Hundreds Face Eviction in Kachin State Over Chinese Dam

Article from The Irrawidy Online

Burmese regime-friendly conglomerate Asia World is forcing many hundreds of villagers in northern Burma to abandon their homes and resettle elsewhere as it prepares to build a hydroelectric system at Chibwe on the May Kha River.

The project will force residents of the Washapa and Nyawngmawpa valleys to move, says a report by the Kachin News Group.

Asia World is a contractor for Chinese state companies developing the hydro scheme, which pump most of the ensuing electricity into China's energy-hungry Yunnan province.

The KNG says Chinese engineers have already been seen in the area.

The Chibwe scheme will reportedly be big enough to have a generating capacity of 2,000 megawatts-more than Burma's entire current output for domestic consumption.

But the Chibwe dam will by no means be the biggest hydroelectric project in Burma.

It is only one of several planned by China, via its state China Power Investment Corporation, with Burmese government support to develop electricity generation for Yunnan rather than equally energy-hungry Burma.

India, China Planning Transit Routes through Burma

India and China are pushing the ruling military junta to open up Burma with new road and rail routes.

However, the proposed west-east and south-north infrastructures may well be little more than transit routes to ferry essential supplies into China and to improve India's trade with Southeast Asia, say analysts.

"Several Burmese state agencies are working with the Chinese on possible road and rail links from the planned deep sea port on the central Burmese coast at Kyauk Phyu," said energy commodities consultant Collin Reynolds in Bangkok.

"These are seen as complimentary to an oil pipeline which is almost certain to be laid between the port and Kunming in China's neighboring Yunnan province," he said.

The oil will be transshipped from tankers docking at the port from the Middle East and northwest Africa where China is developing oil sources.

A pipeline will also run from the coast, around Sittwe, to move gas from the Shwe offshore field into Yunnan and beyond.

At the same time, India is using its increasing influence in Naypyidaw to persuade the Burmese generals to permit road and rail transit links into Southwest China and Southeast Asia generally.

The Times of India newspaper this week quoted Indian transport and commerce ministry officials saying Burma was essential for its ambitions to develop its sector of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific proposed Asian Highway.

Car Maker Skoda Eyes Burma

German-owned car maker Skoda has its sights on a Burma and several other potential new markets in its plans to establish a regional manufacturing base in India.

Skoda announced a program to produce up to 50,000 low-priced cars a year in India.

Officials of the Czech Republic-based manufacturer told India's Economic Times it intended to move from a current small assembly operation to full local production by 2010.

In addition to the mushrooming Indian market, Skoda also planned to sell vehicles in Burma, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

"We will be tapping the neighboring markets to sell our excess production," Skoda marketing executive Thomas Kuehl told the newspaper.

Burma State Airline Plans New Service to India

Burma's state national airline says it will introduce a new service to India, underlining growing relations between the Burmese military regime and its giant western neighbor.

Myanmar Airways International said the new service would begin later this year, but gave no timetable or destinations.

MAI resumed services to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand earlier this month after suspending international flights for about three months for what the airline called "technical reasons."

The suspension of flights followed an international outcry over the Burmese junta's crackdown on unarmed demonstrators calling for social and economic reforms in the wake of rising fuel prices.

New Delhi has come under pressure from the United States, the European Union and other Western governments to use its influence to persuade the Burmese leaders to introduce democratic reforms.

But India, like China, considers engagement with Burma as the best way forward, not economic and political isolation. Many international air services with Burma were curbed after the military crackdown, in part because foreign tourists canceled travel plans.

But MAI says it now plans to expand. "More flights are being planned to new destinations within Asia," said Managing Director Aung Gyi on the airline's website.

Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org

http://www.irrawaddy.org/print_article.php?art_id=10043