(October 15, 2006) Myanmar absorbed a contracted foreign investment of 6.065 billion U.S. dollars in the fiscal year of 2005-06, registering the highest annual foreign investment the country has drawn since 1988, according to the latest figures released by the Central Statistical Organization (CSO).
Insist on impact assessments
(October 15, 2006) Interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has told each newly appointed minister to look into the projects initiated by the previous government and determine whether or not to proceed. In all likelihood there will be many calls for Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand to review the involvement of Egat in a joint venture with the Sinohydro Corporation, a Chinese state-run enterprise, to build a 1,000 megawatt hydroelectric dam at Hutgyi, 50 kilometres inside Burma.
Eight turbines operate well
(October 15, 2006) Eight out of the 14 giant power turbines on the Three Gorges Dam have been operating well for power generation at full capacity for three straight days, a local official said Saturday.
Two ships collide near Three Gorges Dam, 7 missing
(October 14, 2006) Two cargo ships collided upstream from the Three Gorges Dam on China’s longest Yangtze River, leaving seven sailors missing, local authorities said Saturday.
The bridge doctor
(October 14, 2006) (Article excerpt) … [Engineering professor Maria Feng and her colleagues at University of California (Irvine)] have developed sensors that monitor stress on everything from bridges and high-rise buildings to dams that are prone to damage from earthquakes. One of the devices is a fiber optic sensor that’s the size of a half dollar.
Polluters feel impact of ignoring assessment
(October 13, 2006) Eight construction projects have been blacklisted by the country’s environmental watchdog for failing to meet environment impact assessment (EIA) targets.
Three Gorges Dam turbines ready to generate power
(October 12, 2006) Fourteen power turbines on the Three Gorges Dam are ready to generate electricity, a local official said Thursday. The turbines are capable of generating power in full load once the water level in the Three Gorges reservoir reaches the 148-meter mark, which has been recorded on Monday, said Ma Zhenbo, director of the Three Gorges Power Plant in Yichang, central China’s Hubei Province.
China's investments in the Third World
China makes huge loans and donations of aid to neighboring countries for gargantuan construction projects quite often. The tradeoff is clear: poor Asian countries get roads, dams and other infrastructure.
E.U. companies guilty in aid fraud, notes Israel Rafalovich
(October 10, 2006) Three European multinationals convicted of bribery in groundbreaking Lesotho corruption trials.
Norway’s historic illegitimate debt write-off shows way for creditor nations
(October 9, 2006) Norway’s decision earlier this month to cancel some of its Third World debt claims after implicitly acknowledging them as illegitimate has inspired debt activists around the world: campaigners in the Philippines have since called on the Arroyo administration to stop paying back suspect loans incurred under former president Ferdinand Marcos, reports Alecks Pabico for Inside PCIJ (Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism).
Burma to lose out in Thai energy industry shake-up
(October 9, 2006) Thailand will not rely on Burma for gas supplies or electricity from controversial river hydro dam schemes for the country’s energy needs in the next decade, new Energy Minister Piyasvati Amranand said in Bangkok Friday.
From murky waters grow lucrative deals
(October 9, 2006) From the heights of this sprawling hillside city, the turbid, coffee-colored waters of the Jialing River, sluggish and drawn low by a once-in-a-century drought, seem an unlikely raw material for a thriving business.
China needs daily pollution fines, official says
(October 9, 2006) China should slap daily fines on firms that pump untreated waste into lakes and rivers, because current penalty limits make long-term pollution profitable, an official was quoted on Saturday as saying.
Cargo ships run aground in Yangtze River’s longest tributary
(October 8, 2006) Dozens of cargo ships loaded with coal, sand and ore have run aground on the Hanjiang River, the longest branch of the Yangtze River, due to the lowest water level for 77 years.
Vietnam hydro dams threaten Cambodian food security
A new study predicts hydro dams on the upper Srepok River in Vietnam will reduce fish stocks and make riverside agriculture impossible, with major negative impact on people’s diets and livelihoods.
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