Myanmar’s National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, is about to face a tough policy test: whether to restart or permanently halt the construction of the Myitsone Dam, a major irritant in Sino-Burmese relations.
Agreed between China Power International (CPI) and the now-departed junta in the early 2000s, the project was meant to be the centerpiece in a cascade of seven dams on the N’Mai Hka and Mali Hka, the two streams that converge to form the Irrawaddy in Kachin State. Construction began in 2009 and was halted two years later when former President Thein Sein decided that the project would be suspended for as long as his administration remained in power.
The ball has now been passed to the new leaders of Myanmar, who will have a hard time deciding what to do with the behemoth, projected as the 15th b iggest hydroelectric dam in the world, 1,310 meters long and 140 meters tall. The project is still extremely controversial. NGOs and local organizations have long pointed out that the dam would be a blow to the Irrawaddy’s ecosystem and lamented that little is known about the details of the deal. (Courtesy of Asia Sentinel)
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