MyanMar the state, community and the environment MyanMar the state, community and the environment Monique Skidmore and Trevor Wilson (eds) Asia Pacific Press The Australian National University iv Copublished by ANU E Press and Asia Pacific Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 Australia Email: [email protected] This title is available online at http://epress.anu.edu.au/myanmar_citation.html © ANU E Press and Asia Pacific Press 2007 This work is copyright. Apart from those uses which may be permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 as amended, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publishers. The views expressed in this book are those of the author and not necessarily of the publishers. Asia Pacific Press Crawford School of Economics and Government The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 Ph: 61-2-6125 0178 Fax: 61-2-6125 0767 Email: books@asiapacificpress.com Website: http://www.asiapacificpress.com National Library of Australia Cataloguing in Publication entry Myanmar : the state, community and the environment. Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 9780731538119 (pbk.) ISBN 9781921313370 (online) 1. Burma - Economic conditions. 2. Burma - Environmental conditions. 3. Burma - Politics and government. 4. Burma - Social conditions. I. Wilson, Trevor. II. Skidmore, Monique. III. Title. 320.9591 Cover design: Teresa Prowse, ANU E Press The cover image is based on the oil painting ‘Welcome Summer’ by Shwe Maung Thar, a Rakhine artist living in Mrauk-U, western Myanmar. Printed by University Printing Service, The Australian National University, Canberra Contents Tables vi Figures vii Maps vii Abbreviations viii Contributors xi Editors’ note xvi Introduction xvii Assessing political/military developments after the departure of Khin Nyunt 1. The political situation in Myanmar 1 Vicky Bowman 2. A Burmese perspective on prospects for progress 18 Khin Zaw Win 3. Of kyay-zu and kyet-su: the military in 2006 36 Mary Callahan 4. Conflict and displacement in Burma/Myanmar 54 Ashley South 5. Foreign policy as a political tool: Myanmar 2003–2006 82 Trevor Wilson Assessing the economic situation after the 2001–2002 banking crisis 6. Myanmar’s economy in 2006 108 Sean Turnell 7. Transforming Myanmar’s rice marketing 135 Ikuko Okamoto 8. Industrial zones in Burma and Burmese 159 labour in Thailand Guy Lubeigt v Implications of current development strategies for Myanmar’s environment 9. Environmental governance in the SPDC’s Myanmar 189 Tun Myint 10. Environmental governance of mining in Burma 218 Matthew Smith 11. Spaces of extraction: governance along the riverine 246 networks of Nyaunglebin District Ken MacLean 12. Identifying conservation issues in Kachin State 271 Tint Lwin Thaung Index 290 Tables 1.1 The SPDC’s seven-step road-map of 30 August 2003 2 1.2 Chapters of the Draft Constitution 4 4.1 Typology of forced migration 56 6.1 Claimed annual GDP growth rates, 1999–2005 110 6.2 Economic growth estimates, 2001–2006 111 6.3 State share of Myanmar’s financial resources, 114 selected indicators, 1999–2006 6.4 Customs duty revenues, 2002–2006 114 6.5 Indicative (unofficial) exchange rates, 1997–2006 117 6.6 Myanmar’s external sector, selected indicators, 120 1999–2005 6.7 Composition of exports, 2002–2005 120 6.8 Foreign direct investment flows, 2003–2005 122 6.9 Foreign exchange reserves, selected countries, 125 2000–2005 6.10 Selected financial indicators, 1999–2006 127 7.1 Estimated volume of domestically marketed rice, 138 1970–2001 7.2 Changes in milled rice by MAPT-owned 141 and MAPT-contracted mills, 1988–2001 v 7.3 Changes in volume of rationed rice 142 7.4 Direction of Myanmar’s rice exports, 1990–2001 144 7.5 Number of private mills registered with MAPT 147 7.6 Number of private mills contracted for 148 procurement of paddy, 1999–2001 8.1 Development of the private sector in 2006 161 8.2 Industrial zones in Burma, 2006 166 8.3 Labour force and unemployment rate, 1996–2001 168 8.4 Illegal migrant labour from Burma in Thailand 169 8.5 Types of jobs and salaries paid to Burmese 177 workers in Thailand 9.1 Current major environmental legislation 198 9.2 International environmental conventions 202 ratified or signed by Burma 11.1 Selected list of rents extracted in the mining 260 concessions, Shwegyin Township, 2004–2005 12.1 Categories of stakeholders interviewed 272 12.2 Large-scale issues arising from official projects withinstitutional support and driven by larger commercial interests 273 12.3 Small-scale issues, often driven by financial hardship 274 12.4 Threats ranked by stakeholders, regardless of scale 276 12.5 Official logging companies in northern Myanmar 286 Figures 7.1 Changes in procurement and farm-gate prices, 1999–2002 137 11.1 Shwegyin Township Mining Area 247 Maps 8.1 Industrial zones in Burma 160 8.2 Industrial zones along the Thailand-Burma border 166 8.3 Asian highways across Burma 173 v Abbreviations ABSDF All Burma Students’ Democratic Front ACMECS Ayeyawaddy (Irrawaddy)-Chao-Phraya- Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy ADB Asian Development Bank AMD acid mine drainage ANU The Australian National University ARD acid rock drainage ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEM Asia-Europe Meeting ASM artisanal and small-scale mining BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BP British Petroleum BSPP Burma Socialist Programme Party BSS Burma Selection System CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CBM Central Bank of Myanmar CBO community-based organisation CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife and Fauna COHRE Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions CWS Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary DKBA Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army DSI Defence Services Intelligence ECS Economic Cooperation Strategy EIA environmental impact assessment EITI Extractive Industries Transparency Intiative EIU Economist Intelligence Unit EMS Environmental Management Systems ERI Earth Rights International FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FATF Financial Action Task Force x FCCC Framework Convention on Climate Change FDI foreign direct investment GAIL Gas Authority of India Limited GDP gross domestic product GMS Greater Mekong Subregion GRI Global Reporting Initiative ICG International Crisis Group ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IDCE International Development, Community, and the Environment ILO International Labour Organization IMF International Monetary Fund INGO international non-governmental organisation ISEAS Institute of Southeast Asian Studies ITTA International Tropical Timber Agreement KESAN Karen Environmental and Social Action Network KHRG Karen Human Rights Group KIO Kachin Independence Organisation KNU Karen National Union KNLA Karen National Liberation Army MADB Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank MAPT Myanmar Agricultural Produce Trading MCSO Myanmar Central Statistical Office ME1 Number 1 Myanmar Enterprise ME2 Number 2 Myanmar Enterprise ME3 Number 3 Myanmar Enterprise MGE Myanmar Gems Enterprise MICCL Myanmar Ivanhoe Copper Company Limited MNDAA Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army MOGE Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise MPE Myanmar Pearl Enterprise MRC Mekong River Commission MSF Médecins sans Frontiéres MWAF Myanmar Women’s Affairs Federation NCEA National Commission for Environmental Affairs (Burma) x NDAK New Democratic Army—Kachin NEP National Environmental Policy NGO non-governmental organisation NLD National League for Democracy NMSP New Mon State Party NTFP Non-Timber Forest Products OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ONGC Oil and Natural Gas Corporation OSI Open Society Institute PKDS Pan Kachin Development Society PRA participatory rural appraisal REFS Review of the Financial, Economic and Social Conditions SPDC State Peace and Development Council SLORC State Law and Order Restoration Council TBBC Thailand Burma Border Constortium UMEHL Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF United Nations Childrens Fund UNIRIN United Nations Integrated Regional Information Networks UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime USDA Union Solidarity and Development Association WCS Wildlife Conservation Society WFP World Food Program WWF World Wildlife Fund x Contributors Vicky Bowman received a BA (Hons) in Natural Sciences (Pathology) from Pembroke College, Cambridge, before winning a scholarship to the University of Chicago, where she took courses in Latin American Studies. She entered the East Africa Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1988 and studied Burmese at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, before being posted as Second Secretary to the British Embassy in Rangoon from 1990–1993. From 1996 to 1999, she was First Secretary/spokeswoman at the British European Union Mission in Brussels, before moving to the European Commission in 1999, where she was a member of the Cabinet of External Affairs Commissioner, Chris Patten, until 2002. From 2002 to 2006, she was British Ambassador to Myanmar. She has published translations of various Burmese short stories, a translation of Mya Than Tint’s On the Road to Mandalay, and contributed to editions of Lonely Planet’s Burmese Phrasebook. Mary P. Callahan is an associate professor of International Studies at the University of Washington. She is author of Making Enemies: war and state-building in Burma (2003), which received