JANUARY 2001 - APRIL
2001, VOL. 10.
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Contents:
1.
World
Bank News Roundup, fromWorldNews.com,
2. US$17
M DEBT RELIEF IN JAPANESE GOVT GRANT
3. LETTER
OF CONCERN TO THE JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER REGARDING RESUMPTION OF AID TO THE
BALUCHAUNG HYDROPOWER PLANT
Karenni Evergreen:
4. STATEMENT OF KARENNI EVERGREEN REGARDING THE PROPOSED
JAPANESE GOVERNMENT GRANT OF 3.5 BILLION YEN TO THE SPDC FOR THE REPAIR OF
LAWPITA HYDROELECTRIC POWER STATION NO-(2) IN KARENNI.
KEG Statement No - 01/2001
5. INSIDE SOURCES – LEAKS FROM THE CORPORATE STRUCTURE.
Anonymous; February 2001
6.
7. CHAVALIT PROPOSES TO HELP DEVELOP
8. CHINESE PLANNING TO
DIVERT WATER TO THE NORTHWEST PART OF
International Rivers
Network dated March 2001
9. PLANT FUELS POLLUTION
CONCERNS. The Nation;
10. SHANS TAKE PART IN THE
ANTI-POWER PLANT PROTEST
Shan Herald Agency for
News,
11. STOP FIRES BEFORE THEY TAKE HOLD. Commentary on the Politics of the Tachilek Power Plant and the Environment By Wasant Techawongtham,
12. DAM CREATES
13. KAREN
REBELS BOAST OF MARCH 5 CONQUEST: DAM
HEAD TAKEN, THREE DEAD IN RAID. Supamart Kasem,
14. SINO-THAI POWER SHARING
DEAL STRUCK. By Julia Han,
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1.
World Bank News Roundup.
Japan
may provide Myanmar (Burma) with about $23.89 million for humanitarian aid and
pave the way for full resumption of official development assistance (ODA),
which it halted in 1988, Reuters notes Jiji news agency reported yesterday. The
aid will be aimed at repairing a power plant and also to promote dialogue
between the country's military regime and pro-democracy movement leader Aung
San Suu Kyi, Jiji said.
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2. US$17 M DEBT RELIEF IN JAPANESE GOVT GRANT
From: Myanmar Times:
April 2-8,2001 Volume 3, No.57
MYANMAR has received debt
relief from the Japanese Government to the value of US$17 million following a
formal signing ceremony last week involving Deputy Minister for Finance and
Revenue, Brig-Gen Than Tun, and the Japanese Ambassador to Myanmar, Mr Shigeru
Tsumori.Mr Tsumori told the Myanmar Times his government provided such grants
to Myanmar to promote constructive economic development, and said it had
nothing to do with politics although “we, and also other countries, hope (for)
the improvement of (the) political atmosphere in Myanmar”.
The Ambassador said Myanmar
was rich in natural and human resources, and urged that they be used more
productively.Mr Tsumori also quoted Senior General Than Shwe’s Armed Forces day
speech in which he said that “without political stability, the economy can not achieve
significant growth”.“Every year, the
“We have been providing
money in some forms of grant, particularly for humanitarian assistance.“
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3. KARENNI
EVERGREEN LETTER OF CONCERN REGARDING RESUMPTION OF AID TO THE BALUCHAUNG
HYDROPOWER PLANT
Date:
Mr. Yohei Kono
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Chiyoda-ku,
Dear Sir,
Recent information that
we have received indicates that the Japanese government is considering a grant
of 3.5 billion Yen for the repair of the Baluchaung Hydroelectric Power Station
No-2 in Lawpita, Karenni state.
Most of the electricity
from the two Baluchaung hydropower stations goes directly to central
Without at all wishing to be
impolite, we would like to ask how much of the 3.5 billion Yen does the Burmese
SPDC government promise to repay as compensation to the indigenous peoples who
have been displaced from their homes in the vicinity of the Baluchaung power
stations? We would also like to know who would ensure that money for the
project is not spent on setting more landmines around the power stations.
Furthermore, who can guarantee that no more forced labour and other human
rights abuses will take place in regard to the maintenance and repair of the
power stations and related infrastructure?
On behalf of the Karenni
indigenous people, we in KARENNI EVERGREEN strongly encourage the Japanese
government to reconsider any intention to make the proposed grant. We ask that
any such assistance be granted only after receiving approval from the
indigenous people who are directly affected from the projects. We are convinced
that if the military continues holding and abusing power in the ways our people
are unfortunately very familiar with, the right time has not arrived to make
such a grant.
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4. STATEMENT OF KARENNI EVERGREEN
REGARDING THE PROPOSED JAPANESE GOVERNMENT GRANT OF 3.5 BILLION YEN TO THE SPDC
FOR THE REPAIR OF LAWPITA HYDROELECTRIC POWER STATION NO-(2) IN KARENNI.
In accordance with SPDC's request, the Japanese
government made a decision to grant 3.5 billion yen (about 24 million in US$)
for the repair of Baluchaung hydroelectric power station No-2 in
Even though the Japanese government
said that the assistance is for humanitarian aid for the poor. Indeed the
benefit will be for industrialization, heavy investment of companies as well as
for the ruling junta.
For the indigenous people in
Karenni, they had lost their farms, gardens, natural beauty, traditions and
culture, their daily life style, their freedom to travel and their security
under the thickly spread SPDC troops and landmines for both No-(1) and (2)
hydroelectric power stations. The benefits for the Karenni are very limited.
Mahtawkhu, a village that is very close to power stations has still no
electricity. Other villages around the Loikaw vicinity had electricity but with
low power. The light can't even be used by students to study.
For the recent need of repairing,
KEG strongly believes the need of mechanical repair as well as physical repair.
Long term destruction on Karenni rainforest, climatic changes and water
shortage crisis had occurred in Baluchaung. It was more serious after the
building of hydroelectric power station No-(1) in 1986. That would have adverse
effect on farmers who own farms on both banks of Baluchaung river. The right to take water for
irrigation will be refused if the water levels go down to the lower level for
two hydroelectric power stations. This has already happened in 1998-1999.
And who will ensure that the SPDC
could spend all 24 millions US$ on repairing? Will the forced labor take place
or not? How much can SPDC recover for those who had lost their home, land and
belongings?
On the other hand, security has
become a reason that SPDC tried to set its troops up and set more landmines in
the area. That will be threatening to the life-security of local indigenous
people.
That is why, if SPDC still hold its
power on Burma ruling, if democracy and nationality rights are still suppressed,
if oppression on nationality are still on going, if the assistance will benefit
only the ruling junta and not for the local indigenous people, this is not a
suitable time to give a grant for the repair of hydroelectric power station in
Karenni. We strongly encourage that any assistance that will go to
(Executive committee)
KARENNI EVERGREEN
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Anon; February 2001
According
to sources close to the Electric Power Development Corporation, the group that
carried out the feasibility study for the Ta Sang dam, since at least December
2000 bidding is underway for the contract to carry out the final stage
“Detailed Design Study” for the dam. People within the corporation allegedly
claim that EPDC is not to be the first choice of those offering the contract
for the study. Negotiations for the study bid were being held with a
non-Japanese company. There were said to be 7 or 8 other tenders. It was said
that if negotiations with the company of first choice fell through it was still
possible for EPDC’s bid to be accepted.
It is not known which other companies had bid for the study contract.
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The
Siriporn
Sailasuta, director-general of the Department of Energy Development and
Promotion, said the agency was taking up the project to find ways to fight
drought and fill up the drying Bhumbibol reservoir in Tak province.
She
said the project would not go ahead if the public was against it and
environmental impact management proved unattainable. The diversion course would liely go through
precious reserved watershed areas and forest reserves in the North.
Ms
Siriporn said every effort would be taken to avoid harming sensitive
Thai-Burmese relations.
Initiated
more than 20 years ago, the project has been under the responsibility of first
the Electricity Generating Authority and then the Irrigational Department
It
was recently passed on to the Department of Energy Development and Promotion.
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7. CHAVALIT PROPOSES TO HELP DEVELOP
Wassana Nanuam
Defence Minister Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh will push for development in
"I would like to see
our neighbouring country become prosperous at the same time as we do," Gen
Chavalit said.
"If we are developed
while our neighbour continues to live in poverty, then peace will not be
possible.
"This is a feeling
from the bottom of my heart."
He termed the
idea "cross border development".
It was
already under way, he said, pointing to the 10-billion-baht Thai project to dam
the
In an interview in the
Defence Ministry magazine, Gen Chavalit said he planned to help
The port would open
A large coal mine was also
planned, opposite Bang Saphan district of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, in
which
"If we help them
develop their country, the problems of drugs, illegal labour migration and
cross-border crime will disappear," Gen Chavalit said.
The defence minister also
said the armed forces would have to take on a diplomatic role to boost the
bilateral relationship.
"Defence diplomacy
will create good understanding and a brotherhood between military key figures
of both sides," Gen Chavalit said.
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8. The following is an
excerpt of a letter from a staff member of the International Rivers Network
dated March 2001. It is included as a small insight into the thinking of the
Chinese Government.
CHINESE PLANNING TO
DIVERT WATER TO THE NORTHWEST PART OF
....This
week, the Chinese Government are holding their National People's Congress (NPC)
and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and decree their
10th Five-year Plan. In this plan, one
of the focus is the Water diversion project from the South to the North. The government officials believe that such a
plan will solve the drought problems in Northern and
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9. PLANT FUELS POLLUTION CONCERNS
PRIME Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra yesterday expressed concern over the planned lignite power plant in
"If they are going to
use lignite, it's going to be detrimental to the environment of Chiang Rai as
well. I understand that the plant is only about five kilometres from the Thai
border," Thaksin said.
Thaksin said Thailand
would raise the issue with the Burmese government but dismissed suggestions the
incident would further strain already tense bilateral ties following
cross-border shelling between the two countries' armies over two months ago.
The premier's statement
came a day after 44 containers of equipment heading for the power plant were
ordered to return to a pier in Samut Prakarn's Pappadaeng district to be
shipped back to
Thaksin also said he was
optimistic he would be able to reach a compromise with the Burmese government
but if the power plant belonged to the Wa army, as
some locals suspect, he could not compromise on the matter
Local residents in Chiang
Rai's Mae Sai district were also up in arms yesterday over the planned power
plant. They threatened to burn the 44 containers, which were parked just
kilometres away from the Mae Sai-Tachilek border crossing. Many villagers,
still upset over cross-border shelling in their area two months ago, called on
authorities to open the containers, which they suspected of containing
precursor chemicals bound for clandestine methamphetamine drug labs belonging
to the UWSA.
Thaksin told reporters
yesterday there were no chemicals in the 44
containers but did not say how he had come to that conclusion.
He also said it was the transport company's decision to order the drivers to
return.
Veera Cheeprasert, an
executive at Praphamart Transport, the company
responsible for delivering the containers from Pappadaeng Pier to
Tachilek, told reporters yesterday that he was disappointed by the entire
episode
"A number of parties
are wondering if there will be another attempt to get the containers through
using this route. I can assure you that this won't happen. The sentiment in
government and among the public is too high," Veera said.
Pang Pholchai, a leading
environmentalist in Chiang Rai, said local
residents were stepping up their campaign against the planned
power plant and called on the government to intervene on their behalf
Thaksin on Friday ordered
that the shipment of lignite power-generation equipment be barred from crossing
at Mae Sai-Tachilek in response to
Third Army deputy commander
Maj-General Chamlong Phothong has compared the planned power plant to the one
in Lampang's Mae Moh district, where hundreds of local villagers have been
admitted to hospital over the years after being exposed to pollution generated
by the plant.
A compromise was reached
in Mae Moh after the government agreed to spend millions on a high-quality
filter to prevent acid rain.
Pang said the planned
24-megawatt Burmese plant needed to be 80 kilometres from the border to be
considered safe for Mae Sai residents. Its current location, he said, would be
too close for comfort, especially in the cold season when the wind blew from
Mae Sai resident groups
have been protesting for months, but the issue has attracted little government
interest, he said.
LAST MODIFIED: Sunday,
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10. SHANS TAKE PART IN THE ANTI-POWER PLANT PROTEST
Shan Herald Agency for News
Shans in
More than two hundred
Shans residing in Maesai District, Chiangrai Province, 250 km northeast of
Chiangmai, participated in the demonstrations against the convoy form Bangkok
transporting generators and other materials that arrived in Maesai on 19 April
for the lignite power plant 4 km across the border.
"It is not only the
Thais who fear the sulfa dioxide emissions that will pollute the environment,"
one told S.H.A.N. "Our relatives in Tachilek are not in a position to express their
opinions against the project, but we can, and we are doing this on their
behalf."
The convoy returned to
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11. POWER PLANT PART OF MAUNG AYE'S PET PROJECT, SAYS
MAESAI RESIDENT
Shan Herald Agency for News
An informed resident of
Maesai told S.H.A.N. this morning the power plant under construction in the
twin city of
The lignite power plant,
located on a 25 acre land near Ponglo Pagoda at Ban Sansai in Tachilek, is 4 km
away from the border. Its foundation was laid down by Gen Maung Aye, who, apart
from being Vice Chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council and
Commander-in-Chief of the Army, is also responsible for economic affairs, on 9
May last year.
The cost of the plant that
is expected to generate 12-megawatt of electricity is reported to be B. 250
million. The generator was purchased from Shandong Yangguang Engineering
Corporation in
Large deposits of lignite
coal to be used at the plant are located in Monghpyak and Kengtung, 78 km and
160 km respectively north of Tachilek. Both had already been surveyed by Siam
Lignite Company last year under the auspices of Maj-Gen Thein Sein, Commander
of the Triangle Region Command with headquarters in Kengtung.
Residents in Maesai,
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11. STOP FIRES BEFORE THEY TAKE HOLD
Commentary
on the Politics of the Tachilek Power Plant and the
Environment
By Wasant Techawongtham
The controversy over the shipment of power plant parts to
In any military or political incident, there are a number of
avenues and mechanisms, either bilateral or
multilateral, available for conflict resolution. Other than bilateral
discussions, there appears to be no avenue or mechanism to resolve
environmental conflicts between two countries.
When Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai visits
Short of military operations, there is nothing
Senator Panat Tasneeyanond,
a former prosecutor, says
But litigation is hardly the Asian way. Conflict avoidance
through diplomacy is still the preferred, though hardly a satisfactory, way.
Mr Panat
suggests that a channel yet to be explored is an environmental forum as part of
Asean. However, the regional grouping is more effective at talking trade than
solving any other transnational problem. Members are too reluctant to step into
the internal affairs of other members, not to mention their complete lack of
interest in environmental issues.
The fact that pollution knows no boundaries has long been
recognised, but not in this region where complacency prevailed until the haze
crisis in
Vast forest tracts in
In a clumsy response, Asean adopted an ad-hoc Regional Haze
Action Plan to deal with the fire. The plan did little to fight the fire, which
eventually was doused by rain, but at least it demonstrated that the haze had
sparked a flicker of recognition among Asean members of the threat of
trans-boundary pollution. Unfortunately, that spark died out together with the
fire two years later.
Perhaps the Mae Sai-Tachilek incident
will re-ignite that recognition. It will not be the last instance where an
action in one country causes an environmental problem that spills over into a
neighbour.
There have been such instances in the past, the impact of
which was not immediately felt or recognised. The damming of the mighty
A mechanism to resolve environmental conflicts will become
more necessary as countries in the region intensify development to meet global
competition. It will be an uphill task and it may come too late, but regional
peace may depend on it.
Wasant Techawongtham
is Deputy News Editor for Environment and Urban Affairs, Bangkok Post.
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12. DAM CREATES
Agencies via Xinhua
COX'S BAZAR,
"We are ready for a prompt and appropriate response if they pull the
trigger again or resume construction of the dam," said Colonel Shawkat
Ali, a commanding officer of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) border force.
Tension along the border in southeast
The Naf forms part of the border. Ali said
Witnesses said BDR troops have taken up position in fortified positions and
bunkers.
"We are maintaining a round-the-clock alert," Ali told reporters.
"We are ready to defend our interests along the frontier. ''
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13. DAM HEAD TAKEN, THREE DEAD IN
RAID: KAREN REBELS BOAST OF MARCH 5
CONQUEST
Supamart Kasem
A
dam construction director was abducted and three Burmese soldiers killed in a
raid by Karen National Union rebels on a construction site in Mon state on
March 5, a KNU officer said yesterday.
Mahn
Sharlaphan, general-secretary of the KNU, said the foray was carried out by
soldiers from the KNU's 6th Division led by Capt Hte Nay, Capt Sa Klae and Capt
Mahn Htun.
The
attack was on a military force protecting the dam construction site, 50km south
of
The
assault was launched shortly after
The
KNU soldiers set fire to a warehouse, destroying 120 drums of fuel and
lubricants for heavy machines, before fleeing. They took with them Tint Lwin,
the dam construction director.
Pado
Mahn Sharlaphan said the KNU soldiers were heading for a KNU stronghold
opposite Tak province where the construction director would be released.
The
officer said the raid was intended to show
However,
he said the KNU still adheres to the policy of holding ceasefire talks with
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By
Julia Han
Power
authorities from
The
Jinghong Hydropower Station in southwest
HK$9.2
billion). According to the agreement,
The
construction of the power station is to start in 2006 and the station will
begin to supply 1.5 million kilowatts of power to
The
Jinghong Hydropower Station is located in the suburb of
The
Yunnan Power Company and the
According
to Mr Yang,
Hydropower
Station in 2005, which will send 1.5 million kilowatts of electricity to the
neighbouring
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