TAUNGGYI- Over 1,500 locals including the ethnics yesterday held the second protest over the permanent shutdown of Tikyit coal-fired power plant, Wuxi Hua Guang Co;Ltd and coal mine.
The plant is located in Naung Ta Yar Sub-Township of Panglong Township in the Pa-O Self-administered Zone in Southern Shan State.
“Mainly, E-Guard report is not perfect. Moreover, government gave permission for 3-year extension of test run of the power plant. We asked the Shan State Government Committee about extension of test running. But, they didn’t reply exactly. The extension of test running is illegal. There have been laws, rules and regulations in Myanmar. However, the relevant ministries committed the illegal acts by themselves. So, we took to the streets to protest against their acts,” said Aung Kyaw Moe, a member of the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA) in Shan State.
The protesters marched on the Tikyit coal-fired power plant beside Tikyit-Panglong motor road and they also chanted the slogans: “ Closure of coal-fired power plant,” “ We don’t want Wuxi Hua Guang Co;Ltd,” and “ We don’t want Aden Company”.
“We aim to close the coal-fired power plant and mine permanently. Due to coal mine, water dried up so also the natural resources and farm lands were damaged. The farmers face difficulties of water problems for their farming. In March, all lakes will be drying up. Therefore, we held the protest,” said Sai San Nyein from Tikyit.
The ethnic from Kayin and Kayah States also joined the protest.
“The Tikyit residents and civic and social organizations didn’t agree to give permission for extension of test running of coal-fired power plant. So, we together with the Tikyit locals protested against the plant. The Kayen peoples also joined the protest. An environment Impact Assessment-EIA is required by law. The research mainly reported that the Tikyit locals had mercury poisoning. At that time, the government granted the company extension to do the test running. I believed that it was unfair. No one gives the guarantees for security and health of the locals. So, we protested against the coal-fired power plant project. Moreover, the coal-fired power plants were closed in the foreign countries. The coal-fired power plant shouldn’t be opened in Myanmar,” said Saw Thar Bo from Kayin State.
Chinese Wuxi Hua Guang has got a 22-year lease for operating of Tikyit coal-fired power plant. It covers the vast area of 500 acres of farmlands and produces about 2,000 tons of coal every day.
The first protest was held on April 6th involving with over 2,000 locals and social organizations.
Aung Kyaw Moe from MATA said that they were going to stage a protest against the plant if the government wouldn’t close the plant.
The Tikyit coal mine supplies coal to the power plant which is around 1.5 miles away. Due to gunpowder explosions in the mine, locals claimed that several religious pagodas in the region had been damaged and some 12,000 locals within a five mile radius of the mine faced health problems as a result of air and water pollution. Pregnant women as well as young children were the most affected.
