Poppy
plantation destroyed
YANGON,
18 March – Members of local intelligence unit and Myanmar Police Force on 21 and
22 February destroyed 5.5 acres of poppy plantation in Kyauklongyi Village in
Momeik Township, Shan State (North). A total of 7,181.73 acres of poppy
plantation have been destroyed in this poppy cultivation season.
68 acres of
poppy plantations destroyed in Phakant township
Yangon,
15 March – A combined team comprising local Tatmadawmen, intelligence unit,
members of Myanmar Police Force and Kachin State Special Region (2),
departmental personnel and local people searched and destroyed 14 poppy
plantations (68 acres of poppy cultivation) around the area between Sanpe Creek
and Dukho Creek in Phakannt Township, Kachin State, from 25 to 28 February.
Up to now in this poppy
cultivation season, a total of 7071.60 acres of poppy plantations have been
destroyed, it is learnt.
Preliminary
meeting to build Youth Nurturing Unit held
Yangon,
11 March – Under the arrangement of the Central Committee for Drug Abuse
Control, the preliminary meeting to build Youth Nurturing Unit in Tima Village,
Namh-un Village-tract, Muse Township, was held at the meeting hall of the
Ministry of Home Affairs yesterday afternoon. Present were Chairman of CCDAC
Minister for Home Affairs Col Tin Hlaing, Deputy Minister Brig-Gen Phone Swe and
officials of the Health Department, the Social Welfare Department, the Livestock
Breeding and Veterinary Department, Myanma Agriculture Service, the Technical
and Vocational Education Department, the Progress of Border Areas and National
Races Department and Myanmar Police Force.
Speaking on the occasion, the
minister said that there exists a large number of drug addicts in Shan State
(North) area according to the current data. This is why drug addict treatment
hospitals and clinics are required in the region. Shan State (North) Additional
Police Force Commander Police Col Win Naing and party supervised land
preparation tasks in Tima Village. On 4 March morning, Deputy Commander Brig-Gen
Hla Myint of North-East Command and the Deputy Director-General of MPF drove
stakes for construction of the unit.
Next, the Deputy Director-General
of MPF reported on the lay-out plan of the unit and strength of staff. Those
present submitted their reports. The Minister then gave necessary instructions.
33.7 acres of
poppy fields destroyed
Yangon,
10 March – A combined team comprising Tatmadaw members of the local battalion,
members of Military Intelligence Unit, members of Myanmar Police Force,
departmental personnel and local people destroyed 33.7 acres of opium poppy
plantations in the surrounding areas of Padumone and Nanpok Creek in Hkamti
Township on 19 and 20 February. The teams are destroying the illegal poppy
fields during the poppy cultivation season for 2003-2004.
12 acres of
poppy plantations in Shan State (East) destroyed
YANGON,
9 March-Poppy plantations are being destroye during the 2003-2004 poppy
cultivation season. A combined team comprising members of local Tatmadawmen,
local intelligence unit, Myanmar Police Force, Shan State (East) Special
Region-4 and local people destroyed 12 acres of poppy plantations illegally
grown on Pansali mountain range north-east of Wunshan Village, Shan State (East)
on 28 February, putting the total number of the already-destroyed acres of poppy
plantations illegally grown in the region as far as 28 February 2004 to
6618.476.
Poppy-substitute Crops Cultivation and Livestock Breeding Training School opened
in Laukkai
YANGON,
6 March- A ceremony to open the Poppy-substitute Crops Cultivation and Livestock
Breeding Training School for the purpose of drug elimination, built by the
Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Myanmar, was held at the school
in Laukkai, Shan State (North) Special Region-1, Kokang Region, on 3 March
morning, attended by Member of Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control Deputy
Director-General Police Brig-Gen Zaw Win of Myanmar Police Force, on behalf of
the CCDAC.
Also present on the occasion were
Laukkai Regional Control Command Commander Brig-Gen Than Win, Chinese Ambassador
Mr Li Jinjun, Director Police Col Sit Aye of CCDAC, local authorities, Kokang
Special Region-1 national race leader U Phon Kyar Shin and local people,
departmental personnel and guests.
Speaking on the occasion, Police
Brig-Gen Zaw Win said that Myanmar has laid down and is implementing the drug
elimination 15-year plan. In addition, the New Destiny Project, a part of the
plan, is being implemented in five poppy growing states beginning April 2002.
Accordingly, local farmers of
Shan State (North), on their own accord, presented poppy seeds to departments
concerned after realizing the goodwill of the Government. The poppy seeds have
been set on fire four times – three times in Lashio and once in Laukkai.
As more and more land was put
under poppy-substitute crops, sown acreage of poppy cultivation could be reduced
by 24 per cent in the entire nation in 2002-2003 poppy cultivation season in
comparison to that of 2001-2002 according to the data on illegal poppy
cultivation, jointly collected by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
and Myanmar.
Poppy cultivation obviously
declined by 50 per cent in Shan State (North). Therefore, Kokang region could be
designated as the opium free zone in 2003.
It can be seen that remarkable
progress has been made in the infrastructures such as economic, social,
education, health, transport, etc at all border areas that were unprecedented in
the past because the people residing in border areas are making concerted
efforts not only for carrying out poppy-substitute cultivation and livestock
breeding tasks but also for joining hand with the Government in undertaking
regional development tasks after abandoning poppy cultivation.
The excursion groups comprising
diplomats, ambassadors, heads of missions in Myanmar and local and foreign
journalists led by CCDAC member ministers, have visited border areas for three
times to view drug elimination and regional development tasks being implemented
in the border areas.
In this regard, they have
personally see successes in carrying out drug elimination tasks thanks to
undertakings of the local people who cooperated with the Government. In
addition, international communities have learned about development of the border
areas through the excursion group member diplomats and media.
In recognition of success and
tasks in drug elimination of Myanmar, the PRC Ambassador to Myanmar donated US$
12,000 to the funds of CCDAC with a view to establishing the Poppy-substitute
Crops Cultivation and Livestock Breeding Training School in Laukkai, Kokang
Region, Shan State (North).
The donation of the Ambassador
was used to build the training school by the Regional Committee for Drug Abuse
Control Chairman Commander of North-East Command, closely supervised by Regional
Control Command (Laukkai) and local authorities. He then thanked the ambassador
for donation to building the training school.
Due to opening of the training
school, local farmers in Laukkai can get an opportunity to systematically pursue
agricultural and livestock breeding technologies as well as to apply the
technology in their farms. In conclusion, he urged local people to join hands
with regional authorities for durability of the training school in the long-run.
Next, Ambassador Mr Li Jinjun
explained the purpose of the donations and Kokang national race leader U Phon
Kyar Shin spoke words of thanks.
Afterwards, U Phon Kyar Shin
presented a commemorative pennant to the ambassador. Later, Police Brig-Gen Zaw
Win, Brig-Gen Than Win, Ambassador Mr Li Jinjun and U Phon Kyar Shin formally
opened the training school.
Press
conference on narcotic drugs reports of INCB held
YANGON,
3 March – The press conference related to the narcotic drugs reports of
International Narcotic Control Board-INCB was held at the hall of United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime-UNODC on Malikha Road in Mayangon Township this
afternoon.
Present were Director (News) of
News and Periodicals Enterprise U Hla Tun, Patron of Myanmar Foreign
Correspondents Club U Hla Htway, President U Sao Kai Hpa and members, officials
of periodicals, Resident Representative Mr Jean-Luc Lemahieu of UNODC and
officials.
At the press conference, Resident
Representative Mr Jean-Luc Lemahieu said that as illegal cultivation areas of
poppy plantation continued to decline in east and south-east Asia regions in
2003, there was the two-thirds decline of poppy cultivation in Myanmar in 2003
compared with the cultivation in 1996 due to endeavours in narcotic drugs
elimination being undertaken by the Government of the Union of Myanmar.
Similarly, it was obviously seen that seizures of production and trafficking of
amphetamine stimulant tablets declined in Myanmar in 2002.
He welcomed Myanmar and Mongolia
which joined as members in the narcotic drugs control treaty (1988) and drug
eradication treaty (1982).
Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand and Vietnam, members of Mekong Basin Countries, signed the MoU on
cooperation in drugs elimination in 1993 and approved to implement that MoU in
September 2003. He supported regional cooperation such as control of
transnational smuggling of narcotic drugs, matters related to amphetamine tablet
and prevention against HIV infection.
In addition, he was satisfied with eradication of narcotic drug production
jointly carried out in April 2003 by Myanmar and Chinese police forces.
As there were 81,400 hectares of
poppy plantations in Myanmar in 2002 and 62,200 hectares in 2003, cultivation of
poppy plantation was obviously reduced by 24 per cent.
UNODC, on its part, is carrying
out drugs elimination tasks in Myanmar with the assistance being provided by the
US, Germany, Japan and Italy. It is estimated that out of US$ 26 million which
will be spent on drugs elimination in Kokang and Wa regions, UNODC has already
fetched about US $ 6 million. Later, the resident representative answered the
queries raised by journalists.
203 drug cases
exposed in January
YANGON,
3 March – The Tatmadaw, the Myanmar Police Force, and the Customs Department
exposed 203 drug-related cases during January 2004.
The cases were: 30 cases with
56.2 kilos of opium, 73 cases with 25.1 kilos of heroin, 1 case with 0.97 kilo
of morphine, 6 cases with 2.76 kilos of opium oil, 4 cases with 11.27 kilos of
low-grade opium, 17 cases with 0.84 kilo of marijuana, 1 case with 3.75 litres
of phensedyl, 46 cases with 343,696 stimulant tablets, 0.1 kilo of ephedrine, 59
kilos of stimulant powder, 6 cases with 5.281 kilos of opium dust, 1.5 kilos of
chemical powder, 8 cases for failure to register, and 11 other cases. Action was
taken against 314 peresons – 271 men and 43 women.