Myanmar: Locals Campaign for Shutdown of Coal-Fired Power Plant

Myanmar: Locals Campaign for Shutdown of Coal-Fired Power Plant

Civil society organizations and locals launched a campaign on Thursday
calling for the complete shutdown of the Tigyit coal-fired power plant
following a test-run of the plant after two years of closure.

The plant is located in Naung Ta Yar sub-township of Panglong Township in
the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone in southern Shan State.

"Locals are not happy with the test-run of this power plant. There was no
transparency in conducting the environmental impact assessment. We have
suffered from a lot of health risks and environmental damage during the
ten-year period when the plant was in operation," said U Win Shein Myat,
chairman of Shan State Farmers and Farmland Workers Union.

Despite the grassroots opposition, the Shan State government allowed the
test-run of the plant, prompting locals to take to the streets against the
decision.

Members of the farmers union, the Pa-O Youth Organization, the Pa-O Women's
Union and locals joined the protest, distributing stickers, pamphlets and
video CDs highlighting the negative impacts of the coal-fired power plant.

Demonstrators alleged that the fumes and ash produced by the plant between
2004 and 2014 have contaminated water sources, damaged crops and soil, and
caused air pollution.
In October 2015, former President Thein Sein's government granted a 22-year
lease to tender winner Chinese company Wuxi Huaguang Electric Power
Engineering Co. Ltd. for operation of the power plant.

Locals' demonstrations have coincided with the company's test-run of the
power plant which began on October 21 this year.

"Water scarcity has become worse year by year because of fumes and ash from
the power plant. Now we can hardly find fish in the creeks. And it has also
affected our health, besides our crops. We demand a complete shutdown of the
plant," U Sein Pan, a local in San Ywa Village, Naung Ta Yar sub-township,
told The Irrawaddy.

According to the Ministry of Energy and Electricity, there are two other
coal-fired power plants in Burma which are smaller than Tigyit. One is in
Tenasserim Division's Kawthaung Township and another in Shan State's Nawng
Khio Township. Neither are connected to the national grid, but are under the
management of concerned state and divisional governments, according to the
ministry.

Several other proposed coal-fired power plants elsewhere in the country have
also been suspended in the face of opposition from locals.

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Ref:
http://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/locals-campaign-for-shutdown-of-coal-fir
ed-power-plant.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com