Shan community groups want Salween dams scrapped
Representatives of Shan communities have expressed serious concerns on the ongoing plan to construct a series of hydropower dams on the Salween River, saying many areas are still plagued with ongoing fighting between minority groups and the government. Shan State Rivers Network’s coordinator Sai Khur Hseng said at a press conference on August 23 at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club in Bangkok, that areas designated for dam sites, especially in Shan State adjacent to China’s Yunnan province were still plagued with the sporadic fighting. Among the planned dams is the 1,200MW Naung Pha Dam proposed by a Chinese firm at a site. But fighting between the Burma Army and ethnic armed groups had been going on west of the site and the United Wa State Army occupied areas to the east, the group said.
