• Burmese
Friday, July 11, 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

Namtu River Villagers Urge Foreign Firms to Cancel Participation in Dams

Nyein Nyein by Nyein Nyein
February 11, 2019
in News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
A map showing the proposed dams on the Namtu River that local residents oppose. / Shan State Rivers / Facebook

A map showing the proposed dams on the Namtu River that local residents oppose. / Shan State Rivers / Facebook

7k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Local residents along the Namtu (or Myitnge) River in northern Shan State are urging all foreign companies involved in dam projects on the river to follow the decision of Engie, the French company that pulled out of the Upper Yeywa Dam project.

Nang Lao Kham, a resident of Ta Long village, which would be directly affected if the Upper Yeywa Dam is built, said in a Feb. 11 statement from Action for Shan State Rivers that the Engie company’s withdrawal is “a great victory” for the local residents, who fear being submerged if the dam is built.

On the Namtu River, since the early 2010s the government has planned four dams with combined capacity of 1,200 megawatts: the Deedok dam in Kyaukse Township in Mandalay Region, and the Middle Yeywa Dam, the Upper Yeywa Dam and the Namtu Dam in northern Shan State’s Nawngkhio, Kyaukmae and Namtu townships, respectively.

RelatedPosts

Mekong River Body Detects Heavy Metal Contamination

Mekong River Body Detects Heavy Metal Contamination

July 7, 2025
517
Myanmar, Thailand Ramp Up Cooperation on Border Issues

Myanmar, Thailand Ramp Up Cooperation on Border Issues

July 4, 2025
1.6k
Residents of Myanmar Ruby Hub Speak Out as TNLA Mining Takes Toll

Residents of Myanmar Ruby Hub Speak Out as TNLA Mining Takes Toll

June 20, 2025
1.7k

According to local residents, public consultations for the Middle Yeywa Dam, site clearing for the Upper Yeywa Dam and road building for the Namtu Dam started last year.

The locals called for the withdrawal of the foreign companies’ investment in the dam projects in October. The villagers from the areas delivered a written appeal on Dec. 5 to several foreign embassies in Yangon—including those of China, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, and Norway—asking them to stop involvement in all four planned dams on the Namtu River.

Engie was included in the Burma Campaign U.K.’s “Dirty List” of companies linked to human rights violations in Myanmar in December  but, according to BCUK, the company asked to have their name removed from the list due to concerns of reputation risk, and said their subsidiary—the Germany company Lahmeyer—was no longer involved in the Upper Yeywa Dam project.

Sai Thum Ai, a spokesman for Action for Shan State Rivers, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that they hoped the government will listen to the concerns of local residents, who also sent a letter to President U Win Myint calling for a halt to the dam project.

“We would like the president to listen to the people’s voices. And the politicians also should do outreach to the communities and wards. We want genuine peace, not total investment, as the residents of these areas would have to relocate and could become displaced,” he said.

He said the villagers had already said no to building dams, but “they told us that the compensation and relocations would not be less than Paung Laung dam projects [some 40 km east of Pyinmana Township near Naypyitaw],” he said, referring to a completed dam which joined the national grid in late 2015.

“At that time the villagers near Paung Laung were given 1 million kyats for an acre of land, but look at their lives now,” the spokesman said, adding, “The residents understand and have observed those situations and we are not that naive.”

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said in Keng Tung during her trip to eastern Shan Sate last week that if local people want the electricity from the hydropower project, she would make it happen.

“With regards to the hydropower, we have to consider it from every side: the technical need, finance, the public desire and the environmental impact. If the public desire is there, we will make it happen using our natural [water] resources,” she told Keng Tung residents on Feb. 6.

However, there have been attempts to build more dams on the Namtu/Myitnge River amid locals’ objections. Local communities in Hsipaw, northern Shan State, object to a plan to construct a dam near Hsipaw on the river by a local company known as Unienergy Company Limited, and have urge the company and the authorities to stop the project.

Unienergy has been visiting the area around the Nam Ma and Nam Paung tributaries, which flow into the Namtu River, in Hsipaw and conducted public consultations in Hsaileng village tract in Hsipaw in 2017, and in Jan. 27 and Feb. 2 of this year, said Sai Sar Lu, a resident spokesman for the village tract.

“The company has not shared any information with us yet on how big the dam would be, but we do not think the dam project would be good for us; we are concerned about the negative impacts,” said Sai Sar Lu.

He feared that if the dam were built, not only the three villages near the construction area, but a total of 21 villages with farms and orange plantations would become submerged.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: DamsEnvironmentForeign InvestmentHydropowerProtest
Nyein Nyein

Nyein Nyein

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Junta Watch: Racing to Save China’s BRI Dream in Rakhine; Drones Rock Regime Fortress; and More
Junta Watch

Junta Watch: Racing to Save China’s BRI Dream in Rakhine; Drones Rock Regime Fortress; and More

by The Irrawaddy
April 6, 2024
17.4k

Also this week, scandal engulfed deputy defense minister, Russia vowed support in buckets, a scramble to reassure Beijing, and conscription...

Read moreDetails
Kyal Sin before she was shot dead by security forces (left); Tens of thousands mourned at her funeral (right).
Stories That Shaped Us

Military Regime Can’t Defeat Myanmar’s Brave Hearts

by Kyaw Zwa Moe
March 5, 2021
19k

The young protesters’ determination to defeat the regime is summed up in their motto: ‘They Die, or They Die!’

Read moreDetails
UWSA Facilitating China’s Damming of Salween River in Eastern Myanmar: Report
Myanmar-China Watch

UWSA Facilitating China’s Damming of Salween River in Eastern Myanmar: Report

by The Irrawaddy
September 6, 2024
5.9k

A Shan State rights watchdog says country’s most powerful ethnic armed organization is paving the way for dam projects that...

Read moreDetails
Rare Earth Mining Taking Heavy Toll in Myanmar’s Kachin, Groups Say
Burma

Rare Earth Mining Taking Heavy Toll in Myanmar’s Kachin, Groups Say

by Hein Htoo Zan
May 27, 2024
5.3k

Amid heavy global demand for rare earths, local activists’ concerns about the impacts on the environment and local communities are...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar has been Running Out of Power Since the Coup: World Bank
Business

Myanmar has been Running Out of Power Since the Coup: World Bank

by Hein Htoo Zan
September 8, 2023
5.3k

The energy crisis will worsen as long as the junta is in control, expert adds.

Read moreDetails
Burma

Myanmar Junta Rages Against E. Timor President After Defection Call

by The Irrawaddy
December 14, 2023
5.2k

The regime’s newspapers were filled with tirades against José Ramos-Horta after he urged junta troops to defect, and its backers...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
People displaced by fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army over the weekend take shelter and have a meal at the Yoe Ta Yoke monastery in Ponnagyun Township, Rakhine State, on Sunday. / Rakhine Ethnic Congress / Facebook

Hundreds More Flee Fighting in Northern Rakhine Over Weekend

One of the paintings and drawings on display at the Mingalarpar 104 exhibit at the We Creation gallery in Yangon this week. / The Irrawaddy

Duo Marks 104th Birthday of Gen. Aung San With Art Show

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

14 hours ago
787
‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

1 day ago
775

Most Read

  • Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

    Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    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.