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HomeNewsSalween dams construction to increase flood risk for Mon, Karen residents

Salween dams construction to increase flood risk for Mon, Karen residents

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Save the Salween Network press conference (Photo: IMNA)
Save the Salween Network press conference (Photo: IMNA)
Reported by Min Thu Tha, Residents in Mon and Karen states will face the increased risk of flooding after the proposed dams are constructed on the

Salween River, according to Save the Salween Network.

The Save the Salween Network held a press conference on August 12, at Rehmonnya Hotel, in Moulmein, the capital of Mon State. The conference started at 9am and finished at 12pm, with about 70 people from political parties, civil society organizations, non-government organizations and media organizations in attendance.

The objective of the press conference is to inform the public about the downstream impacts from the planned damming on the Salween River.

“Thousands of people in the Hpa-an area are currently suffering from the floods. We fear much greater flooding if the Salween dams are built,” said Saw Tha Phoe, a resident of Hpa-an Capital, Karen State, and a spokesperson for the Save the Salween Network.

Saw Tha Phoe continued that in times of heavy rainfall, river levels rise, and dam water releases, therefore, all the entire areas of lower [Salween] river, where Mon and Karen people live, would be flooded.

Like other parts of Burma, Mon and Karen states have suffered from the recent flood disaster, with about 6,300 Hpa-an residents forced to evacuate their homes when the Salween River burst its banks, flooding 1,200 houses in the town between July 18 and August 5.

“The dam builders are holding local people in contempt. The fate of millions along the Salween River must not be decided behind closed doors,” said Mon National Party MP Dr. Aung Naing Oo, who is a resident of Bilugyun island in the Salween delta.

Dr. Aung Naing Oo also mentioned that the above comment was referring to the visit of the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC) in Moulmein on July 13, and a secretive meeting at the General Administrative Department Office, wherein they denied entry for any media and local civil society groups.

The SMEC is a Australian company and it is currently carrying out the EIA/SIA for its largest planned Salween dam, which is 241 metres tall, the Mong Ton dam in southern Shan State.

At the press conference, the Save the Salween Network released a press statement calling for the immediate cancellation of the all proposed dams on the river.

About five large dams are planned to be constructed along the Salween River, which runs through Shan, Karenni, Karen and Mon states, by Chinese, Thai and Burmese companies, for the export of electricity to neighboring countries.

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