"Thanlwin dam projects ‘unjust’: civil society", 9 July 2015

A plan to build six dams along the Thanlwin River – and then sell most of the hydropower they generated to China and Thailand – would be “unjust”, campaigners claimed...A group of 122 local civil society organisations calling itself Save the Salween (Thanlwin) launched their campaign at a press conference in Yangon...The proposed dams would be located in Shan, Kayin and Kayah states and would be built by three companies from China, Thailand and Myanmar. The largest dam, the Mong Ton, will...produce an estimated 7000 megawatts, of which 90 percent will go to China and Thailand, with 10pc reserved for domestic use...“The electricity from the projects will be sold to foreign countries, so obviously would benefit neither this country nor its people,” the group said...The campaigners said the project entailed not only the sale of electricity, but even the diversion of water to Thailand, which they called an “injustice”. The dams also increase the risk of earthquakes, objectors say...The company hired to perform environmental and social impact statements, Australia’s Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC), had conducted public consultations in which local people expressed disagreement with the plans direct to the company authorities...“SMEC spoke only of the advantages of the dams, and gave the villagers presents. Then they asked them to sign letters they didn’t understand. Now everybody’s objecting,”...Ko Saw Thar Boe, of Kayin State, said local residents were worried about the resumption of conflict because some of the dams were located in areas controlled by ethnic armed groups. “This is the first time we’ve had a respite in 60 years, and now the dams are going to shake things up again,” he said.