The Shan States has the Nam Keio ( Irrawaddy ) as its western boundary, and the Nam Khong (Mekhong) as its eastern boundary. From the eastern part of the Tibetan plateau flows the rapid flowing Nam Khone (Salawin). Legend has it that the Nam Kieo has a great green dragon living in it and a white dragon in the Nam Khone. These two dragons dislike each other so much that evil befalls anyone just mentioning the name of the opponent dragon while traveling in either river.
Seen from the air, the Namkhone snakes its tortuous course through impenetrable jungle like a silvery streak. During the rainy season, due to flash floods in its numerous tributaries, the river is swollen and dangerous. I saw a Yamaha motor-cycle and a Hino truck being carried away and disappearing downstream.
It courses primarily through western China (Yunan), and then enters Northern Shan States at a little town called Hpawng Seng. This Great River , the Jugular Vein of Ethnic minorities, passes through the Shan States, The Kareni States, the Karen State and Mon state and finally entering the Gulf of Martaban at Moulmein- traveling a distance of 2,800 Km .
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) plans to build five controversial Salaween Hydropower Dams in a joint venture with Burma ’s military junta. Their ideas are to generate electricity at the lowest cost without taking into consideration the social, economic, cultural, historical, political and environmental impact on innocent ethnic people living on either side of the river.
Strong protesters were made by ethnic groups, NGOs and environmentalists but all efforts seem to fall on deaf ears. There is bound to be an adverse impact on local communities and the ecological system (flora and fauna, fishes). The ILO has recently condemned the SPDC for using forced labor and convict labor for road construction, gas pipe construction and dam building projects. These projects could lead to forced relocation of ethnic peoples living along the Salaween’s banks.
A viable and creditable alternative for improving and developing the lives of peace-loving ethnic minorities would be to make the Salaween navigable up to Kunlong for small revering craft. Why not divert the headwaters of the Irrawaddy to India , where water is scarce. The greedy generals can then fill their coffer with dollars.
Even if the whole world protest against the building for controversial dams, if we know the SPDC mindset, they will just spurn any offer of assistance and arrogantly defy it and continue nonchalantly with their agenda since they are superstitious. We only have to imagine a way to counter this mentality.
Before any project of such magnitude is carried out, Green Peace activists and environmental scientists should make a detailed assessment on the impact of the lives of tens of thousands of innocent ethnic villagers. Common sense dictates that prevention is better than cure. Any leap forward should take into consideration the active involvement of local communities. It must ensure no-violation of basic rights by being transparent and take account for it actions.
We note with worry the agreement signed between the Thai Energy Minister and The SPDC Ministry of Electric power in May 2005 and another MOU between EGAT and SPDC Hydropower Department in December 2005. It is foolishness to belittle the on going Ethnic Strife in both countries. These Salaween dam projects may not only inflame local opinion and but my also be a hindrance to reconciliation in the long term.
WWF statistic shows that out of 140 kinds of fish, 50 are of the rare species. To sum up, the economic impact on the poverty stricken indigenous groups is enormous, driving them more deeply into servitude. From the social point of views, there’ll be creation of more IDPs, porterage, forced labour, increased SPDC troops and more human rights abuse.
Environmental Impact, destruction of flora and fauna, virgin forest is eventually leading to desertification. Climate change flooding during rainy season with soil erosion. The balance of nature will turn topsy-turvy. Old relics, ancient monuments will disappear and cultural heritage for future generation will evaporate.
Khunsarm, senior Shan politician
Shan Government
6/5/2007
WWF says Myanmar hydro project will destroy Asia's Salween River
The Associated Press - Published: April 12, 2007
BANGKOK, Thailand: Tens of thousands of villagers could be displaced and a fragile ecosystem destroyed by a hydropower project on northeastern Myanmar's Salween River, an international conservation group said Thursday.
Construction began earlier this year on the Ta Sang hydropower plant, which includes a dam, in a joint venture between Myanmar's government and Thai power producer MDX Group.
It is unclear when it will be finished.
WWF claims damming the Salween, one of Southeast Asia's last untamed rivers, will "displace and negatively impact upon tens of thousands of poor and marginalized people from ethnic minorities in that country."
"The Salween is the only free-flowing river linking the Himalayan glaciers to the coastline of the Andaman Sea," said a statement from Robert Mather of the WWF's Living Mekong Program.
"We are destroying the Salween before we even know what we're losing," Mather said. "From what little we do know about its large number of endemic fish species and abundance of freshwater turtles, we can conclude it is likely to be globally exceptional. "
A Myanmar government spokesman, Ye Htut, said the dam site is in a remote area and "very few people will need to be relocated for the hydro project."
"The Myanmar government will use every means to limit (the) environmental effect," he said by e-mail. "But we should not forget that industrialized countries have caused more damage to the environment then developing countries and have given very little assistance to environmental conservation works in developing countries."
A spokesman for MDX could not be immediately reached for comment.
Local environmental groups have said damming the Salween, called the Thanlwin in Myanmar, would degrade one of the area — a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The government and DMX in April 2006 signed a US$6 billion (€5 billion) agreement to build the 7,110-megawatt plant about 480 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon.
Most electricity from the project will be sold to neighboring Thailand. Myanmar, which faces constant power shortages, will get an unspecified amount of free electricity.
The dam projects is one of several planned on the Salween over the next 15 years.
Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding this month with two Chinese firms to build a second hydropower plant on the river. It is unclear when construction would start.
WWF and other groups have urged Thailand to better manage its energy needs and invest in wind and biomass projects within its borders, rather than hydropower.
"It seems more reasonable for Thailand to rely on its own reserves of natural gas for energy security, than to be dependent on imports of electricity from a neighboring country with a high degree of political uncertainty, " Kraisak Choonavan, a former Thai senator, said in a statement.
Military-ruled Myanmar has drawn international criticism for stifling democracy and its poor human rights record. It has also long faced insurgencies among ethnic groups.
http://www.iht. com/articles/ ap/2007/04/ 12/asia/AS- GEN-Myanmar- Dam-Controversy. php
