Can Myanmar's hydropower study truly be for the people? (Opinion)

Can Myanmar's hydropower study truly be for the people? (Opinion)

In recent weeks, violent clashes in Kayin State have further disrupted
Myanmar's fragile peace process. Fighting between the Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the government-sponsored Border Guard Force (BGF)
in Mae Tha Waw areas of Hlaingbwe township, and more recently near Kawkareik
township, has displaced over a thousand people. Entire families have fled
their homes and are left stranded with limited access to food and
assistance, producing nothing short of a humanitarian crisis. Across the
border in Thailand, nearly 60,000 people remain in refugee camps, having
fled ongoing conflict over the past two decades.

The deadly conflict is taking place around the construction site of the Hat
Gyi hydropower dam on the Salween River. The 1360-megawatt project is slated
for development by a consortium of Thai, Chinese and Myanmar companies, with
the electricity generated to be exported to Thailand. Fighting has escalated
as plans to build the project move forward, with both groups struggling to
wrest control of the area.

Against this backdrop, in September the International Finance Corporation
(IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group, together with
the Ministry of Electric Power (MOEP) and the Ministry of Environmental
Conservation and Forestry (MOECAF), launched a Strategic Environmental
Assessment (SEA) for Myanmar's hydropower sector in Nay Pyi Taw. The SEA
falls within a broader program of water reform in the country, supported by
the World Bank. Last week marked the first meeting of the multi-stakeholder
Advisory Group the IFC has convened to guide the SEA process.

The stated aim of the SEA is to achieve "broad consensus" on the equitable
and sustainable development of hydropower dams across the country. The IFC
has proposed a process of public engagement and negotiation, claiming this
will avoid major environmental and social impacts and achieve widespread
agreement on necessary trade-offs and ways to share benefits with those
displaced or adversely affected by dams.

The SEA is an important step. Given the high social and environmental costs
associated with the hydropower sector, it is an opportunity to build
critical knowledge for accountable and informed decision-making. If done
well, the SEA could enable the Myanmar government and people to
comprehensively examine the full range of options available for providing
energy while protecting its rivers and community rights; and with this
together set the agenda for an inclusive and sustainable energy future. This
can only be achieved through a transparent and participatory process, with
the meaningful involvement of the most vulnerable groups. Such people
include displaced persons and refugees, whose homes are poised to be lost to
reservoirs and hydro stations, while their perspectives are often invisible
in decision-making.

Whether the SEA can achieve this remains an open question.

In addition to Hat Gyi, other proposed dams are in active conflict zones and
areas populated by Myanmar's diverse ethic peoples. The 7100MW Mong Ton dam
on the Salween River in Shan State will flood a war-torn area long subject
to mass displacement. The IFC's Performance Standards require participatory
and transparent consultations, the "free, prior and informed consent" of
indigenous peoples and sensitivity to the risks of operating in conflict and
post-conflict zones. Little information is available as to how these
standards will be effectively implemented in situations such as the current
crisis in Kayin State or the refugee population in Thailand, who are yet to
return home.

IFC standards also mandate the assessment of the cumulative impacts of
hydropower development. The Salween is a transboundary river, originating in
China and with stretches forming the border between Thailand and Myanmar.
The Hat Gyi and Mong Ton dams, and other projects in a planned cascade on
the Salween, would have transboundary impacts in Thailand, yet these appear
to fall outside of the scope of the SEA, which will only involve assessment
and consultations in Myanmar.

The hope is that the assessment will inform future government decisions on
individual projects. With controversial planned dams such as Hat Gyi and
Mong Ton already quietly progressing, it is unclear whether the SEA will be
able to stop the clock to enable meaningful and inclusive debate about
whether such projects should be built. In the case of the Mekong River, a
comprehensive SEA on mainstream dams commissioned by the Mekong River
Commission in 2010 recommended a 10-year moratorium on dam building to
enable further studies, yet the advice was disregarded in the rush to
harness the river's hydropower potential. The flurry of dam-building has
come at the expense of the river's rich resources and the interests of
riverine communities.

Around 34 million people in Myanmar lack access to electricity, a deficit
the IFC often cites in discussing the SEA. But many of the large-scale
projects that will be examined in the assessment would generate capacity for
export, not domestic consumption. Because 70 percent of Myanmar's population
live in off-grid rural regions, prioritising small-scale and decentralised
energy sources over mega-dams is a better way to meet the immediate needs of
local people. The SEA appears to start from the assumption that large-scale
hydropower is a given, rather than enabling consideration of alternatives
that could inform open discussion on the best means of meeting Myanmar's
energy demands and priorities.

Myanmar has an opportunity to balance equitable and sustainable development
of the energy sector while preserving rich ecosystems and ecologically
sensitive areas. Getting this right is complex. The SEA Advisory Group must
carefully consider how to ensure sensitivity to the country's complex
history and a process that is truly inclusive of the needs and perspectives
of all its people.

Pianporn (Pai) Deetes works as the Thailand and Burma Campaigns Director for
International Rivers, an international NGO working to protect rivers and the
rights of communities who depend upon them.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/opinion/23519-can-myanmar-s-hydropower-stud
y-truly-be-for-the-people.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com