Kachin activists are promising a fierce fight over the future of the suspended Myitsone dam project, with one prominent spokesperson threatening a fight “to the death” if the incoming government allowed the project to go ahead.
President U Thein Sein won plaudits for announcing the suspension of the controversial project in 2011, but that injunction will last only until his five-year presidency ends next March.
Yesterday, the chair of the Kachin State Democracy Party, U Tu Ja, said cancelling the project entirely should be the first priority for the incoming government.
Local people have complained of land-grabs and environmental hazards they say are associated with the project, considerations which apparently prompted the president’s decision.
U Tu Ja said, “The incoming government was elected by the people. A democratic government does not allow projects the people don’t like. If they allow the Myitsone project to resume, we will resist to the death.”
The US$2 billion hydroelectric project is jointly run by Myanmar Economic Holdings and the state-owned CPI Yunnan International Power Investment Company, with profits to be shared with the Myanmar government.
“The president’s suspension was temporary. That’s why we will focus on stopping this project once and for all. I say to the new government, forget about other countries. Put your own citizens first,” said U Tu Ja.
He also said the party’s representatives newly elected to the state hluttaw would advocate action over families displaced by fighting and receipts to the state budget from natural resources.
The KSDP won one Pyithu Hluttaw seat and three state hluttaw seats.
In her rally in Kachin State in October, National League for Democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said that if her party formed the next government, which it now will, it would have to look into the contract governing the project.
In a post-election interview with the Xinhua news agency, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said she welcomed foreign investment, including from China, and she looked forward to friendly relations with Myanmar’s huge northern neighbour.
Translation by Kyawt Darly Lin
