Chinese company, Hanergy Holding Group (HHG) has pledged to provide compensation to villagers living in flood-prone areas around the Konlone hydro power project in Shan state.
Sai Tun Yin, the Shan state Minister for Electric Power and Industry, told Mizzima that HHG has also assured the Shan state government that they will provide alternate land plots to the villagers and arrange for their relocation in a meeting on August 30.
Officials of HHG, the Director of Myanmar’s Asia World, Shan state Chief Minister, Minister for Electric Power and Industry and the Border Affairs Minister attended the meeting in Taunggyi. HHG will operate the hydropower project and Asia World has been awarded the contract to construct the project.
Minister Sai tun Yin told Mizzima, “The Shan state government urged the company to arrange for alternative land for the villagers and to pay cash compensation so that they can start businesses. They have agreed to all the requests and pledged their commitment to fulfill them.”
The Kunlong hydroelectric dam will be built on the Salween River and as a result 64 houses and 300 acres of farmlands in Painyea, Namkyam, Tashwe, Tonekyam, Tonehauk and Thoutshwe Villages are likely to be inundated, he added.
He also said that the company and residents have already negotiated compensation.
But a resident from Ta Dar Oo village told Mizzima that the above-mentioned villages are ‘mountain-villages’, and Kokant and Shan villages that are further downstream at a distance of one-and-half miles from the dam are more likely to be inundated. Ta Dar Oo village is one of the downstream villages in the project area.
Speaking on the issue of compensation, he said, “They have been saying that they would give us compensation for the last two years. But they have done nothing even for houses near the project area and our houses are further away. Only compensation equivalent to current land prices will satisfy us. We will take not a penny more, not a penny less!”
The Konlone hydropower project will be completed within seven years. The HHG will invest USD 1.4 billion. After completion, the project will generate 1400 Mega Watt of electricity, out of which Myanmar will receive 210 Mega Watt. The project is expected to begin this year.
An official from the Department of Hydropower Planning of the Ministry of Electric Power told Mizzima that with the help of the Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA), a six month Environmental Impact Assessment and Social Impact Assessment have already been carried out to evaluate the impact of the project.
