development project

Local people affected by the construction of Thailand’s and Burma’s Dawei-Kanchanaburi road link in Southern Burma have rejected to be involved in a ‘public consultative meeting’ to approve the last stage of an environmental impact assessment report. A villager from Kaw Htee Klo (Tha Byut Chaung) told Karen News that surveyors from the Environmental Research Institute of Chulalongkorn University headed…

Villagers in Hpa-an Township, Karen State say for the first time in memory Government officials have involved them in discussions about a development project planned for their area. Villagers’ say an assessment was carried out and they were consulted with over a development project before it started. Karen State Ministers and Members of Parliament visited Mi Kayin village on April…

The Burma Army orders Shan Army to clear way for Chinese Mega Projects while surrounding Shan State with tanks and artillery. Burma’s military has given an ultimatum to the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) to remove its troops from the West Bank of the Salween River, near the construction of a Chinese backed mega dam. On March 26, Burma’s Northeast Regional…

Government authorities have applied pressure to 30 villagers in Cha Khan village who have refused to relocate, to make way for the construction of the Dawei deep-sea port. The villagers are refusing to move until they are given what they think is fair compensation. According to local people,the 30 villagers from Cha Khan Village in Htein Gyi tract, Tenasserim Division…

An environmentalist advocate, the Love Salween Group, issued a statement yesterday condemning government officials for denying a request by villagers to hold a prayer service on the Salween River on International Day of Action for Rivers on March 14, 2013. The Love Salween Group, a Karenni community-based-organization asked permission of local government official to hold a prayer service at Wan…

Earlier this week thousands of Karen people turned out to protest over plans to dam the Salween River. As many as 2,000 internally displaced people and villagers from the Wei Gyi area gathered on the banks of the Salween to mark the International Day of Action for Rivers and Against Dams at Ei Htu Hta Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp.…

A new report – Losing Ground – by the Karen Human Rights Group documenting the land grabs by the Burma Army in Karen State was released this week in Bangkok at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Thailand. The report highlights cases of the Burma Army taking land in areas of Karen State, even though a ceasefire agreement was signed between…

Cha Khan villagers in Nabule area of Yephyu Township, Tenasserim Division who had their homes bulldozed by the Italian-Thai Development Company (ITD) to make way for the Dawei deep-sea project are facing difficulties to make a living. Local sources said villagers from Cha Khan were force to leave their homes to make way for construction work related to the Dawei…

A report released by the Dutch think-tank, the Transnational Institute, expressed concern at the prospect of massive development projects in conflict-ridden parts of Burma. As Burma is emerges from decades of military rule, it is attracting foreign investors – especially in the resource sector. “Burma has entered a pivotal stage in its political and economic development,” the report said, “The…

The Italian-Thai Development Company (ITD) bulldozed the homes of Cha Khan residents’ in Yephyu Township, Tenasserim Division, to make way for the Dawei deep-sea project. Speaking to Karen News, a Cha Khan villager said. “At the end of January, the ITD Company bulldozers began clearing Cha Khan village. Now, only 15 houses are left. The land owner victims have no…