CCDAC holds discussion with secretaries of work groups

The Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control held the meeting 1/2009 with secretaries of the work groups at the hall of Myanmar Police Force Headquarters, here, yesterday afternoon. Speaking on the occasion, Director-General of MPF Brig-Gen Khin Yi said that the task forces undertaking the opium substitute tasks are to make field trips to the rural areas by joining hands with the local military units, police force, special anti-narcotic drug squads and local authorities. In implementing the second five-year plan, over 700,000 acres of seasonal crops and over 800,000 perennial crops could be cultivated more than the first five-year plan. Over K 37 million was spent on distribution of pedigree cow, pig, goat and chicken, K 13.5 million on the medical treatment and K 9 million on fish breeding. The Social Welfare Department trained 478 voluntary supervisors for drug abuse control and they are to coordinate with the local authorities for looking after the drug addicts at the rehabilitation camps, holding educative talks and disseminating knowledge on danger of narcotic drugs and HIV/AIDS, he said.
He added that from 1 January to 31 December 2008, action was taken against 3,773 persons in 2,429 drug-related cases. Myanmar signed the bilateral agreements with neighbouring countries in the region and sub-region in carrying out the narcotic drug eradication tasks.
As of 5 January 2009, Myanmar is joining hands with the People’s Republic of China in conducting survey of poppy cultivation in Shan State. He urged the secretaries of the work groups to strive for achieving the success in 2009 in implementing the second fiveyear plan of the 15-year narcotic drug eradication plan.