Reject Burma fuel exports, Asean urged
Written by Estrella Torres / Reporter
WEDNESDAY, 29 JULY 2009 23:31
CIVIL-SOCIETY groups in Burma and Southeast Asia are urging energy ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting in Mandalay to oppose new oil investments in Burma because they will only benefit the military junta and exclude the general population.
Burma is hosting the 27th Asean Ministers of Energy Meeting (Amem) in Mandalay that started on Monday, and the citizen groups criticized the unprecedented access to electricity of the meeting while the rest of the country continued to have serious
and chronic power shortages.
Wong Aung from the Shwe Gas Movement said electricity consumption rates per capita in Burma are less than 5 percent of Thailand, but the military junta is still aiming to export even more energy resources to Burma’s neighbor countries.
“These include plans for over 20 large hydroelectric dams to power Thailand, China and Asean power grid, and trans-Burma oil and gas pipelines to China set to begin in September this year. The revenue from the energy sector is the main source of income for the Burmese generals,” said Aung in a statement issued by the Burma Partnership, a coalition of civil-society groups in the region pushing for democratization in Burma.
The international community has strongly condemned the continuing violations of the human rights of Burmese (renamed Myanmar by the generals) and the continued detention and new charges filed against Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
Her trial court is set to issue a verdict on the new charges against the Nobel peace laureate on Friday in relation to alleged breach of rules of her detention after an unidentified American swam to her detention house uninvited.
The rights groups also said energy projects have caused environmental devastation and violations of human rights throughout the country. “Increased fuel prices sparked the 2007 popular uprising in Burma and these energy export projects are making people increasingly angry. This Asean energy meeting will only further enrage the people of Burma. The generals are pocketing huge amounts from the projects but we are left in the dark,” said Aung.
Sai Khur Hseng of the Ethnic Community Development Forum said multibillion-dollar energy projects entered into by Burma’s generals never benefited the people who continue to suffer from various forms of atrocities.
“Energy projects in Burma should be for the benefit of Burmese people and not at their expense. Affected communities have the right to free and prior informed consent and should be protected through a democratically elected government, as well as international human rights and environment laws. Until then, the Asean ministers should refrain from investing in Burma,” said Khur Hseng.
He said exported natural gas from Burma’s controversial Yadana and Yetagun fields uels 20 percent of Thailand’s electricity needs while none fuels its own households.
At the same time, Chinese companies are ready to construct a 1,800-kilometer pipeline from the Shwe Gas Project in western Burma across the country to Kunming in China.
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