The Irrawaddy Magazine |
| Posted: 16 Aug 2013 11:54 PM PDT  A viewpoint at Ban Mae Sam Leap on the bank of Thanlwin River. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — On May 22, representatives of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), accompanied by a team of researchers and students from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, traveled to the remote northern Thai village of Ban Mae Sam Leap in Mae Hong Son Province to meet with local residents and discuss plans to build a dam on the Salween River. Ban Mae Sam Leap lies on the eastern bank of the Salween, a river that separates this corner of Thailand from Myanmar, where it is known as the Thanlwin. On the other side of the river from the village is Papun District, in northern Kayin State, an area with a long history of conflict between Myanmar's armed forces and the Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic Kayin armed group. These days, however, an uneasy peace prevails in eastern Myanmar, where the government has reached a series of tentative ceasefire agreements with ethnic Kayin, Kayah and Shan rebels. Although it is still far from certain whether these truces will hold (in Shan State, clashes continue despite pledges to hold the peace), this hasn't stopped a push to restart long-stalled hydropower dam projects on the Thanlwin. Altogether, six dams are planned for the river. Two—the Tasang and Upper Thanlwin dams—are located in Shan State, while the Ywa Thit dam is in Kayah State and the Wei Gyi, Dagwin and Hat Gyi dams are in Kayin State. Hat Gyi is the dam nearest Ban Mae Sam Leap. Watsan Namchaitosaporn, the village's deputy headman, seemed resigned to the fact that the US $1 billion, 1,200-megawatt dam, to be built by EGAT and China's state-owned Sinohydro Corporation, would soon wipe Ban Mae Sam Leap off the map. "We don't like it, but there's nothing we can do about it. They're going to build it anyway," he said. He explained that the visitors from Bangkok had informed him that even if the Thai side decided not to get involved in the project, the Myanmar government would go ahead with it, with Chinese help. "They [EGAT] don't want to lose this chance. So we told them that the authorities have to find a new relocation site for us and provide us with proper compensation." According to surveys conducted by EGAT, the Hat Gyi dam will force six villages to relocate, while another 13 will be affected in some way. However, independent research by the Thailand-based NGO Karen Rivers Watch puts the number of villages that will need to be moved at 21. Forty-one other communities will also be impacted, the group says, bringing the total affected population to around 30,000 people. The Hat Gyi dam was first approved by Myanmar's Ministry of Electric Power in 2006, but until February of this year, when Deputy Minister of Electric Power U Myint Zaw told the Lower House of Parliament about plans to go forward with the Thanlwin dams, it was unclear if the government was still committed to the projects. Already, even before construction work has begun in earnest, local people are feeling the impact of renewed interest in the dams. According to Steve Thompson, an environmental educator and researcher with the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN), some people living around Hat Gyi have already been displaced, and there has been an influx of Myanmar government troops into the area to "secure" it for the dam project. There is, in fact, a very real risk that pushing ahead with the dams could reignite conflict in the region. The Hat Gyi dam has long been opposed by the KNU's Brigade 5, which controls territory near the dam site. But clashes in the area in April involved another group, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), which said it came under attack by a joint force of Myanmar troops and a Kayin Border Guard Force under Myanmar military command when it refused to abandon one of its bases near the dam site. That incident—which according to DKBA sources claimed more than 40 lives—shows just how fragile the peace is in this part of Myanmar, where insurgent armies have waged a decades-old campaign for greater autonomy. The foreign partners in the project are also painfully aware of this reality: In 2007, one Thai EGAT employee was killed and several others injured when unknown assailants attacked a workers camp at the dam construction site. Nevertheless, a historic ceasefire agreement between the KNU and the government reached in January 2012 has convinced many decision-makers that the time is right to resume work on the dam, despite local opposition. According to Mr. Thompson, the researcher at KESAN, the Hat Gyi dam appears to have created a serious dilemma for the KNU. "Local communities are strongly opposed to the dam project, but it doesn’t appear that the current KNU leadership is taking their concerns seriously," he said. Mr. Thompson suggested that the KNU leaders may be allowing the project to go ahead, despite its negative impacts, because it believes it is "in the interests of what they see as peace and development." In other areas, civil society groups say that the ceasefire agreements have not made it any easier to assess the potential impact of the Thanlwin dams. Khu Mi Reh, a spokesperson for the Karenni Civil Societies Network, a community-based organization that monitors the peace process between the government and the Karenni National Progressive Party, an ethnic Kayah armed group, said that his organization has been denied permission to inspect the site of the Ywa Thit dam in Kayah State, despite an agreement to allow independent assessments. "We tried to travel to the dam site after the ceasefire agreement, but they [the government army] didn’t allow us to go the area where the dam will be built," he said, adding that the heavy presence of government troops in the area has already forced many local villagers to leave. Like the Hat Gyi dam, the Ywa Thit dam will be built by a Chinese company, the state-owned Datang Corporation, which signed an agreement with the Myanmar government in January 2010 to build three dams in Kayah State, including the 600-megawatt Ywa Thit on the Thanlwin River, and two others on the Pawn and Thabet rivers. "We are worried about the social and environmental impact," said Khu Mi Reh, citing concerns about the existence of a fault line near the dam site. "If an earthquake occurred, it could be devastating for people living downstream." Driving much of this anxiety is the lack of transparency surrounding many of these dam projects, despite the end of military rule in Myanmar and the cessation of conflict in many parts of the country. Increasingly, ethnic communities are questioning the way that the government and the leaders of ethnic armed groups are making deals without disclosing the details to the public. This issue came up in late May, when more than 150 representatives from 40 different ethnic Kayin community organizations gathered to discuss the peace process. In a statement, they called on the KNU to speak to the public whenever they want to sign big business deals, such as for power plants and dams, which might damage the livelihoods of local civilians. Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe, the director of the Yangon-based Karen Women's Action Group, said that some projects, such as the dam on the Thaut Yin Ka River in Taungoo District, Bago Region, have already seriously damaged local communities. "We only find out about the projects after they're already having a negative impact on civilians. We don't want such incidents to happen in the future," she said. This story first appeared in the August 2013 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. | |
| Posted: 16 Aug 2013 11:44 PM PDT  Last month, the US government announced that the US Ambassadors Fund for the Cultural Preservation would join hands with Burma's Ministry of Culture to preserve the centuries-old monastery. (Photo: Tay Za Hlaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — In Mandalay, a city known as "the cultural heart of Burma," visitors are often quickly enthralled by the maze of Buddhist temples and centuries-old monasteries. With nearly every looming pagoda calling for attention, it can be difficult for tourists to choose a starting point. Sir James George Scott, a British civil servant who spent 35 years in Burma during colonial times, offered a suggestion more than a century ago in his 1882 book, "The Burman: His Life and Notions." "To see the really gorgeous ecclesiastical buildings, one must journey to Mandalay," he wrote. "There, Kyaung-daw-gyi, the Royal Monastery, is the most striking collection of edifices of their kind to be seen in the world." The 19th century timber monastery at the foot of Mandalay Hill is known by a few names: Shwe Kyaung, Shwe Nan Daw Kyaung Monastery and Kyaung-daw-gyi, all of which translate to the Golden Palace Monastery. It was first built within the king's royal chamber of the Mandalay Palace complex. Originally covered with gold leaf and glass mosaics, the building is known for the intricate wood carvings on its walls and roofs that show Buddhist myths. "The huge posts are gilt all over, or covered with a red lacquer; the eaves and gables represent all kinds of fantastic and grotesque figures," Scott noted. In this building, King Mindon, one of the country's most revered ancient monarchs, died in 1878.
Under his successor, King Thibaw, the building was moved to its current site outside of the Mandalay Palace moat, where it was turned into a monastery. During World War II, aerial bombardment destroyed most of the historical buildings inside the Mandalay Palace complex, leaving the Shwe Nan Daw Kyaung Monastery as the only remaining original structure from the 19th century palace. In 1996, Burma's Archaeological Department submitted the monastery for inclusion on Unesco's World Heritage List, where it remains under consideration by the UN body. Last month, the US government announced that the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation would join hands with Burma's Ministry of Culture to preserve the centuries-old monastery. US Ambassador Derek Mitchell said the World Monument Fund, based in Washington, would implement the US$500,000 project, adding that the project would also include training in preservation techniques for Burmese officials and craftsmen. "This is an original and still remarkable monument. We looked at a lot of different options, but we just felt that this is the good place to start," Mitchell said. "It represents not just a wooden monastery, but it has a connection to the imperial era and is worth preserving as it has deep historical relevance." The Irrawaddy reporter Zarni Mann contributed to this report from Mandalay. | |
| Burma Business Roundup (Aug. 17) Posted: 16 Aug 2013 10:59 PM PDT Daewoo to Seek More Gas in Shwe Offshore Field, but Terms Still Secret South Korean conglomerate Daewoo International is planning to explore for more natural gas in its Bay of Bengal Shwe field, the oil industry magazine Upstream reports. "Daewoo and its partners are planning to exploit the Shwe, Shwe Phyu and Mya fields, which have estimated proven and probable recoverable reserves independently put at a minimum 4.5 trillion cubic feet of gas," the magazine said. The Shwe field is now producing 120 million cubic feet per day of gas, which is being sold to the China National Petroleum Corporation, but Daewoo is "looking to boost this to 500 million cubic feet per day by the end of next year when more production wells will be added," Upstream said. Daewoo is the operator of the Shwe field with a 51 percent interest. Its partners include India's Gail and ONGC, Kogas also of South Korea, and the Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise, which has a 15 percent stake. The financial terms of the Shwe field's operation and profit have never been made public and it remains unknown how much Burma gains from the agreement. Gas Firm PTTEP Denies Wrongdoing in Award of Offshore Licences Thailand's state-owned oil and gas company PTTEP denied using bribery to secure licences earlier this year for two offshore exploration blocks in Burma's Gulf of Martaban. The denial followed a report in the Myanmar Times that former Minister of Energy Than Htay was fired over the licences because of industry complaints that they had not been awarded fairly. The block licenses, near other development concessions already held by PTTEP, were awarded separately from the open bidding round for 30 offshore block licenses that are still to be decided. "PTTEP would like to deny the intransparency [sic] and bribery of the MD-7 and MD-8 acquisition and would like to clarify that the process of direct negotiation for both blocks started in early 2010 before the current Offshore Exploration Block Bidding Round," the Bangkok company's statement said. However, the Myanmar Times said its report linking the blocks award with Than Htay's dismissal did not claim that PTTEP paid bribes. The MD-7 and MD-8 licenses were issued to the Thai firm after a major bidding round for offshore oil and gas licences was postponed last September amid foreign concerns about a lack of transparency in the process involving the Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise. Indian IT Firm Makes Burma Investment Feasibility Study Indian information technology services company Tata Consultancy Services Limited has done a feasibility study on investing in Burma, The Hindu Business Line newspaper said. "We know there are going to be substantial investments in [Burma]. But again, finding the right partner is important. Like in any country that is in the process of stabilizing, there would be lot of unknowns," Tata chief executive R. Ramanan told the paper. Tata's subsidiary CMC Limited is interested in infrastructure development projects, especially in mining, it said. "CMC recently sent a delegation to [Burma] to explore investment opportunities," said The Hindu. "India's investment in Myanmar currently is US$275 million. It is expected to increase tenfold in a couple of years." Japan, S. Korea Look at Ways to Give Technical Help to Small Businesses The Japanese and South Korean governments are planning to provide technical assistance and loans to help small businesses and farmers in Burma. The Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) is in talks with the Myanmar Livestock Federation about the terms of providing small loans to farmers via agricultural banks, according to Eleven Media. JICA is also talking to NGOs about providing technical agricultural help, such as improved animal breeding practices. Separately, South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will reportedly "provide technical assistance to small and medium enterprises involved in energy, construction and manufacturing," media reports said. The Korean ministry will also look at ways to assist with technical help in construction, power generation, shipyards and environmental conservation, said Eleven Media. Room Pricing and Quality Checks Ahead of SEA Games in December Burma's Ministry of Hotels and Tourism and the Myanmar Hoteliers Association are inspecting accommodation standards and pricing ahead of the Southeast Asian Games, which the country will host in December. The games will be staged in Naypidaw, Rangoon, Mandalay and Ngwe Saung in Irrawaddy Division, requiring accommodation for thousands of athletes from the region. "The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism and Myanmar Hoteliers Association is carrying out an advanced inspection of selected hotels in the country as part of the government's strategy to ensure they meet an acceptable standard for foreign visitors," said the tourism industry magazine TTR Weekly. "Hotels have been accused of overcharging and delivering poor service and this has prompted the government to establish hotel zones to encourage international investment in new properties," TTR reported. A big surge in foreign visitors to Burma has left the country struggling to provide sufficient accommodation and other facilities. The SEA Games will take place from Dec. 11 to 22. Reports say up to 5,000 athletes and supporters from 11 countries could put a severe strain on Burma's facilities. The Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) has offered to provide technical help for the games. |
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