VOA News.com

‘If all the projects go ahead, the Salween will become one of the world’s most heavily dammed river systems, with all the dislocation to people and wildlife that entails.’

Bangkok: China has reached an agreement with Thailand to fund a hydroelectric dam in Burma – the first of five such projects planned along the lower stretches of the Salween River. The dams are designed to meet rising energy needs in the three countries. But environmentalists and rights groups fear the projects will have far-reaching ecological and humanitarian effects. The Salween forms one of the last free-flowing river systems in Asia, traveling 2,800 kilometers from the mountains of Tibet to the Gulf of Martaban, which lies between Burma and Thailand. Sinohydro Corporation, China’s largest hydropower company, agreed last month to partner with Thailand’s Electricity Generating Authority, or EGAT, in building a $1 billion hydroelectric plant at Hutgyi in Burma. The Hutgyi plant, about 30 kilometers from the Thai border, is the first of five to be built along the lower Salween by the partnership, which also includes Burma. The dams will generate 10,000 megawatts of power. Thailand’s energy minister has said the projects are necessary to cut his country’s dependence on fossil fuels and lower energy costs. … EGAT and the construction company working on the dams declined to be interviewed about the project and its possible environmental and social ramifications. The Thai government has made few comments about the projects. In one report carried by the French news agency AFP, construction company officials said that some villagers had to be relocated but the company would push for their resettlement “under international standards.” Rights groups are concerned that Burma’s military is using the dams as an excuse to move minority groups living around the Salween in a bid to end their fights for independence. Some of Burma’s ethnic minorities have resisted government rule for 50 years. As a result, more than 140,000 people have been forced to refugee camps along the Thai border. … Debbie Stothardt, spokeswoman for the rights group Alternative ASEAN Network, says such projects could backfire on Thailand. “The Salween projects involves displacing tens of thousands of people out of that area just to generate electricity that can be sold to Thailand,” she said. “Thailand is the biggest beneficiary of the Salween dam project and Thailand will suffer the worst consequences as more and more displaced people flee to Thailand because they are oppressed by the military regime.” If all the projects go ahead, the Salween will become one of the world’s most heavily dammed river systems, with all the dislocation to people and wildlife that entails.