Damn Those Dams, Again

The most imminent project is the Tasang Dam, a concrete-faced rockfill dam, 188m (616ft) high, with a head of 142m (465ft), and a 3,300MW hydro-electric plant, slated to be constructed in southern Shan state by the Thai company GMS Power. Lahmeyer International of Germany and the J-Power (formerly Electric Power Development Corporation of Japan) serve as consultants. The reservoir would stretch back over 230km (143mi) from the dam wall, flooding an area of at least 640km2 (247mi2), as well as inundating the lower parts of three significant tributaries. The project would displace hundreds of thousands of people, destroy their livelihood, and have an inestimably destructive impact on one of Southeast Asia's richest ecosystems.

Almost all of its capacity would be exported to Thailand. Although developers deny it, water diversion from Burma to Thailand is also a real possibility. Indeed, that seems a very likely motive since Thailand is currently experiencing an energy glut.

In addition to the Tasang, there are plans for four other dams, two on the Burmese side and two in Mae Hong Son province, affecting ten million people of thirteen different ethnic groups.

Displacement of the population in the area affected by the dams began years ago. Massive forced relocation involving over 300,000 people was started by the Burmese army in 1996 after a reorganization of the Shan armed resistance. From 1997, the junta extended the relocation program to new areas on both sides of the Salween as well as its Nam Parng tributary upstream from the planned dam. Villagers are typically given a few days' warning to move to a relocation site, on pain of being shot.

The remaining population in Shan State will certainly be used as forced laborers on any dam project on the Salween. Burma's systematic and repeated use of forced labor, a violation of international law, led the International Labor Organization (ILO) at its Conference in 1999 to exclude Burma from ILO activities. Recent ILO reports indicate not only that has no improvement taken place, but that the situation with regard to forced labor actually is worsening, especially in ethnic minority areas. In fact, it needs to be said that there is already forced labor near the planned dam site. Army battalions forced villagers to work for periods of up to two weeks at Tasang throughout 1998, splitting rocks which were then sold by (not to) the army. Forced labor is imposed on men, women, children, and the elderly by the military with impunity. Forced labor is invariably accompanied by gross human rights violations, work conditions are poor, and compensation is virtually nonexistent.

Quite predictably, there are reports of a military build-up at the Tasang dam site, which has recently been fortified by units from four infantry battalions and by eight motorboats patrolling the river. If the dam is built, it and all power lines would have to be constantly guarded against possible sabotage by insurgent ethnic armies. The security needs of the project will lead to further militarization of the area and provide a pretext for even greater counter-insurgency measures in the area.

In Burma, a stronger military presence is tied to a pattern of increased gross violations of human rights, and will worsen the hardships already suffered by the population. As noted by the UN Special Rapporteur: "In the ethnic areas, the policy of establishing absolute political and administrative control brings out the worst in the military, and results in killings, brutality, rape and other human rights violations which do not spare the old, women, children, or the weak." (UN 1999)

For the refugees and the internally displaced persons from the banks of the Salween, the planned dams would drown their hopes of ever going home. For the military junta, however, that may be just one more attraction for the dams. If vast stretches of Shan lands are made permanently uninhabitable, the SPDC's aim of genocide is efficiently advanced.

In addition to humanitarian considerations, there are serious environmental concerns. Such large dams on the Salween would cause massive flooding of arable land and a marked reduction of bio-diversity. There is also the likelihood of saltwater intrusion in the Salween delta around Moulmein and an increase in the already serious earthquake risk in the area.

Many activist groups have appealed to the Thai Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, urging that the Salween dam project be shelved "until there is democracy in Burma and the rights of the local people are respected."

The November 2002 World Commission on Dams report contains evidence from around the world that large dams usually do not fulfill their objectives. The hydro-power produced by dams is not sustainable, and dams involve multiple hidden costs. The Salween dams are a classic example of this mistake, going forward without proper assessment and consultation with the local population. The proposed dams involve multiple risks, worsened because they are situated in an earthquake zone.

Given the regular attacks on the gas pipeline from Burma to Thailand further south, security of the dams is seriously in question. The dams will also result in an even greater influx of displaced Shan into Thailand, which is already saddled with a huge number of Karen and Karenni refugees in camps along the Thai/Burma border and a population of illegal Burmese and Shan estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.

On March 13, in a meeting with The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra approved all the dam projects, stating, "Environmental activists might not be happy, . . . [but] the projects will help reduce electricity charges, as hydro-power plants have no fuel costs." This cleared the way for EGAT to propose the Salween dams project to a meeting of ASEAN power utilities scheduled for April 20-25, and then to submit it to the Thai Cabinet for approval. Thus, urgent action is crucial.

All Shan organizations, many human rights groups, and many environmental groups have declared their opposition to the plan. Burmese Relief Center--USA urges all our readers and supporters to join in the campaign to stop this gargantuan blunder. Since the "Dictators' dams" on the Salween are not yet history, there is still hope. As the latest anti-dams T-shirt motto puts it, "Power for who?"

Please send a letter urging that this project be abandoned, by post or fax to:

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
Office of The Prime Minister
Government House
Thanon Phitsanulok, Bangkok 10300, Thailand
Fax: 66-2-282-5131

You can also send an e-mail message in a card at:
www.rakang.thaigov.go.th/guest_e.htm