Myanmar cardinal wants Irrawaddy dam project halted

Myanmar’s prominent Catholic Church leader has urged the country’s newly elected government to halt the controversial Myitsone dam project in northern Kachin state, which is widely viewed as environmentally and culturally destructive.  Cardinal Charles Bo, Archbishop of Yangon explained to UCANEWS that if Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy that won the Nov. 8 election, really wants to fulfil the desire of the people she should follow the desire of the ethnic Kachin people.

The $3.8 billion dam, slated to be the 15th largest hydroelectric power station in the world when completed by 2017, is being built on the Irrawaddy River, Myanmar's premier waterway, to provide power almost exclusively to neighboring China. 

By 2010, the dam's construction caused at least 2,000 people to be relocated from their ancestral homes in Aung Myin Thar village.  The military-backed government of President Thein Sein suspended construction in September 2011, while China vigorously agitated for recommencing work on the project.

"The Irrawaddy is our mother and our life-blood river so ending the project is not only the will of ethnic Kachins but also the people of Myanmar," Cardinal Bo said.  He promised to speak out on the issue when he gets a chance to meet Suu Kyi personally.  Myanmar’s first cardinal said he also raised concerns on another China-backed project — a copper mine in central Myanmar — and questioned the outgoing government's relationship with China and neighboring India.  He argued that despite maintaining good relations with Myanmar’s neighbours, the government should consider the will of the people.   He warned that an accident during the dam's construction could destroy several villages, while environmental destruction caused by the dam will largely impact local people.

In his pre-election 10-point guide about choosing candidates, Cardinal Bo referred to the dam project, encouraging voters to choose candidates and parties that "safeguard the country's nature and natural resources, protecting our forests and not selling our sacred rivers and resources to foreign powers."  (Source: UCAN)