News
UN urges Myanmar to tackle causes of opium scourge
Opium production in Myanmar has “stabilised” at stubbornly high levels, the United Nations said on 14 December, adding the government must address poverty and end the conflicts which drive farmers to grow illicit poppies. Myanmar, the world’s second largest opium producer after Afghanistan, has struggled to ...
UN: Poverty, conflict drive opium production in Myanmar-Laos
The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime’s latest opium survey for Myanmar and Laos, released 15 December, said poverty and conflict are the driving forces behind poppy cultivation, the second largest behind that of Afghanistan. In its latest production assessment, UNDOC said although Southeast Asia’s opium ...
Experts call for dam review to consider earthquake risks
If there is one place most ill-equipped for a mega hydropower dam holding back cascades of water, it might very well be along a fault line. Yet China’s Myitsone project is slated for such a quake-prone site not far from the Sagaing Fault. In addition to ...
Trash dumping threatens Yangon waterways
As the National League for Democracy embarks on a volunteer program to keep the country’s streets clean, experts said that Yangon’s water quality is at risk because people keep throwing garbage into rivers, creeks and ditches. Keep reading ...
Myanmar carries out litter collection drive
Myanmar’s National League for Democracy, which scored a stunning victory in November’s general election, carried out a litter collection drive over the weekend. Keep reading ...
Activist groups look to next government to solve human rights abuses
Activists marked International Human Rights Day on 10 December by setting an agenda for the next government. Land rights topped the list in an online poll for rights and business priority issues conducted by the Institute for Human Rights and Business, a co-founder of the Myanmar Centre ...
In light or dark, operations must go on
A photo that was widely circulated on social media this week cast a light onto the sometimes extreme measures taken in Myanmar’s public health sector. In the midst of an electrical blackout, doctors were seen performing an operation at the Mandalay Central Women’s Hospital by ...
BBC Burmese channel slammed
BBC Burmese channel has drawn heavy criticism for its radio programme slotted for 12 December, as locals view it as an attempt to revive social division. The outcry followed BBC’s invitation on Facebook for locals to participate its programme titled “Should ex-Senior General Than Shwe be ...
FDA shutters 22 mom-and-pop drinking-water companies
Unlicensed bottled water companies are being shut down by the Food and Drug Administration for fear they could be bacteria-ridden and contaminated, according to officials. Action is so far aimed at small-time businesses which often operate out of the vendors’ homes. However, the results of a secret ...
Supplementary budget approved without opposition
For all the storm and fury directed at it, MPs on 9 December passed unopposed a supplementary budget request that amounted to 11.95 percent of the existing budget for the current financial year. Not a single program or a single kyat was cut. Finance Minister U Win ...
