Dam committee meets Myitsone residents

Kachin residents have expressed their refusal to accept the Myitsone dam project when the Investigation Commission for Hydropower Projects on the Ayeyawady River visited Myitsone.

The committee met town elders and MPs at the Myitsone Resort, asked about the livelihoods of villagers and the environmental damage caused by gold mining.

Video Calls for Angkor Beer Boycott Over Mekong Dam

Community members worried about a major dam being constructed in Laos released a video this week appealing for a boycott of Cambodia’s number one beer manufacturer, Angkor Beer.

“Stop Don Sahong, Boycott Angkor Beer” claims the 32 meter-high dam now under construction will affect the flow of the Mekong River, destroy fisheries and farmland in Cambodia and the lower Mekong, and affect millions of people in neighboring countries—all to generate only 260 MW of hydroelectricity. Of particular concern is the loss of of the last of the Irrawaddy dolphin’s Mekong habitat.

Indian Mining Firm Prepares to Dig Deep in Ratanakkiri

The Ministry of Mines and Energy is set to issue the country’s first commercial underground mining license to Indian company Mesco Gold in two weeks, despite opposition by residents of two villages concerned about compensation and environmental damage.

The company plans to break ground on its concession in Ratanakkiri province’s O’yadaw district in about six weeks, said Harsh Sharma, operations director for Mesco Gold, a Cambodia-based subsidiary of New Delhi-based Mesco Steel.