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.
The investigation commission for hydropower projects on the Ayeyawady River is discussing the possibility of making a field visit to Kachin State on September 15, according to sources in Myitkyina.
“The commission has been discussing whether it would go to Kachin State. It may be on September 15, but it has not informed us of its plan or how many officials will make the trip,” said an unnamed official within the Kachin State government.
Preparations should be made to prevent dam building on the Salween River, the home of many ethnic people, replacing the Irawaddy River’s Chinese backed Myitsone Dam project if it is cancelled.
The comments were made by the Mon State Hluttaw (parliament) Deputy Speaker Dr Aung Nai Oo at the press launch of a Mon Youth Progressive Organisation (MYPO) report entitled ‘In the Balance’, held at the Ramanya Hotel in Mawlamyine, Mon State on 9 September.
Representatives of six German companies on Monday began their business trip in Vietnam to explore the potential of the local solar photovoltaic market.
The Delegate of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam, which organized the trip, said the representatives participated in a conference in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss and learn about investment opportunities.
They also presented their products and services to some 150 Vietnamese companies and participants, and attended bilateral meetings.
Thailand plans to dust off Hatgyi Dam in Myanmar and divert “surplus” water to Bhumipol Dam to alleviate drought. EGATi is eager to invest more than 100 billion baht in Hatgyi project. As for Mong Ton Dam project, EGATi plans to invest over 300 billion baht but it still waits for Myanmar government’s approval after the redesign to lower impacts on surrounding communities.
Southern Vietnam, which is home to commercial hubs like Ho Chi Minh City and manufacturing clusters such as Dong Nai and Binh Duong, may face more power shortages from 2017.
The country’s total power output is likely to fall short of the south’s demand by 10-15 percent, said Duong Quang Thanh, chairman of state monopoly Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).
The state utility plans to run more power plants on diesel to produce about 5 billion kilowatt-hours per year starting from next year to supplement supplies in the south, Thanh added.
Mi Ah Chai said: “The livelihood of the people in the delta area and the ecosystem of the river can be damaged by this project. So, we demand that the government halt all the dam projects; respect the objections of the ethnic people living along this river and the social organisations calling for the conservation of the Salween River; and prevent this project from affecting the peace process.”
The 87-page report details the background of the Salween River, the construction of the dams on the river, the ecosystem of the Salween River delta, the dams’ impact on the communities who depend on the delta eco system and public awareness of the dam projects.
A power purchasing agreement was signed on Tuesday, during Thai Prime Minister General Prayuth chan-Ocha’s visit to the Prime Minister of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, while attending the 28th and 29th Asean Summits and related meetings from September 6-8 in Vientiane.
Thailand has increased its purchase of electricity from 7,000 to 9,000 megawatts from Laos this year to ensure sufficient supply and meet rising demand.
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.
Mon activists yesterday attacked dam projects slated for the Salween River, releasing a report about the potential negative impacts.
“Given the recently renewed plans by the Myanmar government and Thai investors to build the controversial Hatgyi dam, our downstream communities share extreme concerns with all the other communities along the Salween about the impact of the dam on our livelihood and the environment,” said Mi Ah Chai, one of the lead researchers on the report by the Mon Youth Progressive Organisation.
The announcement that 1360-megawatt Hatgyi project would be resumed was made on August 12 by Ministry of Electric Power permanent secretary U Htein Lwin.
