30 July 2021

Almost two decades ago, Myanmar’s largest coal-fired power plant was built as a joint venture by a group of military-affiliated businessmen and the China National Heavy Machinery Corporation. Since then, it has disrupted the socioeconomic lives of the Pa’O and Taungyo people who are Indigenous to the area, as well as Shan and Bamar people, who have joined them in protests against the operation of the plant.

[...] Over the years, the inhabitants of the area have reported health problems as well as the loss of underground water sources, and cases of land collapse and damage to housing. [...]

The construction of the Tigyit power plant and the adjacent coal mine in Pinlaung township in southern Shan state, on the orders of Senior General Than Shwe, has meant the loss of farmland and community forests for the communities.

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For Khun Oo, the chairman of the Pa’O Youth Organization, based in Taunggyi, the state’s capital, the effects of the pollution on the agriculture produce are significant. “Due to pollution, the crops of the farmers could not grow or had an unappealing taste. Farmers have resorted to buying chemical fertilisers … otherwise they would not sell anything,” he said.

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According to the report, the 2018 refurbishment of the plant did not stop pollutants from leaking out of the site. “There have been continued reports of miscarriages, cancers and other serious diseases,” Khun Oo said. Many women are, however, ashamed of speaking of their health problems, as miscarriages can lead to a stigma in their communities.

[...]