The
decision to suspend work on the massive China-backed Myitsone Dam in Burma is
considered among President Thein Sein’s finer achievements since coming to
office. It’s held aloft as a signal of his reformist credentials – a man who
listens to the aggrieved public and responds in turn.
But the situation up in Kachin state, where
the dam site is located, remains shrouded in mystery. Reports coming from the
area say little has changed – camps housing Chinese technicians and Burmese
labourers remain, whilst work is ongoing on the road planned to connect the dam
to the Chinese border. Moreover, according to eye-witnesses I’ve spoken to,
security – both Burmese police and army – has actually increased around the dam
site in the past two months. Given the project is meant to have stopped, this
makes little sense.
There also remains the issue of the 1,000 or
so villagers relocated in 2010 to make way for construction (a portion of the
15,000 that was originally estimated to be displaced once an accompanying
reservoir the size of Singapore formed): three out of five villages have been
totally destroyed, but two – Mazup and Taunghpre – remain. Bizarrely, however,
the inhabitants of those villages are still officially banned from returning
(although some steadfastly refused to move in the first place, while others
quietly go back), and thus pass their days in the Aungmyinthar relocation camp
about three miles from the dam. Those who have attempted to return to Taunghpre
have been greeted by Asia World employees who warned them quickly to leave (Asia
World, run by Burmese business tycoon Steven Law, the son of former drugs
kingpin Lo Hsing Han, is a partner in the project).
The India-based Mizzima news agency ran a
piece yesterday saying that Taunghpre villagers were warned by the Myitsone
district chief not to attempt to set up home again there, and even made to sign
a pledge. “He [district chief] said although there is possibility that we can
work in farming again in the [Taunghpre] village area, we must not live there,”
Mizzima quotes a local as saying.
This all contributes to a feeling of
uncertainty around the status of the project. The China Power Investment (CPI)
Corporation, the lead company in the project, is certainly not giving up hope:
last week it launched a PR campaign to reengineer public opinion about the dam,
which has been hugely controversial and which became one of the key catalysts
for Burma’s nascent environmental movement. CPI’s office in Myitkyina, the
Kachin state capital, remains a hub of activity, and eye-witnesses report seeing
trucks leaving it regularly in the direction of Myitsone.
There is, however, no smoking gun, and the
beefed up security makes access to the area difficult. But reports coming from
the area suggest that the proclaimed ‘suspension’ may not be so clear cut.
Whatever is going on continues to stir animosity among locals: earlier this
week a ceremony was held in Taunghpre, attended by the likes of student
activist Min Ko Naing, in which villagers constructed a wall around the local
church with stones collected from the dam site. They say the wall is emblematic
of their continued resistance against the project, suggesting they are
witnessing a level of activity that pours doubt on the authenticity of Thein
Sein’s vaunted decision.
Francis Wade
Asian Correspondent.com
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