Can Myanmar’s Hydropower Study Truly Be for the People?

Nov 7, 2016 | Pianporn Deetes
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The deadly conflict is taking place around the construction site of the Hat Gyi hydropower dam on the Salween River. The 1360-megawatt project is slated for development by a consortium of Thai, Chinese and Myanmar companies, with the electricity generated to be exported to Thailand. Fighting has escalated as plans to build the project move forward, with both groups struggling to wrest control of the area.

Against this backdrop, in September the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group, together with the Ministry of Electric Power (MOEP) and the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (MOECAF), launched a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for Myanmar’s hydropower sector in Nay Pyi Taw. The SEA falls within a broader program of water reform in the country, supported by the World Bank. The stated aim of the SEA is to achieve “broad consensus” on the equitable and sustainable development of hydropower dams across the country. The IFC has proposed a process of public engagement and negotiation, claiming this will avoid major environmental and social impacts and achieve widespread agreement on necessary trade-offs and ways to share benefits with those displaced or adversely affected by dams.