• Burmese
Friday, June 20, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Kyaukphyu Residents Talk Downsides of Development

Moe Myint by Moe Myint
July 8, 2015
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
Kyaukphyu Residents Talk Downsides of Development

The Shwe gas pipelines run from an offshore site in the Bay of Bengal to Kyaukphyu in Burma’s Arakan State and eventually on to China. (Photo: Ko Soe / The Irrawaddy)

2.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — Residents from about 60 villages have gathered in Kyaukphyu, Arakan State, this week to discuss challenges facing the coastal township, with a planned special economic zone (SEZ), electrification of the region and compensation for damaged farmlands among the issues discussed.

The two-day conference convened on Tuesday at a monastery in Liekhamaw village, near the site of the contentious Shwe oil and gas pipelines project, and is being attended by more than 100 people, according to Tun Lwin, who helped organize the meet-up and serves as coordinator of the Kyuakphyu Social Network.

Tun Lwin said the Shwe project, rural development activities and errors revealed in recently released lists of eligible voters in the township were also discussed by participants.

RelatedPosts

Paranoid Junta Turns to Foreign Expertise After 4 Years of Chaos; and More

Paranoid Junta Turns to Foreign Expertise After 4 Years of Chaos; and More

May 10, 2025
1.6k
Naypyitaw Parliament Crumbles as Myanmar Junta’s Grand Ambitions Collapse 

Naypyitaw Parliament Crumbles as Myanmar Junta’s Grand Ambitions Collapse 

April 24, 2025
1.4k
Plundering Paradise: China’s Role in Myanmar’s Environmental Crisis

Plundering Paradise: China’s Role in Myanmar’s Environmental Crisis

January 24, 2025
1.7k

Conference attendees on Wednesday hope to reach a consensus position on the issues and plan to send a document outlining their views to the management committee of the Kyaukphyu SEZ.

Announcement of a tender winner to develop the site has been delayed for months amid local complaints about a lack of transparency from officials evaluating potential bidders.

Tun Kyi, secretary general of the Association for Rural Development in Kyaukphyu, said some Kyaukphyu residents impacted by the construction of a deep-sea port and related infrastructure on Maday island were still waiting to receive compensation after their farmlands were damaged by the project. About 115 acres of despoiled farmland remain uncompensated, he said.

“I told the other villagers at the meeting about what we Maday island villagers have faced with this government development project,” Tun Kyi said.

Kyaukphyu resident Htun Htun Naing told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that only 24 villages in the district were supplied with electricity while more than 240 villages remained off the grid. The lack of electrification is a contentious issue for residents of Kyaukphyu, which is the terrestrial starting point of the dual Shwe pipelines that have served to supply China with oil and gas while providing few benefits for local populations.

Township electrical engineer Zaw Zaw put the number of on-grid villages slightly higher, at 26, but acknowledged that the vast majority of villages were without electricity. He said inadequate road links were the biggest obstacle to further electrification.

Local resentment for development projects has long simmered in Kyaukphyu, where the South Korean firm Daewoo began work on the 500-mile Shwe pipelines in 2010. The SEZ has proven the latest potential flashpoint, with a planned coal power plant for the development in activists’ sights.

On May 6, Arakan State Chief Minister Maung Maung Ohn promised locals at a Kyaukphyu town hall meeting that their concerns would be heard.

“The plant will not be built if the local people are against it,” he said. “No plans will be carried out without local people’s approval. The people have to decide whether to accept it or not and decide if it is beneficial to them.”

The Shwe gas project, meanwhile, is one of Burma’s biggest and most controversial developments, comprising parallel gas and oil pipelines that connect the Bay of Bengal with Yunnan province in China.

Daewoo owns a 51 percent share in offshore gas extraction and sales for the project, as per a 2000 agreement with state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).

Your Thoughts …
Tags: A_FactivaDevelopmentNatural Resources
Moe Myint

Moe Myint

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

It’s Time to Engage The Resistance Govt in Myanmar’s Rakhine
Guest Column

It’s Time to Engage The Resistance Govt in Myanmar’s Rakhine

by Mra Thida
March 29, 2024
2.8k

The junta’s loss of control over much of Myanmar’s westernmost state has made the United League of Arakan the most...

Read moreDetails
Plundering Paradise: China’s Role in Myanmar’s Environmental Crisis
Guest Column

Plundering Paradise: China’s Role in Myanmar’s Environmental Crisis

by Vaishali Basu Sharma
January 24, 2025
1.7k

China’s aggressive resource extraction in Myanmar is leaving a trail of environmental destruction and debt dependency in its wake, warns...

Read moreDetails
Inspiring Women of Burma  
Burma

Inspiring Women of Burma  

by The Irrawaddy
March 18, 2016
33.5k

The contributions of some of Burma’s leading female figures are highlighted in the final part of a series that ran...

Read moreDetails
Paranoid Junta Turns to Foreign Expertise After 4 Years of Chaos; and More
Junta Watch

Paranoid Junta Turns to Foreign Expertise After 4 Years of Chaos; and More

by The Irrawaddy
May 10, 2025
1.6k

Also this week, regime boss Min Aung Hlaing joined his main allies in Moscow as his regime bombed resistance-held territory...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Power Shortage Leaves Millions at Mercy of Searing Summer
Features

Myanmar Power Shortage Leaves Millions at Mercy of Searing Summer

by Yuzana
May 8, 2023
6.8k

Electricity and water outages menace households and entrepreneurs as country slides further into chaos under military rule.    

Read moreDetails
Naypyitaw Parliament Crumbles as Myanmar Junta’s Grand Ambitions Collapse 
Burma

Naypyitaw Parliament Crumbles as Myanmar Junta’s Grand Ambitions Collapse 

by Lin Thurein Kyaw
April 24, 2025
1.4k

Built by regime cronies just two decades ago as a monument to military rule, the Parliament complex failed to withstand...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Over 100 Muslims Linked to Arakan Violence Released

Over 100 Muslims Linked to Arakan Violence Released

‘Elections Are the End of the Beginning’

‘Elections Are the End of the Beginning’

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

7 days ago
1.7k
Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

7 days ago
1.8k

Most Read

  • Global Campaign Reaches Goal to Honor Aung San Suu Kyi on Her 80th Birthday

    Global Campaign Reaches Goal to Honor Aung San Suu Kyi on Her 80th Birthday

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Thai PM Faces Growing Calls to Quit in Cambodia Phone Row

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Bago Resistance Claims 20 Myanmar Junta Personnel Killed

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Mon Groups Vow to Boost Attacks on Myanmar junta

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.