Inn Din Village is in the location of the proposed coal-fired plant to be constructed by Toyo Thai Company.
The inquest report included the revenue [incomes] per year from the main products such as betel nuts, farming and fishing in the area [where the coal-fired plant to be built], according to Ashin Nanda, assistant of the Saryardaw at Inn Din Monastery. Ashin Nanda added that that it did not include the revenue from other trades yet.
“In our area, they [Toyo Thai company] are preparing to build a coal-fired plant. Incentive is given as they will provide US$1.5 million for local development. It is not what we have passion for because we want to proof that the income per year from local products is more than that amount of money we will potentially receive. This is what we’re confirming in this revenue inquest report,” said Ashin Nanda.
The revenue inquest was conducted by interviewing 1517 households and based on the interviews with 712 orchard employers, 282 farmers and 108 boatmen, from 6 villages of Inn Din Village track’s member villages, including Inn Din, Palain Thein, Hnit Kayot and Thar-ka-ran villages.
According to data from the revenue inquest report, more than 5815 million Kyats or more than US$5 million is the annual revenue. These are the total incomes of more than 3008 million Kyat from betel nut products, more than 434 million Kyat from farming products [rice and crops], and more than 2372 million Kyat from sea industries [fishing].
“But we only count one betel nut with the price of 20 Kyat. Now, each betel nut actually costs more than 30 Kyats. And, yet we do not include the incomes from the durian and other fruits,” said Min Pho Zaw, who helped with gathering for revenue inquest data.
At the moment, the group gathering data economic revenue inquest is also conducting a water inquest from more than 20 wells and history information of the village. Once the group has adequate information, it will then submit the report [containing economic revenue, the water inquest and the region history] to the President, Union Hluttaw [Parliament], State Hluttaw, and other respective departments.
With a US$2700 million investment, the Toyo Thai Company planned to construct a coal-fired power plant, which will produce 1280 Meggawat of electricity. And, on April 9, it signed a momentum of agreement (MoA) with the Union Government and Ministry of Electricity.
However, more than 6000 local residents staged a protest in opposition against the construction of coal fired power plant on May 5 on the Inn Din Village’s football field.
Also, the chairman and project managers of Toyo Thai Company, together with their members, visited Saryardaw [abbot] at Inn Din Village on May 9, wherein they told Saryardaw that they would begin the coal fired plant’s development. However, they were driven out of the village by about 200 local residents
