“Myanmar Government Rejects Motion to Shutter Polluting Chinese-Owned Coal Plant”, 19 May 2020

Myanmar’s government… rejected a Shan state member of parliament’s proposal to shutter a Chinese-owned coal-fired power plant residents of his region say has exceeded land use specifications, severely polluted the local environment, and jeopardized their health and livelihoods…

“My answer to the proposal from Sai Tun Aye is that, while the power generation is not very efficient for the region, we do benefit from this plant as it is capable of distributing some amount of electricity to the people,” Khin Maung Win said at the session.

The deputy minister noted that there “is no record from the [Pinlaung] township health department” which shows that the plant has had a negative impact on local health and the environment, and said the facility also benefits local farmers by distributing water.

Wuxi Huaguang Electric Power Engineering Co. Ltd., a Chinese energy company specializing in coal power, operates the plant in Tigyit village…

He [Khin Maung Win] added that the plant employs 318 workers—more than 200 of whom are residents of the region.

Responding to Khin Maung Win’s comments… Sai Tun Aye told RFA’s Myanmar Service that the deputy minister had failed to address the central premise of residents’ complaints he put forth in his proposal…

“Does the plant support society or simply the country’s economy? If we are only getting a little bit of energy in exchange for the health and environment of the local people, we should reconsider renewing permission for the plant.”

Sai Tun Aye noted that residents and local civil society organizations (CSOs) have held repeated protests over the plant’s impact and said that it should only be permitted to continue operating if it is upgraded to use international standards for disposing of coal byproducts…

… despite the upgrade and Khin Maung Win’s insistence that the plant has since operated in line with the interests of the community, resident Sein Thaung told RFA that it is “really destroying the environment” through the pollution of air and water, as well as damage to local infrastructure…