Over 800 participants join vigil to curb coal-fired plant’s impact

Over 800 participants, including locals and monks from Pyar-taung, Kyaikmayaw Township, held a vigil in hope to curb the coal-fired plant’s harmful impact, at Mawlamyine Cement Limited (MCL), on Tuesday [August 16], at Kyaik Monastery, in Kyaikmayaw Town, Mon State.

Mon State Hluttaw Deputy Speaker Dr. Aung Naing Oo and State Hluttaw representative Daw Khin Myo Myint were also present at the event.

“We have gathered information. Plus, they [MCL] also have exceptions. However, the main thing is to avoid violating the law. They will succeed if they work within the law’s boundary,” explained Dr. Aung Naing Oo, deputy speaker of Mon State Hluttaw, to the crowd at the event.

Dr. Aung Naing Oo went on to say that he would carry out the matter in accordance with the law, explain to the locals the limitations of the current law, and discuss at the Hluttaw reports made by the locals.

About 3,780 locals from seven villages near the MCL site provided their signatures and sent letters to the President, the Mon State Chief Minister and the State Hluttaw, on April 25, urging them to stop the MCL project. MCL propose to use coal power in order to run its cement factory.

“It seems like the union government allows the use of coal powered electricity in our area. However, in our letter to the government, we state our evidence at length. We hold this praying event to fulfill our wishes and to change people’s minds,” Nai Mit, from Kadonzi Village.

Nai Mit added that after the MCL announced in February that it would develop a coal power plant, it did not meet with the locals. The locals were never informed how the MCL would retain the emission ash of the coal power plant.

The MCL, with a USD 400 million investment, plans to produce 5,000 tons of cement per day, and in March, a ceremony testing the factory’s cement packaging machine was held at the site, with the presence of Mon State’s former Chief Minister U Ohn Myint.

In order to run its factory, MCL will need 49 megawatts of electricity. Of the 49 megawatts, 40 megawatts are from the coal fired plant as well as bio waste with the remaining 9 megawatts coming from a waste heat generator (WHG), according to the MCL’s statement.