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The New Zealand Government has been criticized for doing business in military-ruled Burma, although it opposes Fiji’s military-led regime.
New Zealand’s National Foreign Affairs spokesman Murray McCully says the Government imposed sanctions on Fiji after it was taken over by a military regime in 2006 and had "tantrums" over Air New Zealand carrying Australian troops to the Iraq war.
"It is hard to reconcile these actions with the decision to allow a wholly taxpayer-owned company to carry out engineering work for the Butchers of Burma, especially when it is likely that the communications facilities they are constructing will be used as a tool for the continued suppression of the Burmese people," Mr McCully said in a New Zealand Herald report.
But NZ Prime Minister Helen Clarke has defended the Government’s decision, saying the work by Government broadcast and telecommunications business Kordia will help democracy in the country.
The report quotes Clarke saying the contract was small - worth about $80,000 - and related to putting up cellphone towers.
"Quite frankly I think that's probably an aid to democracy in Myanmar, not a step backwards, because one of the ways of getting news out to the world and photos and images out to the world is precisely through that technology," Clark reportedly said.
She added that she could not see how the contract was detrimental to democracy and there was "no way" that the company would be allowed to export military parts for example.
