Governing the Ayeyarwady

Mar 6, 2019 | Joern Kristensen
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The continuing conundrum over Myitsone, concern among farmers over river bank erosion in the dry zone and the delta and reports of declining riverine resources in Sagaing Region all indicate the need for coherent and coordinated governance of the Ayeyarwady River. The decision by President U Thein Sein in September 2011 to suspend work on the Myitsone dam highlighted the cultural, economic and political importance of the river, something that had been taken for granted. As debate over the dam’s fate intensifies, it is time to establish a permanent institution to manage what is indisputably Myanmar’s most important single natural resource.

The World Bank, which has extended US$100 million in credit for an Integrated River Basin Management Project, is well placed, within a somewhat fragmented donor community, to promote the idea of an Ayeyarwady River Organization .