ERADICATING A COLONIAL PEST

Persuading Burma's farmers not to plant poppies will take time, writes U
Aye.

I read with interest (Herald, April 8) the articles on the efforts that my
country, the Union of Myanmar (Burma), is exerting to eradicate the menace
of narcotic drugs. They would have been more comprehensive if the history of
the subject had been mentioned - that this problem was non-existent in
Myanmar until the opium poppy was introduced by the colonial administration
after we had lost our independence.

Our country and our people suffered tremendously due to the opening of
licensed opium dens, which was a means of raising revenue for the colonial
authorities. The opium trade, legal under the colonial powers, spread to
foreign lands through ports and harbours such as Hong Kong to neighbouring
heavily populated areas of the globe - a menace that still exists.

Ever since Myanmar regained its hard-won independence successive governments
have devoted vast resources to eradicating this menace. During the
administration of the present government our security forces have suffered
thousands of casualties, so to write that perhaps the government may be
linked to traffickers in the very first paragraph was most unfair.

As this is not only a local but also an international problem, we welcome
whatever assistance we receive from international organisations and foreign
governments. We are determined to eradicate the drug menace and also to rid
ourselves of one of the remaining legacies of our colonial past.

Recently we have had significant successes in our drug eradication
campaigns, as witnessed by the unconditional surrender of some major drug
traffickers and the ceasefires with armed groups.

Yet it has become apparent that the long-term solution to the drug menace
does not lie with the government spraying herbicides on illegal poppy fields
from the air, or by searching for and destroying these fields on the ground,
or by arresting and detaining those who grow poppies. Such actions only
result in our denying the growers the only means of livelihood they have
known since colonial days. Such actions only turn them into insurgents.

The long-term solution lies in the Government not fighting them, but
engaging them in all sincerity, learning their needs and aspirations and
fulfilling them.

Hence agreements have been arrived at between the Government and the poppy
growers, and with former armed ethnic groups involved with drugs. This is
perhaps the reason for misunderstanding that the authorities have some
"connection with traffickers". The agreements are that the growers will
totally stop their illegal activities if they can be provided with an
alternative way to earn their income.

If such an alternative cannot be provided overnight, they will co-operate in
the program designed to eliminate the cultivation of opium poppies
gradually, with the Government introducing basic human needs such as
schools, hospitals, roads and bridges to help them market their substitute
crops which replace their high-income opium.

The Government is undertaking to fulfil its part of the bargain and is
achieving considerable success as witnessed by foreigners, diplomats and
media who have visited the areas undergoing development. A whole new
ministry with considerable resources has been created to develop the border
regions where opium poppies had been grown.

Such activities are no secret and are open for all to observe, and judging
by the photographs appearing in your newspaper, your correspondents have
also been there, although the articles do not reveal the true picture.

For instance, accusations of the manufacture of illegal drugs such as
methamphetamines have been made against Myanmar. But no chemicals or
relevant paraphernalia is available there to manufacture such drugs.

Myanmar has never shied away from its responsibility, and as a responsible
member of the international community it is sparing no effort to eradicate
the menace of narcotic drugs.