The environmental and social impact assessment for the US$1.3 billion Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project is scheduled to be completed in July of next year, according to Myanmar Survey Research (MSR), which is conducting the assessment.
MSR was hired by China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) to carry out the assessment. The company organised its first public consultations with local residents in late August in Kyaukphyu.
As part of the assessment, MSR says it will conduct a survey of public opinions about the project and include the voices and concerns of local residents in their report.
There are 16 villages with 2,300 households in the inner zone of the project area that are expected to be directly impacted by the SEZ project, and there are over 50 villages in the outer zone, said MSR officials, adding that they would travel to all those villages to conduct the survey.
Ko Myo Lwin, who is in charge of the Myanmar-China Pipeline Watch Committee in Ann Township, said it is important that MSR really reflects the voices of local people in its report.
“The assessment is critically important for the people. It is important that they don’t write the report in a way of wanting to sell the project to local residents,” he said.
Citing the deaths of aquatic animals around Maday Island in 2018 due to water pollution, Ko Myo Lwin said he is concerned that the project will worsen pollution levels around Maday.
Former Arakan State lawmaker U Poe San from Kyaukphyu Township said: “The benefits from the project will go to the Union [government], and not the locals. Locals here will lose their original livelihoods and face uncertainties as employees [in the SEZ]. And it is not yet clear how many jobs the project will create for locals. It is important that the project does not cause serious impacts on locals.”
MSR, according to its agreement with the Chinese firm, will conduct environmental and social impact assessments for the construction of deep-sea ports on Maday and Ramree islands, and a 15-km, four-way road linking the two islands.
Beijing views the Kyaukphyu SEZ and deep-sea port as especially vital to its Belt and Road Initiative, as they will give China direct access to the Indian Ocean.
The project is being developed by the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone Deep Seaport Co. Ltd, a joint venture between the Chinese consortium CITIC Myanmar Port Investment Limited and the KPSEZ management committee.
Myanmar and CITIC signed a framework agreement for the project in 2018. According to the initial plans, the Kyaukphyu SEZ will cover a total of 520 hectares: 20 for the port, 100 for housing and 400 for an industrial park. About 50 percent of the land is allocated to fisheries, 30 percent to garment factories and the remainder to other small enterprises.
