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Article

3 Feb 2012

Author:
Jason Szep, Reuters

Myanmar's ambitious Dawei project faces uncertainty

...Big questions surround the far-reaching plans by Thailand's largest construction firm, Italian-Thai Development...to transform 250 sq kms...of scrubland in southern Myanmar into Southeast Asia's largest industrial complex...[T]he Dawei project has made little headway...Italian-Thai has yet to secure $8.5 billion to finance construction of its first phase...after building a dirt road of more than 100 km...to neighbouring Thailand...In Dawei itself, views of the project are mixed...Hsan Htoo, a 25-year-old high school dropout working on a fishing trawler, hope[s] it can bring jobs to the impoverished area...Others worry about the potential environmental toll and health risks...In a sign of dramatic change in Myanmar, a village advocacy group has been formed to oppose the project. The Dawei Development Group has raised concern that as many as 32,000 people would be displaced..."What we want is for the project to be done with transparency. It may ultimately go ahead, but we want to make sure it is done by the rule of law and that environmental assessment studies are carried out," said one senior activist in Yangon who has worked closely with the Dawei Development Group....