INFORMATION SHEET NO.A-0521 (I)

[OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx]

                                   INFORMATION SHEET 

          NO.A-0521(I)                                     26th July 1998

(1)		Cornerstone Laid for Construction of Drug Abuse Control Museum
		A ceremony to lay foundation for the construction of Drug Abuse Control
Museum of Ministry of Home Affairs was held at the construction site at the
corner of Hanthawady Road and Kyandaw Street in Yangon on 25 July.

(2)		Olympic Tower with Modern Business, Apartment Facilities
Inaugurated

		Olympic Tower, jointly built by the Department of Human Settlement and
Housing Development (DHSHD) and Olympic Company Limited at the corner of Maha
Bandoola Street and Bo Aung Kyaw Street, was inaugurated and handed over to
DHSHD on 25 July. DHSHD and Olympic Co Ltd entered into the contract to build
the 16-storey tower on 0.276 acre plot. It has parking lots at the basement,
shops, showrooms, offices, apartments and Asia Wealth Bank's branches. The
self-contained building is equipped with two lifts, two escalators and power
generators.

(3)		298 Drug-related Cases exposed in June

		The Tatmadaw (Military), the Myanmar Police Force and Customs Department
exposed 298 drug-related cases in June. The authorities seized 2,033.223 kilos
of opium in 45 cases, 42.9857 kilos of heroin in 98 cases, 7.4112 kilos of
marijuana in 29 cases, 46.83 litres of phensedyl in five cases, 1.9897 kilos
of
low-grade opium in 16 cases, 5.897 kilos of opium oil in eight cases, 4.85
kilos of brown opium, 3 kilos of opium powder in one case, 1,497,678 stimulnt
tablets in 17 cases, 292 gallons of acetic anhydride in one case, 357.83
gallons of lysol, 676 gallons of ether in two cases, 136 gallons of nitric
acid
in one case, eight gallons of acetic acid in one case, 170 gallons of
sulphuric
acid. 8.8 gallons of hydrochloric acid in one case, nine kilos of ephedrine,
0.0044 kilo of one stimulant in one case, 11.7 kilos of ethyl, 156 kilos of
sodium carbonate, 65 kilos of ammonium chloride, 146 kilos of charcol, 13.19
gallons of acetone, 0.24 litre of cough syrup in one case, 65 cases for
failure
to register and other six cases.Action was taken against 411 persons-351 men
and women-in 298 cases. The battalions and units of the Tatmadaw, while
discharging security duty, destroyed one heroin refinery at map reference
P-343629 and P-336620 in Muse Township on 2 June and seized chemicals and
other precursor substances.

		Three significant cases took place in June:

		(a)	Kengtung anti-drug squad and regional intelligence unit searched one
vehicle  on 6 June and seized 10,060,000 stimulant tablets.

		(b)	On 14 June, Loilem Township Police Force and regional intelligence
unit, acting on a tip-of, searched one vehicle and seized 0.0245 kilo of
heroin
and 59.0304 kilos of raw opium.

		(c)	On 27 June, Tatmadaw column, regional intelligence unit, Lashio
anti-drug squad and Township Police Force arrived and searched the Houses of U
Wan Kwal Shin and U Khun Htauk La Che (a) Zone Yein. They arrested six members
of KDA armed group and three other members in plain clothes together with nine
assorted arms, 27.35 kilos of heroin, 1,839.40 kilos of raw opium, 4.85
kilosof brown opium, 128 gallons of acetic anhydride, one light truck and
precursor substances. 

                  OFFICE CALL IN YANGON ON 25 JULY 

		Deputy Minister for National Planning and Economic Development received
Chairman Mr David G Bailey and party of Phillips Seafood Group Indochina Co
Ltd
at the office of the ministry. They discussed opportunities for Seafood
Industry in Myanmar and economic cooperation between residents and the company
in Myeik coastal region for processing blue crabs to be sent to the foreign
markets. 


                                          Special Feature

                                   No Fabrication Please

		In the Bangkok Post of 26 July a news item entitled " Suu Kyi in second
clash with military " came out with the usual kind of stereotyped, biased,
distorted
and fabricated story.

		Appallingly, it also went on to say that Mrs. Aris was forced to spend the
night in her car where in fact the party just was only prevented from
proceeding but never was prevented from returning to Yangon and even has been
requested several times to do so. Factually, the local authorities had in the
previous days approached the party 6 times already and the enquiry as regards
the destination of the trip and other relevant matters were not responded at
all. On 26 July  this morning the request of the relevant authorities to
return
to Yangon was again ignored.

		Obviously, it is their own rigid and confrontational policy which has made
them spend the night in the car.

		Secondly, the Bangkok Post stated that the sedan of Mrs. Aris was surrounded
by barbed-wire barricades, sand-bags and a contigent of soldiers where in fact
there existed none of these around the car. 

		Thirdly, the Post stated that the Government is putting unlawful restriction
on Mrs. Aris' movements. Again, the Post is speculating upon the issue from a
one-sided view having failed to acknowledge the fact that Mrs. Aris has been
free to generally move about and agitate against the Government as she ever
has. But of course there are limits just as there are anywhere as to how much
unrest a person or an organization may stir up.

		The Government on its part with paitience and wisdom has been avoiding the
collision course initiated by the NLD leadership while at the same time
fulfilling its commitment to the nation by maintaining law and order in
keeping
the whole country peaceful and stable and most importantly creating conditions
for the children of Myanmar to enjoy the right in pursuit of their education
peacefully and continuously.

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