Yangon, March (15)
The Karen Rivers Watch has called for the suspension of all large-scale hydropower projects to be built on Myanmar’s rivers.
The Karen Rivers Watch issued a statement dedicated to the International Day of Action Against Dams and For Rivers, which falls on March 14.
According to the statement, large-scale hydropower projects planned for Myanmar’s rivers will have an impact on the environment and people living in the river basin.
In addition, The Karen Rivers Watch calls on the international government, United Nations agencies, investors, and individuals not to build large-scale hydropower projects on Myanmar’s rivers to preserve living rivers and ecosystems and to avoid building large-scale hydropower projects that have a negative impact on social life and the environment.
The KRW spokesperson Saw Tha Boe told Than Lwin Times that in the two years since the military coup, environmental damage has increased in Myanmar’s ethnic areas and the mechanisms to deal with it have deteriorated.
The military leader has announced that the Hatgyi Dam project on the Salween River in Karen State will be re-implemented.
The statement said that since 2014, conflict has occurred near the Hatgyi Dam project, and some local residents have been forced to flee their homes.
Currently, the local residents have lost their homes and livelihoods due to the junta army’s air and ground attacks, and they are hiding in the jungles and are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the statement said.
News-Than Lwin Times