BKK POST: Burma must face the drug

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

April 24, 1998


                                     



                                Editorial


              Burma must face
              the drug reality

              Burma is the largest producer of heroin and opium in the world.
              The United Nations has criticised unchecked drug trafficking in
              Burma. 

              Membership in Asean has had little effect on production of
              opium or shipments of heroin and amphetamines. Burmese
              authorities may not understand the extent of their problems. 

              The making and trafficking of drugs in Burma has long been a
              major headache for Thailand and other neighbours. To its vast
              opium fields and its system of heroin factories have recently been
              added networks of amphetamine makers and dealers. The many
              tentacles of drug manufacturing and smuggling have caused
              immense difficulties on our side of the border. These range from
              increased addiction of Thais to drugs, through criminal
              enterprises that have done major harm to our economy. 

              Now it must be asked whether Burma is even aware of the
              problems it faces at home from drugs, and the burdens it places
              on its neighbours. 

              In the first few months of this year, Burma has appeared to
              cooperate in a number of anti-drug initiatives. These have
              occurred both at home and in Rangoon's diplomatic dealings.
              But its statements and reactions have so often been at odds with
              the known and obvious facts that one must wonder if Burmese
              authorities are aware of what is going on under their noses. 

              Early in the year, Burma and the United States cooperated in a
              survey of the Burmese opium fields. The six-day inspection
              covered all the country's major and minor poppy-growing areas.
              Officials found what they have found for the past decade Ñ the
              opium fields continue to grow in scope and size. The on-site
              inspections, combined with satellite photos from the US, the
              United Nations and elsewhere, found opium flourishing as ever.
              The crop estimate was 2,500 tonnes of opium. 

              Rangoon wasn't buying this international estimate. Even though
              Burmese officials led the fourth annual on-site inspections with
              the Americans, Rangoon simply wonÕt accept its result. The
              crop size and acreage are both over-estimated by the
              international experts, say Burmese officials. 

              The United Nations reports that 300,000 hectares has been
              under opium cultivation in Burma in the 10 years since 1988,
              producing at least 2,000 tonnes of opium annually. Burma claims
              that 9,630.9 hectares is under poppies, yielding 106 tonnes of
              opium. 

              The question is whether Rangoon is dissembling or deluding
              itself. The official Burmese reports, such as this one, are so silly
              that they are simply unbelievable. Take the acreage of poppies
              Burma claims. Any opium farmer could tell authorities that the
              crop yield would be less than 10 tonnes Ñ not the 106 tonnes
              Rangoon claims Ñ since poppies yield less than 10 kg of opium
              per hectare on average. 

              Computer operators coined a phrase many years ago that seems
              applicable here: garbage in, garbage out. If Rangoon is mistaken
              or lying to itself about the opium crop, it cannot conduct effective
              operations to reduce and eliminate the flow of narcotics. If
              Rangoon attempts to design a crop-replacement programme that
              assumes less than 10,000 hectares of cropland, then the
              anti-opium campaign will fail. 

              This is a crucial matter to Burma, its neighbours including
              Thailand, and the world community. The United Nations, which
              is funded by taxpayers worldwide, is about to embark on a
              major anti-drug programme in Burma. The centrepiece is a
              crop-replacement programme for Burma's exploited opium
              farmers. 

              The UN programme will mark the first major cooperation by
              Burma with the international community against drug trafficking.
              It is Rangoon's opportunity to show that it means what it says
              about helping Burma's neighbours with their narcotics problems.
              But it must be informed and realistic to succeed. If Burma
              continues to delude itself about the scope of the problem it faces,
              there is no chance it can help either its own people or others. 




                                     




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Last Modified: Fri, Apr 24, 1998