Published: Tuesday, 4 September, 2007, 01:50 AM Doha Time
By Dr Cesar Chelala
NEW YORK: Although the human rights abuses carried out by Myanmar’s military are widely known, the harm done to the country’s environment is frequently neglected.
Since assuming direct power in 1988, the military junta has been conducting an unrelenting assault on Myanmar’s flora and fauna.
Myanmar (Burma) has been called the last frontier of biodiversity in Asia. But many species are now endangered as a result of pipeline and dam projects, and of mining and logging policies carried out by the country’s military.
And the junta’s environmental practices have significantly harmed the health and quality of life of the Burmese people, particularly women and children.
The regime’s own survival rests on the exploitation of the country’s natural resources.
The generals have allowed massive logging –- particularly of teak- and the construction of gas pipelines and other development projects that have provoked serious damage to the environment.
Highly-prized teak forests that have provided livelihoods for many ethnic minorities are being destroyed by Thai loggers at a very fast rate, causing erosion, floods and landslides, and threatening the survival of endangered animal species.
Extensive fishing represents a depletion of an important resource for quick commercial benefit.
Uncontrolled fishing by Thai companies to whom the junta gave fishery concessions has led to the impoverishment of the people from whole villages that depend on this activity as their only sustenance.
The families’ worsening economic situation affects the children’s already poor health and nutrition rates, among the lowest in Asia.
The under-5 mortality rate, which is the probability of dying between birth and five years of age is 109, compared to 28 in neighbouring Thailand. The percentage of children with low birth weight is 15, compared to 9 in Thailand. Over onemn children are malnourished, 9-12% of them severely so.
Natural gas and minerals exploitation and large dam projects continue to be implemented with little concern for their environmental effects or the effects on the populations living in the areas being exploited.
The most significant cause of environmental destruction is presently the Yadana natural gas pipeline which goes into Thailand. In Myanmar, the pipeline cuts through rich ecosystems, disrupting the natural habitat of rare animals. In Thailand, the pipeline goes through an important rainforest, threatening the survival of endangered wild Asian elephants.
The negative effects of mining go beyond a particular mining site, since pollutants generated in the process can be spread through the waterways hundreds of miles from the source of contamination.
It is well known that copper mining produces a high amount of poisonous pollutants. This situation is worsened by Myanmar’s poor mining regulations and almost no enforcement of the existing ones.
Large dam projects can also have serious consequences on the environment. On several fronts, the country’s ecological crisis is worsening, poverty is growing, and a group of people called “environmental refugees” are forced to leave their homes.
What can be done to alleviate the serious attacks on the environment by the Burmese military?
A critical step is to involve all sectors of society, particularly ethnic minority groups, into a broad discussion of environmental issues as a preliminary step to developing safeguards for environmental protection.
International assistance should be provided to indigenous grass roots organisations, which have been working intensely for the protection of the environment.
At the same time, an agreement should be sought between the government and environmentally conscious organisations on a set of priority actions to be implemented together, such as detailed environmental assessments that take into consideration the views of the affected communities.
The key to Myanmar’s environmental problems, however, rests on the military junta. Unless it establishes that protection of the environment is one of its main concerns, the prospects for the country will continue to be gloomy.
* Dr Cesar Chelala, a co-winner of an Overseas Press Club of America award, is the author of Impact of the environment on children’s health, a publication of the Pan American Health Organisation.
Labels: English, Gulf Times Newspaper, Opinion
