KSDF’S STATEMENT ON INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR RIVERS
Dated: New Delhi, 14 March 2008
On this day, the 11th International Day of Action for Rivers, the Kuki Students Democratic Front and the Burma Rivers Network are calling for an end to the destructive Tamanthi Dam and all other mega dams in Burma.
Indian, Chinese, and Thai companies are planning large dams across all of Burma’s major rivers and their tributaries. In collaboration with the Government of India, the 1,200 megawatt “Tamanthi Dam and Multi Purpose Project” is being implemented since 2005 by Indian Government in collaboration with National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC). This project is in the heart of ethnic Kuki inhabited areas in Sagaing Division, where the local people from the dam site Tazone Shan and Leivomjang Kuki village have already been relocated from their ancestral land and many more villages to be relocate if the construction is to be continues.
The dam will adversely affect the rich biodiversity and ecological balance in the region due to dramatic changes in the morphology of the riverbed. Burma’s Tamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary that provides habitat for many endemic species of flora and fauna will also be impacted. From 1990 to 2005, Burma lost 18% of its forest cover due to damming and logging. This is one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world.
In recent years, Chinese companies have been involved in the planning of 25 large dams on the Irrawaddy, Salween, and Sittaung rivers or their tributaries. The dams have an estimated combined capacity of 30,000 megawatts and represent US$30 billion worth of investment. Large-scale displacement, militarization, human rights abuse, and irreversible environmental damage due to the dam projects are threatening the livelihoods and food security of millions.
The bulk of the electricity generated from these projects is slated to be exported to neighbouring countries or will be consumed by military bases. Revenues from the sale of electricity will provide significant long-term income to the military regime which spends 40% of its budget on defense while the expenditure on health and education is below 5%.
The number of military battalions stationed near dam site areas has tripled in the last ten years. In areas where many of the dams are being implemented war continues to take a heavy toll or serious tensions threaten the ceasefires with ethnic groups. At the same time, the crackdown on peaceful demonstrations of monks in late 2007 clearly shows the impossibility of public participation in decisions over energy policies in Burma.
Dam projects in Burma are going ahead without regard for internationally accepted standards laid out by the World Commission on Dams and the Equator Principles, which include public participation in decision making, effective environmental mitigation, and equitable benefit sharing. Therefore the Tamanthi Dam and all other mega dams in Burma must be stopped.
Kuki Students Democratic Front (KSDF) Burma Rivers Network (BRN)
By. Mangneo