More than 2,300 villagers have signed a petition against the construction of a hydropower dam on the river outside their village in Tenasserim Division. The villagers are protesting that the dam will flood their fields. The site for the dam project is located some 20 km east of the Dawei Economic Zone and is scheduled to be one of at least two hydropower projects that will provide electricity to the multi-billion-dollar industrial plant and deep-sea port.

Construction of the 175-foot-high dam began in November and is scheduled to take three years to complete.

Three other villages will be affected by the project: more than 9,000 acres of cultivable land will be lost, say local farmers who mostly grow rubber, betel and cashew nuts. “Our losses will be enormous,” said a farmer who asked not to be identified. “A one-year-old rubber tree is valued at 80,000 kyat (US $100) and can provide latex for more than 30 years.”

The petition was sent not only to the Burmese president, but to the Myanmar Human Rights Commission, the Ministry of Energy and various political parties, as well as to the Delco Company.

2012.03.15 The Irrawaddy Villagers Protest Dawei Dam