SALWEEN WATCH UPDATE

JUNE 2001, VOL. 12.

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Contents:

1. EDITORIAL COMMENT

2. DOZENS FEARED KILLED IN MYANMAR FLASH FLOODS. Reuters: June 8

3. FLASH FLOOD DERAILS MANDALAY-MYITKYINA TRAIN, DEAD, INJURED UNKNOWN

Radio Myanmar (SPDC 0549z): June 2, 2001

4. DAM COLLAPSED, CAUSED BY HEAVY RAIN AND FLOOD

Tin Maung Htoo, Burma Media Association (BMA), June 7, 2001

5. MORE INPUTS ARE NEEDED TO POWER A HYDRO FUTURE

By Win Kyaw Oo, Myanmar Times: June 4 - 10, 2001

6. FIX ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE, OFFICIAL TELLS CONFERENCE

The Myanmar Times, 11 December 2000

7. CREATING A STIR WITH 3 BILLION YEN-- AID TO BURMA. Japan sunshine policy to promote talks: US/EU due to human rights concerns, ill-timed. Asahi Shinbun (Tokyo): 5 June 2001 (Tuesday) Page 13. (unofficial translation from Japanese original)

8. FOREIGN MINISTER TANAKA IS CAUTIOUS ON BALUCHAUNG REPAIR

PD Burma Japan, [abridged], June 14, 2001

9. JAPAN WILL GIVE $24 MILLION AID TO MYANMAR. THE INQUIRY MISSION WILL BE SENT IN MAY. Jiji Press (Japan), 5th April 2001 (unofficial translation)

10. CONTROVERSIAL MON STATE DAM FINALLY COMMISSIONED. Burma Courier: Updated to May 29

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1. EDITORIAL COMMENT

Exceptionally heavy rains in May and June have reportedly lead to the collapse of at least one of the more than 121 rapidly constructed dams and weirs the SPDC claims to have made since 1988, and may have caused weakening or near collapse of others, leading officials to release devastatingly large amounts of water quickly to prevent even more catastrophic collapse.

It is quite possible that what has been reported is the tip of a giant iceberg. A source from Rangoon, quoting a disaffected official who had been involved in rescue work following the flash flooding, told Salween Watch that 4 dams had either broken or had been forced to open floodgates to ease pressure on the faltering structures. He said that floodwaters from one of the dams carried away an entire train that was crossing a bridge in the night. The source (who cannot for safety reasons be named) said that in at least one case the flood waters were released during the night without warning to those downstream resulting in “a thousand houses” being swept away. While not admitting to the collapse of their dams, the SPDC papers admitted to the loss of the train and the destruction of a village from a dam “overflow”.

Other dams have failed in Burma in the past, reportedly with serious loss of life. A medium sized earth dam on the Ngathaing Chaung in the Irrawaddy Delta area gave way in flooding in 1997. Massive loss of life in the same year also resulted from severe flooding in the Pegu area, said to have been compounded by the breaking of a dam (name unavailable). Numbers of the dead were downplayed by the military authorities – as has happened in other major disasters such as the April 1991 cyclone that killed over 130,000 people in the region of Coxs’ Bazaar adjacent to the Arakanese border.

There are many questions to be answered in regard to the safety of the dams and the numerous problems they cause. How many of the dams made in the time of the SPDC / SLORC have actually broken? How many people have died as a result? How many of the remaining dams are structurally unsound and likely to break in future floods or earthquakes? What plans have been made, or are being made, and what steps will be taken to warn people of the dangers to avert loss of life in the future? These are just some of the many questions regarding the dams that we would like answers to but which will probably never be answered.

It is certain that there are many gruesome and worrying truths to be revealed when it comes to the dams the SPDC is so proud to have overseen the construction of. It is to be hoped that careful and timely inspection and repair of the existing dams be carried out before another disaster occurs. It is equally certain that this should be done before any other ill-conceived and poorly executed projects are commissioned into service.

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2. DOZENS FEARED KILLED IN MYANMAR FLASH FLOODS

Reuters: June 8

YANGON - Dozens of people were feared killed in central Myanmar after a dam overflowed in torrential rain and swamped nearby villages, residents and officials said on Friday.

The water level at Montine Dam, 350 miles (560 km) north of Yangon, rose seven feet (2.14 metres) in two hours on June 2, an agriculture ministry official told Reuters.

``People were caught by surprise,'' one district resident told Reuters by telephone. ``They did not have time to prepare anything when their villages were inundated by the flash floods.''

A senior official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation told Reuters lives were lost and property damaged but he declined to give details.

The official said the dam's overflow had run into the neighbouring Panlaung River and the situation had returned to normal.

``The water level at the Montine Dam suddenly rose because of the torrential rain and it overflowed the service spillway around midnight on June 2,'' said the official, who declined to be identified. He did not elaborate.

Witnesses in the area said dozens of people had been killed and many were still missing.

Last week at least 12 people were killed in northern Myanmar when a train was derailed by heavy rains and raging mountain torrents.

The early rainy season has seen unusually heavy downpours in Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh.

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3. FLASH FLOOD DERAILS MANDALAY-MYITKYINA TRAIN, DEAD, INJURED UNKNOWN

Radio Myanmar (SPDC 0549z): June 2, 2001

The 41-UP Mandalay-Myitkyina passenger train of Myanmar Railways under the Ministry of Rail Transportation departed Mandalay Railway Station at 2100 on 31 May. At about 0410 today while the train was crossing Sindaw Bridge--Bridge No 159 between Nyaung Khin and Htantabin Villages in Kanbalu Township, a flash flood occurred due to heavy rains and the engine and four passenger coaches were derailed. Immediately after the accident, Maj Gen Soe Win, chairman of Sagaing Division Peace and Development Council and commander of Northwest Military Command, supervised a group of Defense Services personnel, Red Cross Brigade members, and Health Departmental employees and have been carrying out rescue operations. Rail Transportation Minister U Pan Aung and Myanmar Railways employees, Health Minister Maj Gen Ket Sein and medical specialists, Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement Minister Maj Gen Sein Htwa, and responsible officials arrived at Mandalay International Airport by Myanmar Airways this morning and proceeded to the disaster site and have been carrying out rescue work and providing medical treatment. It has been learned that there were some casualties and injured among the passengers due to the train derailment.

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4. DAM COLLAPSED, CAUSED BY HEAVY RAIN AND FLOOD

Tin Maung Htoo, Burma Media Association (BMA), June 7, 2001

One of the irrigation dams located at the middle of Burma was reportedly collapsed due to the heavy rainfall and cataclysm, sources in Burma said. The dam called Monetie, which is between two townships, Maline and Meiktila, showed an early sign of bursting out, directing the populace place of Meiktila, but the authority changed different direction, said sources. With the new direction, a village near the dam was taken away from its original location and serious damage and death were occurred in the Shawpin village and estimated between 50 to 300 lives.

But the government news agency did not confirm yet the occurrence and the number of death. It is also reported that the surrounding places, especially Wintwin Township are affected in terms of heavy rain and flash flood.

This is the second tragedy occurred within a week in Burma. The first accidence was the Mandalay-Myitkyina passenger train that derailed at Sindaw Bridge on June 2. It is reported that over a hundred lives dead although the government did not confirmed the exact number and said to be still looking for the missing bodies in the Sindaw river.

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5. MORE INPUTS ARE NEEDED TO POWER A HYDRO FUTURE

By Win Kyaw Oo, Myanmar Times: June 4 - 10, 2001

THE hydroelectric industry is "in need of inputs like development machinery, human resources and financial resources including hard currency" to realise more than 10 planned projects aimed at generating an additional 2000 megawatt over the next five years, according to Myanma Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE) deputy chief engineer U Win Kyaw.

Myanmar is endowed with potentially vast hydropower resources, with technology and financial resources for 12 plants currently under construction being provided by the state. According to preliminary studies, hydropower resources identified to date are about 37,000 MW, of which about 25,000 MW will be large scale production. With enhanced participation by the private sector, the potential also exists for the export of surplus power.

Sr. No.	Power Plant	Location		Capacity (MW)	Energy (GWh)
1	Thaphanseik	Sagaing		30	117
2	Paunglaung	Mandalay		280	911
3	Mone-chaung	Chin		75	330
4	Yeywa	Mandalay		700	3316
5	Kunchaung	Bago		60	190
6	Yenwe	Bago		25	123
7	Khabaung	Bago		30	125
8	Phyuchaung	Bago		65	260
9	Shwekyin	Bago		120	400
10	Bawgata	Bago		160	500
11	Thaukyekhat	Kayin		150	780
12	Shweli	Northern Shan		300	2090
MW = Megawatt.			GWh = Gigawatt-hour

For the time being, there are seven hydropower stations supplying power for both domestic and industrial use. Out of the 870 MW in supply, 327 MW is hydropower and the rest is of power generation by gas, oil and coal combined.

Hydropower supply depends on the availability of rainfall. The plants currently generating hydropower are Beluchaung-1 and -2, Kintar, Sedawgyi, Zawgyi-1 and -2, and Zaungtu.

Although the electricity tariff is metered at different rates for different consumption categories – K0.5 per kilo watt hour (kWh), K10/kWh and K25/kWh – the average payment to MEPE is at K5.5/kWh. "If we increase the present tariff rate, there will be other side-effects like that the prices of consumer goods will rise because of a conditional increment in their production costs," he said.

The electric power sector is the most highly subsidised of all those supported by the government, including the telecom sector. But the need in the industry now is for finance and expertise. The supply and installation of machinery is the most expensive overhead in the development of a new plant – on average US$0.5m to $0.8m to generate one MW. It is perhaps for that reason that in Myanmar the development of the hydropower sector has lagged behind other infrastructure development like the construction of roads and bridges. "Such developments do not need much foreign exchange," U Win Kyaw said.

At present, financial contributions to power projects comes in the form of aid grants and soft loans from countries like Japan and China. Local developers are invited to participate wherever possible, for instance in the construction of dams, access roads to power plants, office buildings and so on. "The formation of a power-development consortium of local investors and MEPE is now under discussion," U Win Kyaw told Myanmar Times.

In a case such as that of the Yeywa plant in Mandalay division, which has the capacity to generate 700 MW, such developments as construction of access roads and preparation of tender documents – to involve the private sector in the supply of required materials and equipment – have been undertaken in consultation with a European firm [emphasis added – SW].

In the distribution of power, there are some technical losses from the grid. There are several mitigating factors in this regard, including the size and length of transmission lines. Apart from such technical loss, there exist non-technical losses related to human error and opportunism, as is experienced in other developing countries; incorrect reading of units consumed and the illegal sourcing of electricity direct from transmission lines. In Thailand and Malaysia, technical and non-technical losses combined account for the loss of 12-15 per cent of output. In Japan, the figure is six - seven per cent. "As part of the measures to overcome such losses, MEPE has campaigned to replace old unit meters with new ones, phase by phase," U Win Kyaw said.

According to a paper prepared by a Japanese expert, who declined to be named, issues facing the sector included generation capacity, circuits in main high voltage transmission lines and distribution facilities in urban areas. The development issues to be addressed, according to the paper, included the limited availability of capital funds, the financial viability of foreign investments, poor access and security constraints, and agreements on the use of water resources.

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6. FIX ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE, OFFICIAL TELLS CONFERENCE

The Myanmar Times, 11 December 2000

Myanmar is one of many Asian countries relying on energy systems improvement to enhance economic growth. The development issues which will need to be addressed for that to happen were canvassed at a government seminar run jointly with a Japanese research organization in Yangon earlier this month. The seminar, organized by the Office of Strategic Studies (OSS) of the Ministry of Defence and Japan's Association for Communication of Transcultural Study (ACT), considered how Myanmar could utilize its abundant renewable and non-renewable energy resources and how Japan could assist development in both that, and the information technology sectors. "For the better development of Myanmar, it should create greater integration into in-depth relations with neighbouring countries, the region, and rest of the world," Mr Fuse Kazuo, of Japan's Electric Power Development Corporation, told the seminar.

And he said that power consumers would be willing to pay more to have access to improved electricity supplies. Electricity tariffs here fall into a number of different categories: general residential consumers; government organizations, public servants and pensioners; and commercial and industrial consumers. But half of the total electricity supplied annually is used by consumers who use no more than 200 kW per hour per month and who therefore are entitled to pay at a rate of 0.5kyat per kW. A survey conducted by a local market research group, the results of which were discussed at the seminar, found that consumers would be willing to pay an unregulated market price for uninterrupted power supplies. "0.5 kyat per kWh is very low," Mr Kazuo said. "The rate should be consistent with the willingness of consumers to pay, if the power supply is reliable and continuous."

But a government official, Dr Thein Tun, said the existing policy was that the affordability of power for consumers should be a key consideration in calculating charges. And he suggested that infrastructural problems were more deserving of attention. "As the distribution facilities are very old, one-third of the total power generated is wasted due to technical loss," Dr Thein Tun said. "And frequent power outage is weakening the country's economic activities." It is important to upgrade the present distribution lines, and to extend the grids to connect cross-border grids of neighbouring countries. Myanmar should be armed with a vision to export power. "Some local entrepreneurs have been running power supply businesses, deploying diesel generators to towns including Muse, Kawthaung and Myeik. Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE) has developed 34 mini and medium hydroelectric power projects with generating capacities ranging from 24kW to 5000kW. Most are located in the northern and eastern parts of the country.

To cope with very low electrification rates in rural areas, the Department of Electric Power and MEPE have installed diesel power generators in remote countryside. As of this year, a total of 224 sets of generators have been installed in 161 villages with a total capacity of 8.367 MW. At present, 63 per cent of the electricity supply is coming from gas based generation followed by 21.27 per cent from Hydro, 14.49 per cent from thermal and 1.24 per cent from diesel. Even though Myanmar has abundant potential for hydroelectricity, the installed hydropower capacity is only 360.32 MW, constituting 31 per cent of the total installed power capacity. The power generated from hydro plants for 1999-2000 has been 959.46m kWh accounting for about 21 per cent of the total generated. "There have been delays in the exploitation of hydropower reserves because of the high capital investment requirement," Dr Thein Tun said.

The total energy consumption during 1988-89 in Myanmar was 69,160 thousand barrels oil equivalent (KBOE), and increased up to 91,887 KBOE in the last fiscal year. The average annual growth rate has been in the order of 2.64 per cent. "Compared to our neighbouring countries like Thailand or Malaysia, it is still very low," said Dr Thein Tun. Increased availability of alternative commercial energies like gas would have a positive impact on energy sufficiency. Natural gas supply has jumped significantly from 6463 KBOE in 1988-89 to 9567 KBOE in 1999-2000 with an average annual growth rate of 4.3pc. Crude Oil consumption also increased from 4299 KBOE in 1988-89 to 20,599 KBOE in 1999-2000, an average annual growth rate of 15.43 per cent. For gasoline, the growth has initially been about 10pc per year, and lately has increased to an average 23 per cent per year. In the natural gas sector consumption has been steadily growing about 10 per cent per year depending mainly on the availability of new supplies.

One breakthrough in the government's policy has been the granting of allowance for multinational companies to explore and produce petroleum in the country, on a production share basis with the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). Currently both onshore and offshore contracts are active, with results in discoveries of new oil and gas reserves. They include, onshore, Aphyauk Gas Field, Kyaukkwet Oil Field and Nyaungdon Gas Field and, offshore, Yadana, Sein and Padamya Gas Fields and the Yetagun Gas Field. "Myanmar should develop combined cycle power plants with the use of gas also," said one Japanese official at the seminar. Biomass energy demand and supply was almost stable over the 10 years to 1998, but has declined noticeably following the introduction of differential tariffs in that year.

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7. CREATING A STIR WITH 3 BILLION YEN-- AID TO BURMA

Japan sunshine policy to promote talks: US/EU due to human rights concerns, ill-timed

Asahi Shinbun (Tokyo): 5 June 2001 (Tuesday) Page 13.

[Unofficial Translation from Japanese original]

The aid Japan has promised to Myanmar (Burma) is creating a stir. Though aimed at promoting the talks between the democracy movement leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the military regime, which began last October, in the west, where more concern is placed on the human rights problems under the military regime, ill-timed is the stronger impression. UN Special Envoy Razali, a go-between in the talks, was visiting again in Myanmar until the 4th to confirm the current status of the talks.

In April, Japan promised to the deputy foreign minister visiting Japan, to give 3-3.5 billion yen in grant aid to repair the aging Baluchaung Hydropower Plant. As Myanmar electricity shortage is severe, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) came to the conclusion that if the hydropower plant ceases functioning, it will impact the lives of approximately 20% of the population.

A MOFA official said, we are aware that there are differing opinions in the international community, but in order to promote the talks, Japan will use a sunshine policy. This is perhaps a rare case of strategic aid. The grant will be divided up over several years, so that if the situation worsens, stopping it would be possible.

Since the political changes in 1988, Japan assistance to Myanmar has essentially stopped. In 1995, cooperation was expanded to continuing projects and things concerning basic needs, to include support for expansion of a nursing college (1.6 billion yen) and repair of the Yangon International Airport (approx. 2.5 billion yen).

It appears that Japanese aid, which comprises 60% of the aid Myanmar receives, backs up Japanese industries, as well as provides a check on the no-interest loans, provision of weapons, and military training which have been provided by China.

Regarding the scale and delicate timing of this controversial aid from Japan, and considering that there have been no confirmed results from the talks, the west has cautioned that to invest in this regime at this time is not appropriate (Secretary of State Powell). The International Labor Organization (ILO) also called for member countries to implement sanctions due to forced labor and other human rights abuses. Domestically, movement has been seen by RENGO and others calling on the foreign ministry to review its aid.

Associate Professor Kei Nemoto of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies points out that if Burma military budget, which comprises half the national budget, were used, it would be sufficient to repair the dam. But the current electricity shortages are a reality. If this grant is to be implemented, it is imperative that Japan prepare to dispatch staff by themselves or from an international organization to monitor the situation for forced labor.

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8. FOREIGN MINISTER TANAKA IS CAUTIOUS ON BALUCHAUNG REPAIR

PD Burma Japan, [Abridged] June 14, 2001

In a reply to Diet member Mizuho Fukushima (Social Democratic Party) at the session of the House of Councilors legal affairs committee on June 11, Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka showed a cautious posture with respect to grant aid for the controversial Baluchaung hydroelectric power station.

Fukushima, referring to American government criticism of Japan’s support to Burma in the timing of aid, and the decision of the ILO requesting sanctions on Burma by members countries, asked Tanaka to show the relation between the four principles of Japan’s Overseas Development Aid (ODA) charter and the grant aid to the military government.

Tanaka responded that the Japanese government is trying to help basic life of Burmese people directly, but she recognizing what Fukushima pointed out. The minister added that she wants to gather information to examine from different channels and not only from Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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9. JAPAN WILL GIVE $24 MILLION AID TO MYANMAR. THE INQUIRY MISSION WILL BE SENT IN MAY

Jiji Press (Japan), 5th April 2001 (unofficial translation)

It is revealed on 4th April that the Japanese government is to provide aid for repairing an old power plant in Myanmar. It will be executed within the year and total 3.0 billion yen to 3.5 billion yen. ($24 million to $28 million.) It will be the largest aid since the beginning of Japanese sanction against the country in 1988. Japan wants to use the aid to support a move towards national reconciliation, that is, resumption of the "political dialogue" between the junta and opposition groups led by Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi.

[Translator's Note: The plant mentioned here is the Baluchaung hydroelectric power plants in Kayah State. It was built in 1960 by Japanese war compensation for Burma. In 1981 and 1986 Japan gave yen loans for a Baluchaung related project. In 1981, 16 billion yen was funded for the first plant, and in 1986, 3.53 billion yen for repair work of the second plant.]

The Japan Times covered the issue on 14th February 2001 in an article 'Japan readies fresh ODA for Myanmar.' According to it, A Japanese government sources said, "Japan will carefully consider the timing of any ODA for the Baluchaung power project while keeping a close watch on political

developments in Burma and on international circumstances surrounding the Southeast Asian country."

Jiji's report shows that Japanese government has stepped up its procedure to the aid. It is said that Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also deeply involved in the decision making process.

The issue once appeared four months ago on Sankei Shimbun, a Japanese rightist opinion paper. It reported on 18th December that JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency; a governmental aid agency) sent an inquiry mission to Burma in January 2000. It stayed for three months and researched the Baluchaung power plants.

The mission report urged the necessity of emergency repair works, and if not, it said "the power plants will not work properly in the near future." Japan was trying to provide the money with SPDC as a humanitarian aid, however the project had been stopped in the face of the political deadlock

in Burma, the article said.

Interestingly, Sankei reported that the repair project was estimated by the Yugoslavia government at $33 million in the last year. The government would finance the money, and "a source said that Yugoslavia and SPDC reached the basic agreement on the aid in the beginning of December."

Sankei, well known as its extremely hostile attitude to China, also expressed anxiety that Chinese government would give financial support for Yugoslavia by using Japanese ODA money to China, since Yugoslavia didn't able seem to afford to the whole aid money by itself.

It's not sure if China will provide the money with Burma through Yugoslavia. It seems to reflect, however, concern among anti-Chinese Japanese policy makers, for some Japanese government officials and MPs have been very sensitive to China's growing influence to Burma. A part of Japan's

involvement in Burma, such as the meeting of Japan's support for Burma's economic structural reform held last December, has been done for the purpose of lessening China's influence to Burma.

The Sankei's article ended with nationalistic antagonism against China, "if Japan ignores the situation, it is possible that hydroelectric plants build by Japanese money will raise another nation's flag, and the result of Japanese aid project will be snatched [by China]."

Anyway, it is clear that Japanese government is heading for the first fresh aid to the junta since 1998. At that time, they justified the aid for upgrading the runway at Rangoon's Mingaladon airport as a kind of 'humanitarian' aid, which secured the safety of passengers. Ironically, All Nippon Airways (ANA) pulled out of Burma in March 2000. And now there are no direct flights between Rangoon and Kansai or Narita.

Now Japanese government uses the same maneuver as in 1998. It calls the aid for Baluchaung repairing project as a 'humanitarian' aid, and also says that the aid will stimulate a move for "political dialogue" between NLD and SPDC, whose exact content is still unpublicized. Nobody knows where the "dialogue" goes, so the international community watches the current situation with cautious optimism, for example EU still holds the sanction policy. ILO sanction is still on because of SPDC's

complete failure to tackle forced labor problems. In addition, there're still a lot of problems in the border area, number of refugees and IDPs has increased to fleeing from SPDC's offensive against

ethnic forces, killing, rape, forced labor, forced relocation, or other serious human rights abuses.

Considering these problems, it is hardly impossible to say that SPDC is heading for true national reconciliation. It is policies and concrete activities of the junta that make 'humanitarian' assistance necessary to the people inside and outside Burma. Japanese government must review the project-oriented involvement in Burma with plentiful evidences of SPDC's failure to tackle almost all kinds of problems in Burma, and urge the junta to stop human rights abuses against its people and, first of all, to release all political prisoners, including Daw Suu Kyi.

(By Tetsu Hakoda)

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10. CONTROVERSIAL MON STATE DAM FINALLY COMMISSIONED

Burma Courier: Updated to May 29

Based on news from New Light of Myanmar and Independent Mon News Agency:

MAWLAMYAING - A controversy-plagued dam, whose inauguration was twice postponed for security reasons, was finally commissioned into operation in southern Mudon township last Saturday by the military council's Gen Khin Nyunt.

An earlier opening scheduled for March 14 had to be postponed, a Mon news agency reported this week, after a guerrilla force of the Karen National Liberation Army staged a lightning raid against the facility on the night of Mar 5-6. During the attack several Burma army soldiers assigned to guard the construction area, including an officer, were killed and equipment and fuel oil at the construction site were destroyed.

In an interview at the time, Padoh Mahn Sha of the Karen National Union claimed that nine hundred labourers in a nearby construction camp, who had been forced to work on the facility, had been released during the operation and that the engineer in charge of the project, U Tin Lwin, had been captured and was being held for exchange purposes.

Last year, the Mon Human Rights Committee reported that 2,000 acres of land used for rubber tree plantations by farmers from three nearby villages had been confiscated without compensation during preparations for the construction. Farmers who lost their income had been forced to migrate to Thailand, the MHRC said.

The opening ceremony on May 26 was marked by the first public appearance of the new commander of the Southeast Military Command, Brig-Gen Myint Swe. It only occurred after a second postponement from May 15 for "security reasons" , the IMNA reported. The Mon news agency said that villagers who were unable to attend the grand opening had been fined from 100-500 kyats for missing the occasion. The IMNA cited the example of the headman from Kao Payan who had been forced to sign a contract guaranteeing the attendance of three hundred persons from his village.

In his speech at the inauguration ceremony, Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt told the crowd of 16,000 that Senior General Than Shwe had given guidance to the nation that arrangements were to be made for "value-added water and land". He said that in building dams such as Winphanon the government was aiming "to benefit the local people without taking economic profits into account" and reminded them that the value of land in the area of the dam was already rising. The general also warned the people to "safeguard" the new structure.

Water from reservoir behind the 178 foot-high earthen dam will be used irrigate 13,000 acres of farm land.

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