Myanmar: Hydropower and the cost of life
Suicide rates and poverty are on the rise among rice farmers displaced by Myanmar’s Paunglaung Dam. The change of government is expected to spur foreign investment into the country, contributing to its rapid development. But among the myriad issues facing the country, including decades-long civil wars, the new government has inherited 43 planned hydropower projects from its predecessors. Swiss, British, and Chinese companies financed and built the dam. Swiss-based AF-Consult, responsible for the “consulting services of the design and construction of the dam”, said they had no involvement in the resettlement of villagers.
