Burma Rivers Network

Statement on the International Day of Action for Rivers

 

Burma Rivers Network urges dam builders from neighboring countries to stop pushing ahead with mega dam projects on Burma’s major rivers in spite of strong local opposition.

Unprecedented releases of water from Burma’s first major hydropower dam at Moebye due to heavy rainfall have caused severe flooding around the Karenni capital, Loikaw, spurring calls by community groups to suspend construction of three large hydropower dams planned by Chinese investors in Karenni state.

Following recent heavy fighting in northern Shan State, all the planned Salween dam sites in Burma now lie directly in active conflict zones. The Salween Watch Coalition is therefore demanding an immediate halt to all plans to build dams on the Salween River in Burma.

Burma Rivers Network is calling on foreign investors to immediately stop plans to build large dams on Burma's major rivers and their tributaries, as these dams will have huge social and environmental impacts across the country, and fuel Burma’s decades-long civil war.

We are a coalition of organizations representing communities living along the Salween River in Burma and Thailand. We would like to take the opportunity of the public hearings at Mae Sam Laep and Sob Moei on the Thai-Burma border on February 8 and 9 to reiterate our strong opposition to the building of the Hatgyi Dam. The current renewed intensification of fighting in the area, the attendant human rights abuses and continued refugee flows make it clear that this project must be abandoned.