Page 1 of 13 Regional Environmental Technical Assistance 5771 Poverty Reduction & Environmental Management in Remote Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Watersheds Project (Phase I) A REVIEW OF NATIONAL SOCIAL POLICIES Myanmar By John V. Dennis, Ph.D Social Anthropologist TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations 2 1 Introduction 3 2 A Brief Political History of Myanmar since Independence 4 2.1 Parliamentary Government 4 2.2 Military Rule 4 2.3 Democracy Movement and the SLORC 5 2.4 The SLORC to the SPDC 6 Table 2: Foreign direct investment, FY 89/90-95/96 (in millions of current US dollars ) 6 3 SPDC Policy on Poverty Alleviation 7 Table 3: Trends in key human development indicators, 1962-96 7 3.1 Increasing Impoverishment 7 3.2 Social Exclusion 9 4 SPDC Policy on Education 4.1 Introduction 9 Table 5: School, Staff and Students under Border Area Development Programme (1989-90 to 1996-97) 9
Page 2 of 13 Table 6: Basic Education Expenditure (1989-90 to 1996-97) 10 4.2 Education Expenditure 10 Table 8: Relative expenditures on defense, health, and education (% of GDP) 11 5 SPDC Policy on Health 11 6 SPDC Policy on Ethnic Minorities 14 7 Environment/Watershed Management 15 7.1 Introduction 15 Table 9 Land use and deforestation 15 Table 10 Access to safe water 15 7.2 Watershed Management 17 8 Conclusions and Recommendations 17 9 References Cited 19 ABBREVIATIONS AFPFL BSPP GDP GOM HDI NLD RC SLORC SPDC UNDP Anti-fascist People s Freedom League Burma Socialist Programme Party Gross Domestic Product Government of Myanmar Human Development Index of the UNDP National League for Democracy Revolutionary Council The State Law and Order Restoration Council The State Peace and Development Council United Nations Development Programme 1. Introduction This paper is an attempt to comprehensively review the current state of poverty and the poverty reduction policy in Myanmar with an emphasis on the following four areas: Education, Health, Ethnic Minorities, and Environment (Watershed Management). The transition from a development program based on isolationism and self-sufficiency to a market driven economy has great potential for growth and development. For instance, the revival and liberalization of economic activities in Myanmar since 1988 has spurred substantial real growth. However, the implementation of economic reforms has been slow and uneven. Moreover, the expansion in economic activity since 1988 also has not resulted in significant improvements in the living conditions of people. In 1994, Myanmar with a Human Development Index (HDI) value of 0.475 fell in the category of "low human development" countries and ranked 131 out of 175 countries. Table 1: Real GDP per capita in selected countries in US dollars,1994 Myanmar 1,051 Cambodia 1,084 Viet Nam 1,208 Lao PDR 2,484 Philippines 2,681 Indonesia 3,740
Page 3 of 13 Thailand 7,104 Malaysia 8,865 Singapore 20,987 Myanmar s current efforts in implementing development projects to improve the conditions for the poor and those of vulnerable groups, have both positive and negative aspects. On the positive side, Myanmar has been inducted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), enabling the country to participate in mainstream regional economy and to achieve higher economic growth rates. Yet, economic growth has not been translated into significant improvement in the conditions of the poor, and of the remote regions. In addition, uncertainties in the political climate of the country have exacerbated the slow rate of national development and have discouraged potential external partners. Finally, economic growth in Myanmar, like in many other countries, has entailed negative environmental impacts. 2. A Brief Political History of Myanmar since Independence 2.1 Parliamentary Government The period following Myanmar s independence, granted on January 4th, 1948, is marked by widespread civil unrest, war, and insurgency. The Communist Party of Burma (CPB) launched an offensive against the Antifascist People s Freedom League (AFPFL) almost immediately after independence, and revolts were led by several ethnic minorities. At the same time, Kuomintang (Nationalist Chinese) forces fleeing from the Communist victory in China invaded Burma and began participating in the local wars and the illegal opium trade. Although the Tatmadaw, the newly created Burmese army, led by General Ne Win was unable to put an end to the war, it managed to regain parts of Myanmar s the heartland in 1950 and 1951. Despite the burden of protecting the union, the Government of Myanmar (GOM) sought to rebuild and industrialize its war-torn economy. By the end of the parliamentary period, Myanmar s agriculture and mining were on their way to recovery and some economic developments had been made. However, the GOM had minimal success in national development because it refused most foreign aid, which it claimed conflicted with its non-aligned foreign policy. Just when the insurrections seemed to subside, the governing AFPFL leaders split, causing a political crisis. Prime Minister U Nu resigned after requesting the parliament to appoint General Ne Win as the new temporary leader of the government until free and fair elections could be held. Although the elections returned U Nu to power in 1960, he was overthrown two years later by a military coup in which Ne Win seized power. 2.2 Military Rule The military came to power in March 1962, and ruled either directly through the Revolutionary Council (RC) or indirectly by a constitutional dictatorship. In July, 1962, the army-controlled Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) was formed, the only party allowed in the new, Tatmadaw-imposed one-party system that was outlined in its policy statement, The Burmese Way to Socialism (Fredholm, 1993, p.49). The BSPP was created as a parallel, quasi-civilian administration closely following the organization of the Tatmadaw. The RC was determined to create a socialist society. Trade unions were disbanded, and in their place, the RC set up new worker and farmer organizations under its leadership. The private business sector was to a large extent nationalized, and serving or retired military officers were put in charge of the various industries. By the early 1970 s, the RC had nationalized all major economic enterprises except agriculture, small-scale trading and minor services. Likewise, the civil service was purged and put completely under military leadership. The strict neutral foreign policy of non-alignment that Myanmar had followed since independence was replaced after the 1962 coup, with a policy of self-imposed isolation from the rest of the world. Myanmar was completely closed to the outside world, with the government in control of all communications and education and travel abroad prohibited for all except the military elite. Tourism was also discouraged, by admitting foreigners at first only on twenty-four-hour, and later, seven-day visas. During the twenty-six years of uninterrupted military rule from 1962 to 1988, Myanmar sank deeper and deeper into economic bankruptcy, resulting in an ever-increasing inflation, a stagnant or decreasing standard of living, and a general lack of development. Although the GOM sought to improve the economy by concentrating on
Page 4 of 13 agriculture and the export of raw materials, the reliance on inexperienced soldiers to administer government programmes was in part responsible for the deterioration of the national economy. The BSPP administrators had neither the experience nor training for the highly-centralized system of economic planning that Ne Win introduced. For instance, while the output of paddy rose, poor milling and storage kept the rice from commanding prices in the world market equal to those received by neighboring Thailand. Myanmar s oil production rose for a few years, but the wells were exhausted and no new ones were developed, causing the output to decline below minimum needs. Burma s failure to achieve economic development was also due to GOM s refusal to accept foreign assistance and the continued civil war. While Myanmar accepted aid from Japan, West Germany, and a few other states, it would not allow foreign private firms to either enter independently or participate in joint ventures. Aid went for agriculture and infrastructure, but not for industrial and commercial development; thus, Myanmar was left dependent on foreign sources to satisfy its needs for manufactured goods. As the warfare increased, the RC diverted its scarce resources, both human and material, from economic development. The military attempted to resolve the civil war first by inviting those in revolt to discuss a solution, and then by military action. However, the military was unable to defeat the minorities, but neither could the minorities win. 2.3 Democracy Movement and the SLORC By 1987, Myanmar s ever deteriorating national economy reached a new low and Ne Win announced that the socialist system was not working and called for reforms, starting with some private domestic trade in paddy. In the subsequent demonetization of the national currency, the BSPP took nearly 80% of the currency out of circulation without replacement provoking considerable protest. By June, student demonstrations and policemilitary responses, together with public demonstrations over rice shortages and high prices, had provoked riots and initiated martial law in several areas. By July, Ne Win formally resigned from the chairmanship of the BSPP. The revolt against the military government continued until September 1988, when General Saw Maung and the national army staged a military coup, resulting in bloodshed and killings unprecedented in the modern history of Myanmar. As many as 3,000 unarmed demonstrators are believed to have been killed. The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), a 19-member military junta with General Saw Maung as the chairman, was created in order to dismantle the socialist economy and political system of its predecessors. The SLORC adopted an approach to development that envisioned an open-door market economy of growth and prosperity under the control and management of a top-down "strong or hard state" (Fredholm, 1993). In addition, in order to quell the continued public protest against the military rule and halt the democracy movement, the SLORC introduced a multiparty democratic system and held a multiparty election. Although the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi who was put under house arrest in July 1989 won the election in a landslide victory of 80% of the constituencies, SLORC refused to honor the election result. After the May 1990 election, the SLORC sought to subdue NLD leaders, hundreds of elected NLD candidates, thousands of dissident students and other dissidents by enforcing hundreds of draconian orders and martial laws. 2.4 The SLORC to the SPDC In November 1997, the SLORC was dissolved and a 19-member junta entitled the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) was created. This transformation, once viewed with a certain degree of optimism by the international community hoping that the much-needed reforms would take place, now appears to be viewed as an instrument for enticing foreign exchange. Like its predecessor, the SPDC seems fundamentally opposed to holding substantive dialogue with the NLD and has failed to reform and restructure the economy. Prior to the transformation from the SLORC to the SPDC, Burma was inducted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July 1997. Yet, despite its entry into ASEAN, the inflow of foreign direct investments into Burma has not increased. (See Table 2.) Table 2: Foreign direct investment, FY 89/90-95/96 (in millions of current US dollars) GOM Fiscal Year 89/90 90/91 91/92 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 Total direct investment 449.4 280.6 5.9 103.8 377.6 1,351.9 668.2
Page 5 of 13 In fact, the effect of US government sanctions against new investments in Myanmar has become increasingly apparent as the other ASEAN member states now find themselves in need of halting the flight of foreign capital, attracting foreign investments, and securing financial aid from the West and international financial institutions to ward off a potential collapse of their economies. With the Asian financial crisis and the ASEAN economies engrossed in their own financial and economic problems, new investment from other ASEAN states remains unlikely in the short-term. Thus, the likelihood of new poverty reduction driven by foreign investment is not good. 3. SPDC Policy on Poverty Alleviation There is no official definition for an income poverty line in Myanmar, and therefore, there are no official estimates of the proportion of income poor living below the poverty line. The country s national planning documents do not mention the word poverty or discuss the conditions confronting poor people. The failure to identify the extent of income poverty perpetuates the neglect of the poor. Table 3: Trends in key human development indicators, 1962-96 Year Life expectancy at birth (years) Adult literacy rate (%) Real GDP per capita (Kyat) 1961 43.8 57 1,047 1973 52.5 71 1,101 1986 58.2 80 1,510 1996 58.4 83 1,492 Source: UNDP. 1997. Human Development Report 1997 and Reviews of the Financial, Economic and Social Conditions, Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, Government of Myanmar. 3.1 Increasing Impoverishment Agriculture employs nearly two-thirds of the country s labor force the same proportion as it did 25 years ago. Agriculture also plays an extremely dominant role in Myanmar s economy. In 1961-1962, it contributed 25% of the country s Gross Domestic Product. This proportion went up to 59% by 1995-96. Agricultural practices, however, remain traditional and out-dated; very few farmers have access to any forms of new technologies. According to the 1993 Agricultural Census, for instance: two-thirds of the rural population lived in households that did not have even three acres of land, which is the minimum size considered viable even for subsistence whereas 68% of the households cultivated rice, only around 36% undertook double-cropping only 2% of households used a tractor, less than 1% power tillers, and less than 5% used water pumps a large majority of households used ploughs and sickles. Most of the small farmers have no access to new varieties of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, or credit. Any fulltime employment outside the seasonal planting and harvesting seasons remain difficult to find for landless laborers. Non-farm employment opportunities are very few. Land under cultivation has increased over the years. This increase came partly from multiple cropping and expanded irrigation, but also partly from increased deforestation. Normally, if irrigated area increases, so does yield. But this has not generally been the case. Of the 26 million acres planted for food crops in 1995-1996, nearly 20 million or over three out of every four acres had good crops whose yields were stagnant or dropping over the last decade. Only one acre out of six had crops whose yields outpaced the growth of population.
Page 6 of 13 Most of the farmers are engaged in subsistence agriculture. The low agricultural yields, lack of adequate price incentives, limited access to credit, forced quota sales of paddy at below market prices, poor transportation conditions, floods, rising fertilizer prices, and limited access to market have greatly reduced the profitability of agricultural productions. Should farm yields continue to stagnate or fall, it is inevitable that outputs and incomes will be further depressed, impoverishing even further several millions of farming families. Table 4: Average retail price of rice in Yangon (kyat/unit) Year First class Third class 1988 11 8 1990 13 10 1992 30 20 1994 49 32 1996 78 52 The State is another major employer in Myanmar. This includes the civil service, the police and defense services, schoolteachers, health workers, and a host of other functionaries in government service and the public sector. All such government employees receive fixed salaries from a minimum of 600 kyats (around US $1.8) to a maximum of 2,500 kyats (around US $7.5) a month. In addition, they have access to limited amounts of subsidized rice, transportation and gasoline, and other benefits in kind. However, there has been rampant inflation in the country. Retail consumer prices went up by 25% in 1995, 16% in 1996 and 34% in 1997. This has led to drastic reductions in the real incomes of such employees. Most consumers and even fixed income government employees, have been hard hit by the sharp rise in food prices. In 1986, a typical household in Yangon spent, on average, 65% of its income of good items; by 1994, this had gone up to 67%. The best quality rice was selling at 14 kyats per unit in Yangon during 1990 even then consumers were paying almost twice what they paid in 1987. By 1996, the same rice was selling for 78 kyats per unit. Even the price of low-grade rice consumed largely by the poor has increased almost sevenfold from 8 kyats per unit in 1988 to 54 kyats in 1996. This sharp increase in prices has impoverished government employees, as well as the self-employed working in the informal and the private sectors, contributing to a steady decline in living standards. An inevitable manifestation of this growing impoverishment of government employees is the associated increase in rentseeking behavior. The excessive regulations, controls, dual-pricing systems, price ceilings, quotas, and rationing have contributed to the growth of large parallel markets. It also has led to illegal trade and promoted corruption. This has adversely affected the government s capacity to mobilize resources for undertaking public investments to improve the quality of people s lives. For many, establishing a parallel source of income to supplement meagre salaries has become a way of life. 3.2 Social Exclusion There are several categories of people who have been excluded from receiving even the minimum support needed for a decent living. Among the most vulnerable and neglected groups are Myanmar s growing numbers of children living in especially difficult circumstances: those who are exploited laborers, abused or neglected, institutionalized, trafficked, victims of armed conflict of ethnic discrimination. Recent estimates suggest that about 4 million of the nation s 11.8 million children between the ages 6-16 work, if only part-time. Rural children are generally employed by their parents in an agricultural production, which tends to keep children away from school and prevent them from furthering their education. A growing number of children are also subject to exploitative labor, especially in urban areas. They work long hours for little or no pay in occupations that do not provide life skills or the possibility of an economically secure future occupations that tend to jeopardize their health and safety. Such occupations include work in domestic service, construction, mining, heavy industry and prostitution. Children are also used in duty labor, especially for portage and road construction. Among the most economically insecure people in Myanmar are those who have been compelled to relocate because of civil strife or infrastructure development. Most of the above are found living in the border States. Forced resettlement almost always results in greater economic hardship as the means of livelihood are usually connected to the old settlements.
Page 7 of 13 4. SPDC Policy on Education 4.1 Introduction The SPDC Policy on Education has been to improve the education standards of the country by implementing "an education system which is equitable with the cultural, the traditional, the social values and in keeping with the economic system which will facilitate national development (Ministry of Defense 89)." In doing so, the SPDC has set objectives such as to enable every individual to acquire Basic Education, to develop knowledge including scientific and technical know-how needed for nation building, or to enable those who are working to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate courses and study while working. Table 5: School, Staff and Students under Border Area Development Programme (1989-90 to 1996-97) 89-90 90-91 91-92 92-93 93-94 94-95 95-96 96-97 School 28 63 134 191 213 248 289 379 Staff 111 229 393 728 812 1005 1322 1473 Student 1553 5325 9594 14560 18442 22758 25048 34322 Table 6: Basic Education Expenditure (1989-90 to 1996-97) 89-90 90-91 91-92 92-93 93-94 94-95 95-96 96-97 Expenditure (million kyats) 2596 3136 3586 3416 4111 4306 4518 4974 As can be seen in the figure above, the expenditure on education, the number of teachers appointed, and the number of students enrolled in both Higher and Basic Education Sector increased. However, Human Development in Myanmar, a report issued by the United Nations Working Group in July 1998, maintains that the number of students enrolled in primary schools dropped from 5.89 million in 1993-1994 to 5.14 million in 1996-1997. Likewise, the number of primary school teachers dropped from 156,629 in 1993-1994 to 154,062 in 1996-1997. Several challenges face higher education as well. A major area of concern is technical education and advanced studies. In many instances, the curriculum is outdated. In other cases, the skills acquired in school, regular as well as vocational, are not relevant to the employment opportunities open to young persons. Unattractive salaries, decreasing privileges, and erosion in status have adversely affected teacher recruitment and motivation. Colleges and universities have been unable to attract and retain talented people into the teaching profession especially as an increasing number find employment either in the private sector or overseas. Due to recurring protests for expanded student rights, restructuring of the education system and demands for democracy, schools, colleges and universities have frequently been shut down for indefinite periods, thus resulting in frequent disruptions to the education system including a serious backlog of students entering college and delay in graduation. In an apparent response to the increasing pressure from the international and business communities concerned with the potential effects of the closure of educational institutions on the workforce capacity of the country the SPDC has tentatively taken steps towards reopening universities and colleges. For instance, the SPDC has been finalizing the relocations of university campuses to decentralize student populations. In January 1998, estimated 130-200 students were arrested in a move to "sanitize" the student population of dissent, prior to reopening the universities and colleges. Today, almost all institutions remain closed, however. 4.2 Education Expenditure The SPDC allocate a relatively small amount of state expenditure in education. For example, the 1995 government budget shows that the combined expenditures on health, education, and welfare were one-third of the amount allocated to defense, which accounted for 60% of the total expenditure of the central government.
Page 8 of 13 In addition, there has been a reduction in the allocation to education. Education expenditure went from 2.6% of GDP in 1991-1992 to 1.1% in 1995-1996. Table 7: Military spending in selected countries (as % of combined education and health expenditure) percent Myanmar 222 India 65 Indonesia 49 Philippines 41 Malaysia 38 Table 8: Relative expenditures on defense, health, and education (% of GDP) 90-91 91-92 92-93 93-94 94-95 95-96 health 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.5 Education 2.6 2.6 1.9 1.5 1.2 1.1 Defense 3.6 3.3 3.7 3.9 3.0 3.6 The impact of reduced spending by the government is felt throughout the education sector. There are growing problems of enrolment, retention and quality of education. The dropout rates remain high, and the system remains inefficient. Several studies point to the lack of proper school buildings, inadequate teaching materials, low teacher motivation and poor salaries, and ineffective teacher training that constrain the learning achievements of children. Even in regions where enrolment rates are high and dropout rates are low, many children do not acquire minimum levels of learning. 5. SPDC Policy on Health As in the past, the health system remains primarily public. State and cooperative hospitals, medical services, and personnel provide greater access for the general population to health care services whereas private physicians and medical practitioners continue to play an important role in providing better quality health care to the public. The SPDC has taken a number of new initiatives with respect to the development of communitybased health care system and organizations, acceptance of certain non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and increased cooperation with different UN agencies for upgrading the health standards. Although the privatization process is at an early stage in Myanmar, there is an increasing number of private clinics and hospitals. Furthermore, in order to educate and provide health care to the rural populace, 33 hospitals and 71 dispensaries have been opened from 1989 to this day in border areas. Population coverage by basic health services has expanded from 211 townships to all townships (320) in the country. These improvements have facilitated significant progress in some areas of health care. For example, by 1997, almost 78% of children were fully immunized and use of Oral Rehydration Therapy to treat diarrhea in children was estimated at 95%. Access to prenatal care, information and utilization of contraceptives for family planning purposes also increased sharply between 1991 and 1997. Despite these steps taken by the SPDC to improve the standard of health care in the country, they have not met the health needs of the country. There has been a declining trend in life expectancy gains since 1994. Preliminary data from the 1997 Multiple Indicator Survey (MICS) suggest that approximately 39% of children under five are malnourished of whom one third are severely malnourished. The maternal mortality is high in most parts of the country, although the available estimates vary widely. Maternal Mortality Survey (1994) estimated a national figure of 232 per 100,000 whereas WHO-UNICEF global estimates suggest a figure of 580 per 100,000.
Page 9 of 13 Currently, an estimated 64% of the general population have access to public heath care services and one Rural Health Centre serves an average of 20,000 people. Insufficient financial and foreign exchange sources has meant that many health centers remain poorly equipped and with inadequate supplies of essential drugs. A shortage of raw materials and energy to operate all factories of state enterprises, including the Myanmar Pharmaceutical Industry (BPI), has caused a greater reliance on the import of medical supplies and drugs. Consequently, the cost of health care has risen as public hospitals and dispensaries can no longer provide adequate medicines and drugs produced by the BPI. Not only is this situation compounded by poor transportation, communications infrastructure, and migration of medical professionals outside the country, it is also exacerbated by the fact that almost 50% of the population do not have access to clean water or sanitation facilities. As a result, an increasing proportion of the population now uses the private health system. The HDIM suggests that as many as 69% of health visits are to private health care providers. However, the fees charged by private health care providers prevent many from seeking even basic health care services. Box 1. HIV/AIDS in Myanmar: Gradual acceptance of an accelerating threat When the first cases of HIV were recorded in 1987, no one believed that it was serious. Nevertheless, a multisectoral National AIDS Committee chaired by the Minister of Health was formed in 1989, and with the first Medium Term Plan for AIDS Prevention and Control (MTP-1) in 1990, a National AIDS Program (NAP) was created. A sentinel surveillance system was established covering 20 geographical sites monitoring HIV sero-prevalence rates among selected populations and is now increasingly affecting the general population. Using sentinel data from 1995, international technical experts estimated that there were around 350,000 infected people in the country. By mid- 1997, the estimate was placed at 500,000. Although the 1995 estimate of 350,000 infected was accepted for official publications in 1996, it has since been officially repudiated. Myanmar is particularly exposed to the risks along its borders with its five neighbors, each of which has large populations affect by HIV/AIDS. Internally, massive seasonal migration of workers from throughout the country to major mining areas, forestry operations, construction sites, fishing ports and back to their homes is an emerging factor contributing to HIV dissemination. Most officials and official campaign associate HIV/AIDS only with illicit sex and intravenous drug use. Notions of national ideals and moral standards appear to be at odds with people s actual behavior and practices. This ambivalence stems from stigmatizations of those infected with HIV, as well as the methods advocated for its prevention. Official support for efforts to promote condom awareness and use continue to be limited. Strategic interventions in Myanmar have also focused primarily on clinical capacities of government physicians. Awareness campaigns are based on general messages, such as blaming foreigners or scare tactics. "AIDS=Death" is seen on billboards throughout the country. Information and educational materials are limited to posters and stickers targeting mainstream, low-risk populations. Translation into minority languages has not been accompanied by pre-testing with targeted audiences. Resources available for the HIV/AIDS response have been limited. Government has also been reluctant to permit international NGOs to work in collaboration with indigenous community based organizations. Permits and permissions are difficult to obtain - even to access socially at-risk and vulnerable populations. Little support is available for behavioral research and assessing prevention interventions. Nor has social marketing, a crucial component in prevention efforts, been permitted to expand given the limited access to mass media channels. Equally significant, no current interventions directly target women whose only risk is marriage. Perhaps the greatest embarrassment, for donors and recipient alike, is that the national blood safety remains unsecured. Currently less than 50% of the national blood supply is screened for HIV. Source:United Nations Working Group. Human Development in Myanmar, Yangon, July 1998, p. 5 6. SPDC Policy on Ethnic Minorities There are over 65 different ethnic groups in Myanmar officially recognized and clustered into seven "national" races: Shan, Mon, Karen (Kayin), Kayah, Chin, Kachin and Rakhine. Altogether, there are over 135 ethnic groups speaking more than 100 different languages and dialects. Myanmar s diverse ethnic groups are unevenly distributed throughout the country. However, the Myanmarns, the dominant ethnic group, are the majority in the central lowlands while the ethnic minorities are the majority in the border States. Although Myanmar s history has been characterized by ethnic pluralism and insurgency, the SLORC declared
Page 10 of 13 a unilateral cease-fire in April 1992 and sought to negotiate peace treaties with ethnic minorities. As a result, 16 armed underground minority groups entered into an agreement with the government with the goal to attain national unity. Due to the prolonged insurgency, ethnic minorities inhabiting the border States of Myanmar have received minimal attention and development support from the government. To alleviate the situation, the government has implemented development projects under the direction of the ministry of Development of Border Areas and National Races, that focus on economic infrastructure such as roads and bridges; energy; construction and telecommunications; and social infrastructure such as education, health, public relations (Ministry of Defense 223). The construction of roads and bridges was meant to facilitate transportation within the project areas and between the neighboring areas so as to encourage economic activities based on border trade and thereby give rise to job opportunities. A total of 1,033.68 million kyats amounting to 27.7% of the allotted funds for the fiscal year was spent on the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges. Agricultural objectives included the following: sufficiency in food supplies for all the national groups of the border areas increase in the cultivation and production of rice and other crops choice of crops that best suit the area utilization of modern agricultural methods attainment of better living standards through increased income from crops In order to raise the educational standard of the residents of the border areas and to upgrade vocational education, more Basic Education Schools were opened, short courses for teaching staff were held, teaching aids were provided, and domestic science schools and youth training schools were established (see table 5). Because of the literary and linguistic influences of the neighboring countries, languages besides Myanmar, such as Chinese, was often used as the language of instruction. In administering better and more extensive health care, the government encountered problems with insufficient staff strength in addition to linguistic problems. By the time the health personnel had acquired the local language to a reasonable degree, they were transferred to other assignments. Medicine, health facilities, up-todate medical equipment and specialists are still in short supply. In some areas, the local people relied more on medical facilities across the border than those opened by the government. Furthermore, the number of hospitals and dispensaries opened falls short of the number planned. Despite the implementation of the SPDC s Border Areas Development Programme, progress in many areas has been slow. In addition, the development of self-administered zones written by the National Convention does not appear to fulfill the needs of the ethnic minorities (Janelle Diller in Burma: The Challenge of Change). On the surface, these self-administered zones would grant fuller autonomy to certain minorities. Yet, the government has proposed that a self-administered zone must have at least two townships with one distinct racial or ethnic group holding a majority in each township and comprising at least half of the population of the total township. Thus, no ethnic group with its own state can qualify for self-administration in another state. Moreover, even if local autonomy is granted to the ethnic minorities in self-administered zones, they will not have any power at the national level. 7. Environment/Watershed Management 7.1 Introduction Since the SLORC came to power in 1988, the floodgates of environmental degradation have opened on Myanmar. Despite the foreign exchange, the country s natural resources have been sold at an alarming rate. Critical environmental issues are being raised.
Page 11 of 13 Table 9: Land use and deforestation Land area Rural population density Annual deforestation Thousand sq. km 1994 Share arable % 1994 People per sq. km 1994 % change 1980-90 Myanmar 658 14 341 1.3 Table 10: Access to safe water Urban % of population Rural % of population 1985 1993 1985 1993 Myanmar 36 38 21 36 The threats to Myanmar s environment are legion. Of immediate concern are over-fishing, mining and deforestation, massive dam-building and hydroelectric projects, as well as gas pipelines and the growing influx of Western oil companies. Once a net exporter of oil, Myanmar is no longer even self-sufficient. Moreover, the sudden arrival of multinational corporations sparks questions over the rights of indigenous peoples to their land, and of all citizens to participation in the decision-making process. Many unique species of flora and fauna are also in danger of extinction in some of Asia s last undisturbed forest and coastal habitats. The most visible threat to Myanmar s environment today is the rapid depletion of many of the country s forests which enjoy extraordinary bio-diversity ranging from montane and deciduous hardwoods to tropical rainforests and the world s largest remaining teak forests. From an estimated forest cover of 500,000 square kilometers or 70% of Myanmar s total land area in 1948, most independent estimates indicate that only 30% of the country is still covered with forest today, and declining fast. Rainforest Action Network, for example, has calculated Myanmar s annual deforestation rate at 800,000 to one million hectares a year, one of the five highest in the world. Poverty, high taxation, and government resettlement programmes only contribute to the pressures on citizens to fell more trees, clear land and degrade their own environments for their own immediate survival. In addition, since 1988, Myanmar has become the world s largest producer of illicit opium and heroin with an annual crop of over 2,000 tons. Each year even more of the region s quickly diminishing forests are cut down by loggers or slash-and-burn hill farmers planting their next crop of poppy seeds. According to World Bank estimates, over 75% of Myanmar s energy needs are met through the fuel obtained from wood and charcoal, which places an ever greater burden on the country s rapidly depleting forests. Consequently, proposals for the construction of new power stations have been raised. Together with the growing pressure to develop pipelines and dams, many border regions, which enjoy the country s remaining wildlife and nature reserves, have been threatened. Since SLORC opened up the waters of the Andaman Sea to foreign fishing concessions, there has been a steady flow of boats coming to harvest the ocean. Despite limits written into such concession agreements, the large foreign vessels sail unchecked and fish freely beyond their allotted area, right up to the coast. Inhabitants of the Mergui island, totally dependent upon fishing for a living, report that catches have dwindled from a regular 30-60 Kg. per day in 1991 to 3-5Kg. at present. (Karen National Union, 1995,p. 32) Underwater sea plants such as coral are destroyed by heavy trawling nets or decimated by the use of explosives. The coral is an essential haven for the many diverse sea plankton and micro-species that form the lowest levels of the food chain. With the seabed swept clean of coral, Andaman Sea has become a barren desert with larger species of fish migrating elsewhere or simply dying out. The SPDC has recognized the need for sustainable development and environmental conservation and protection. Recently, it enacted a number of legislation such as the Marine Fisheries Law and Pesticide Law. However, law enforcement and the limited availability of trained technical personnel involved in developing and managing environmental programmes have been identified as constraints that need to be overcome for effective implementation of these programmes. 7.2 Watershed Management Apart from the areas in the Irrawady delta, Sittaung valley, Irrawady valley, and Chindwin valley, the major part
Page 12 of 13 of the country area is hilly. There exist complex socioeconomic issues in the upland areas, which are important watershed areas of major river systems and dams for hydropower and agriculture. In many important watershed areas along the Thai and Chinese borders, the environmental situation is critical. It is precisely in these remote and previously undisturbed border regions that many of the most ecologically important reserves remain. A number of these same forest areas now face the additional threat of the construction of hydroelectric dams and gas-pipelines. The government has sought to implement soil conservation and watershed management projects by providing incentives to community-based organizations in order to encourage grass-root participation. The incentives, such as loans, free fertilizers, farming implements, improved variety of seeds, and pesticides were designed to help the villages establish community forest plantations, with little or no additional cost to the villages as the government projects financed its implementation costs. Additional incentives were given depending on the participation of the people. Despite government s efforts, there still exist a number of problems that are associated with the management of watersheds in Myanmar. First of all, the extension services regarding participatory watershed management are inadequate, and the staff involved in the management of watersheds has limited technical skills and knowledge. The steady increase in population with limited arable agricultural land is threatening the stability of the watershed basins. In addition, due to the lack of a well-defined land use policy for the whole country, conservation and preservation of watershed forest and plantations are not adequate. 8. Conclusions and Recommendations In conclusion, it may be said that the economic reforms in Myanmar have made some progress in contributing to the country s growth and recovery. Yet, each reform measure entails other supportive measures, including institutional changes, in a logical and coherent manner. For example, for marketization to be effective it needs to be supported by a strong legal framework and a stable environment. Formulation and implementation of a development strategy that ensures both sustained growth and an equitable expansion of opportunities economic, social, cultural and political will accelerate the development process. At the same time, Myanmar needs to take steps towards establishing a society where income and employment opportunities expand rapidly, where children have universal access to quality education, where everyone has access to proper and affordable health care, where communities are encouraged to actively participate in shaping their own futures, where socially disadvantaged groups and ethnic minorities are fully integrated into the development process, and where governance is based on people s representation. Recommendations to improve the development process. 9. References Cited Altsean Burma, Alternative Asean Network on Burma, 1998. Report Card: Slorc s Performance as the State Peace & Development Council. Bangkok. American Embassy Rangoon, 1997. Foreign Economic Trends Report: Burma, 1997. Rangoon. Carey, Peter (editor). 1997. Burma: The Challenge of Change in a Divided Society. Edited by Peter Carey. London: Macmillan Press. Diller, Janelle. Burma: The Challenge of Change. Fredholm, Michael. 1993. Burma: Ethnicity and Insurgency. Westport, CT: Praeger. Government of Myanmar. Ministry of Defense. 1997. Office of Strategic Studies. Human Resource Development and Nation Building in Myanmar. Yangon: Ministry of Defense.. 1996. Symposium of Socio-economic Factors Contributing to National Consolidation. Yangon: Ministry of Defense.
Page 13 of 13 Karen National Union. 1995. The Rape of the Rural Poor: Continued Abuses of State Power in Tenasserim Division, Burma Concomitant Effects on the Environment and the Very Substance of Rural Communities in the Region. A Special Report of Karen National Union. Mergui: Karen National Union. Maung, Mya. 1998. The Burma Road to Capitalism: Economic Growth versus Democracy. Westport, CT: Praeger. Maw Than, U. and Daw Nyunt Nyunt Swe. 1998. The State of Myanmar Economy. Yangon: Yangon Institute of Economics. Smith, Martin. 1994. Paradise Lost? The Suppression of Environmental Rights and Freedom of Expression in Burma. London: Article 19, The International Centre Against Censorship. United Nations Working Group. July 1998. Human Development in Myanmar. Zaw Win, U. 1999. Historical and Current Experiences of Watershed Management in Myanmar with Particular Emphasis on the Shan State. Myanmar: Ministry of Forestry, Forest Department.