Five years ago, Myanmar’s media scene was very oppressive and pathetic, both by international and ASEAN standards. Since then, with the end of news censorship and mandatory printing license, the overall freedom of expression has improved significantly. Now the country’s press freedom index is rising for overall openness in comparison with other ASEAN members.
Tag: NLD government
Implementation is key: ADB Vice President
Myanmar has tremendous potential for development and the government is on the right track. These are the comments of Stephen Groff, Asian Development Bank’s vice president for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Report Details Harm Salween River Dams Could Cause
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.
Govt to survey dams nationwide
The government is planning on reviewing the status of dams throughout the country to see if they are worth keeping. U Htun Win, deputy minister for agriculture, livestock and irrigation, told parliament on August 2 that the review would take into account the efficiency, cost-effectiveness and long-term benefit of the dams.
A shift in policy, away from building dams and toward running irrigation channels to farmland, has already led to a 50 percent cut in the request for irrigation funding next year. The ministry’s assistant secretary, U Myo Tint Tun, told The Myanmar Times on July 18 that expenditure in 2017-18 would be less than half of this year’s level, falling from K253 billion (US$216 million) to K120 billion. The funds would be used primarily to provide irrigation drainage to existing dams that lacked it.
China firm wins Myanmar approval for $3 bln refinery
Chinese state-controlled commodity trader Guangdong Zhenrong Energy Co has won approval from the Myanmar government to build a long-planned $3 billion refinery in the Southeast Asian nation in partnership with local parties including the energy ministry, company executives said on Tuesday.
The project, which also includes an oil terminal, storage and distribution facilities, would be one of the largest foreign investments in decades in Myanmar. Myanmar currently imports most of its fuel.
The Myanmar Investment Committee granted the Chinese firm approval to build a 100,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery in the southeast coastal city of Dawei, Li Hui, a vice president of Guangdong Zhenrong and head of the company’s refining business, told Reuters.
New president must heed public on Myitsone Dam: Kachin party
The new president must listen to the voice of the people, who do not agree to the resumption of the Myitsone Dam project, said Kachin State Democracy Party chairman Dr Manam Tu Ja on March 7.
His spoke in response to news that China is seeking to find ways to resume the project.
He said the resumption of Myitsone project must depend on the desires of the people.
Shan civil society groups call for gold mining suspension
The Shan State Farmers’ Network (SSFN) will ask the incoming National League for Democracy government to suspend companies’ gold mining operations?strong in eastern Shan State, which the organisation says have polluted local villagers’ water resources.
A decade of mining in the Loi Kham hills has left around 300 acres of fields unusable, according to a joint press release from the SSFN and the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) published on March 3.
The two groups said they “urge the incoming NLD government to implement federal reform to end Nay Pyi Taw’s unilateral power to grant mining concessions in ethnic areas”.