Dawei Project

Ka Loat Hta villagers are dissatisfied with the Italian-Thai Company relocation plans for their village that will make way for a hydropower dam that will flood their homes and farmlands. A villager from Ka Loat Hta told Karen News that people would have to move even though they do not want to. “The relocation hasn’t started yet, but they [ITD]…

A Karen family alleged that they have been abused and expelled from their home by the Dawei Princess Company are now seeking help from the local Karen National Union (KNU) office. Naw Hsa Gay, husband works at the Dawei Princess Company mining site at Min Htain in a KNU controlled area in southern Burma, spoke to Karen News about the…

The Italian-Thai Development Company has made a second compensation payment to Karen villagers affected by the Dawei-Kanchanaburi road construction in eastern Tavoy Town. On June 8, the Italian-Thai Development Company and its partner, Max Myanmar, paid 15,582,240 Thai baht (4,93,750.47 US$)compensation to 20 villagers affected by the road between Myitta and Kaw Htee Lor (Thebyu Chaung). The villagers’ plantations were…

Villagers living along the Dawei to Kanchanaburi road, in Southern Burma accused the Burma Army of illegally extorting money from them and for driving their motorbikes. Saw Eh, a local villager told Karen News. “From Mae Tha Mee Kee on the Thai-Burma border to Myitta village there are many Burma Army checkpoints that collect money from people going to and…

The Italian-Thai Development Company told Karen National Union leaders in a meeting on Saturday that, despite rumors to the contrary, ITD are not withdrawing from its plans to construct the Dawei deep-sea port and Dawei (Tavoy) Special Economic Zone. Padoh Saw Thu Yeh, an executive member of the KNU’s Mergui-Tavoy District, explained to Karen News that he had met ITD…

Local people from Kaw Htee Lor (Thebyu Chaung) village along with five other villages are angry that the Italian-Thai Development Company (ITD) is refusing to pay compensation to people whose plantations have been destroyed by the ITD road construction. Karen News reporters attended the meeting between ITD officials and local villagers in Kaw Htee Lor village on March 30. The…

Villagers in southern Burma claim a local influential Karen and representatives of the Italian-Thai Development Company (ITD) want money of villagers in return for building a road. A villager, *Naw Thu (not her real name), spoke to Karen News. “At the end of last November, local villagers in the Kamoethway area, east of Tavoy, near where the Dawei-Kanchanaburi road passes…

The Karen National Union (KNU) are frustrated with the lack of transparency and cooperation showed by the Italian-Thai Development Company’s environmental surveyors. The KNU accuse the ITD’s surveyors of refusing their officials the opportunity to accompany them or observe them on their trip to meet with local villagers affected by the construction of the Tavoy/Dawei-Kanchanaburi Highway, in southern Burma. A…

An alliance of Karen community base organizations claim Chinese and Thai investment in the Hatgyi dam could undermine the ongoing peace negotiations between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Burma government, destroying the Karen peoples’ fragile hope for peace. Saw Paul, director of the coalition for sustainable rivers development, the Karen Rivers Watch (KRW) said. “At this fragile stage…

Local villagers affected by the development of the controversial Dawei (Tavoy) Special Economic Zone in Southern Burma say they are disappointed with the team from Chulalongkorn University Environmental Research Institute hired by the Italian-Thai Development Company to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on the project. Post Views: 548