Junta Foreign Minister Than Swe visited State Power Investment Corporation Yunnan International Power Investment Co. Ltd. (SPICYN), the developer of the controversial Myitsone Dam hydropower project in Kachin State, during his visit to Yunnan Province last week. His visit included a meeting with the SPICYN chairman, junta media reported.
The meeting followed the junta’s formation of a body to evaluate hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy River in April. The body, according to the regime, will undertake research, develop technical solutions and handle public relations for Irrawaddy River projects together with the SPICYN.
The body was formed amid growing concerns that the regime was planning to revive the China-backed power project at the source of the Irrawaddy River in northern Myanmar, more than a decade after it was shelved amid a public outcry.
The regime’s move comes as the Kachin Independence Army and allied groups are advancing on Waingmaw town, which is linked to the Kachin State capital, Myitkyina, by a bridge spanning the Irrawaddy River.
Located 32 km from Myitkyina, the US$7.2-billion project with a proposed capacity of 20,000 megawatts was initiated in 2009 under the previous military regime led by Than Shwe.
The project has been stalled since a government suspension order in September 2011 under then-President Thein Sein’s administration following widespread public protests against the dam.
The protests were fueled by a variety of fears and misgivings: that the majority of the electrical power generated would go to China; that the dam’s location near a seismic fault line posed a flood risk in the event of an earthquake; that the dam would threaten the flow of the Irrawaddy River and biodiversity and livelihoods downstream; and concerns over the general lack of transparency and public consultations undertaken before the project was awarded to China.
Political observers believe the regime has yielded to China’s demand to resume the project in the hope that it will intervene and stop the coordinated assault of anti-regime forces in Kachin.
Before the project was halted, SPICYN was planning seven large dams on the Mali, N’Mai and Irrawaddy rivers with a combined capacity of 20,000 megawatts. The Myitsone Dam is the largest of the seven. SPICYN is also developing the Chipwe Nge Dam with installed capacity of 99 megawatts on the N’Mai River.
Than Swe visited the SPICYN office while attending the 8th China-South Asia Expo and 28th China (Kunming) Export and Import Fair in Kunming from July 22-24.
SPICYN chairman Wu Zhiqun presented the corporation’s ongoing projects as part of the development of the electric power sector in Myanmar, said the junta media.
Than Swe also met Ding Zongli, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress of China, while in Yunnan. The two discussed swift implementation of projects of mutual interest, junta media reported.
Power outages became a problem after the 2021 coup, affecting people from all walks of life and businesses in Myanmar. Min Aung Hlaing admitted during a cabinet meeting in August last year that current production could not even meet half of domestic demand.
He told the meeting that the country would not be experiencing power outages if suspended mega electricity projects like Myitsone Dam had been implemented. His remark caused widespread concerns over a possible resumption of the project.
Even after the coup, residents in Myitkyina and Chipwe have continued to stage protests against the dam projects on the Irrawaddy River, telling SPICYN to leave Myanmar once and for all.
