states in the USA are trying to legalise drugs,
how can they expect us to condemn the poor poppy growers?When a country tries to
stem the flow of drugs from across the border, it should not forget to deter
drug use on its own turf as well.
I am deeply disappointed by Western media and anti-drug
organisations which always downplay the role of drug-users and castigate the
opium farmers.
I am not defending the drug producers. Far from it, I
condemn them most ferociously. But I also condemn the rich pleasure-seekers of
the so-called cultured countries. As long as there are people who can afford to
buy drugs, there will be poor farmers who grow poppies for their survival. The
most saddening difference between the two is that one is seeking pleasure and
the other is doing it for his livelihood.
Ironically the pleasure-seekers are left alone while the
poor farmers are condemned. I want to blame both parties with the same ferocity,
and I want every other person in the world to do the same. Get rid of both as
soon as possible and let us all work in unison and sincerity to achieve that
goal.
LET'S BE HONEST
I most heartily welcome the new Thai prime minister's
public pledge to work for the eradication of drugs in his country. I support his
attempt to save young Thais from the drug scourge, and hope he will succeed in
fighting drugs at the border as well. Let us join hands to fight the problem. If
we go down you go down, and if you go down we will go down too. We are linked
geographically, socially and economically, and we belong to Asean.
All we need is sincerity-sincerity to co-exist and to wipe
out the drug problem which is destroying our peoples. Let us be honest with each
other and try our best to be fair to each other.
There is a Burmese saying that "We are both opium eaters,
you and I, and you should not get intoxicated more than I do."There are many
issues that have to be put forward for mutually acceptable solutions. For
example, the decades-long issue of refugees, the issue of anti-Rangoon elements
now taking sanctuary in Thailand, cross-border economic problems and many
others. We can certainly settle these issues peacefully if we try to be fair to
each other and we are willing to meet half way.
Be a good neighbour and thou shall be
blessed.
U Win Naing is a pro-democracy activist living in
Rangoon. Communications with him were cut off in October last year. This is his
first article in nine months.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar Produces 6,000
Power Tillers Annually
2001.07.15 10:43:01 YANGON, July 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Four agricultural equipment
factories in Myanmar are producing a total of 6,000 power tillers
annually, according to the country's Ministry of Agriculture and
Irrigation Sunday.
Of the four factories, two were built in the past, while
the other two added in recent years, said the Department of the
Agricultural Mechanization (DAM) of the ministry.
Besides, a new agricultural equipment producing factory
is being built in Kyaukse, the country's northern Mandalay division,
with the loan from China, the sources said.
On completion of the Chinese-aid factory, it will be able
to produce 10,000 power tillers and 5,000 harvesters annually, it
added.
The DAM is making efforts to produce parts of
agricultural machinery including tractors, rotary power tillers and gear
boxes. Power tillers being produced are mainly of 16 horse-power.
Myanmar, an agro-based country, is striving to transform
its traditional farming to mechanized one for the development of its
agriculture.
According to official statistics, the number of tractors
in the country has gone to 8,600, of which 5,500 are owned by the private
sector, while 3,100 by the department.
Besides, the number of power tillers owned by the
private sector has reached 49,000.
Meanwhile, the country has also set up 22 mechanized
farming villages across the country to boost agricultural production
and to reduce labor cost and time in the undertaking.
The statistics also show that a total of 2.835 million
hectares of Myanmar's farmland are now ploughed by machines, accounting for
23.34 percent of the country's cultivated land which stretches 12. 15 million
hectares, while the land ploughed by draught animals covers 9.315 million
hectares, taking up 76.66 percent of the total cultivated land.
The country's agriculture represents 37 percent of its
gross domestic product and 25 percent of the export value.
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