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Ye Residents Campaign against Power Plant

Local residents in Ye Township are concerned as plans to build a coal power plant in Ain Din Village proceed. The Ye Social Society (YSS) gathered local residents in an effort to campaign against, and educate residents about potentially harmful impacts the coal-fired power plant will have on the community. The YSS opposes the power plant and aims to put a stop to its construction.

On the morning of June 1^st about 120 local residents, led by the YSS, visited Ain Din, Ye Township, Mon State and neighboring villages to distribute pamphlets, written in both Mon and Burmese, in efforts to inform villagers of negative effects the power plant will have on the environment and villagers’ livelihoods. The YSS is campaigning for local residents to oppose the construction of the power plant.

In April of this year, residents of Ain Din Village voiced their frustration with the Ministry of Electricity and its partner, the Tokyo Thai Group, because neither group sought the residents’ opinion, nor made any efforts to inform villagers of their plan to build a 1280 Megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in the area. Neither the Ministry of Electricity, nor the Tokyo Thai Group provided any communication or information with the local people regarding plans for construction or potential environment impacts on the community. (http://rehmonnya.org/archives/3145)

On May 25^th about 60 representatives from Duya, Ky Kataw, Hnee Hnu, Thar Karan and Ain Din villages, who are currently working in Malaysia, held a meeting in the Galan area of Salangaw Township, Malaysia, regarding the Ain Din power plant. The group decided to oppose the project because they believe it will harm the local people. On the other hand, the Mon State Government, which helped plan the project, has claimed that it will benefit the local people.

On May 27^th, once informed of the plans, residents and seven monasteries from Duya, Ku Kataw, Hnee Hnu, Thar Karan, Ain Din, and Hnit Ka Yoke villages sat together in Hnit Ka Yoke village in protest against building the power plant in their area.

As a member of the Mon Youth Convene from Ye Township explains, “The plant planned to be built in Ain Din Village [will be] really close to where people are living. The contaminated waste disposed from the plant [will affect] local people living nearby. People will face difficulty breathing, [there is potential for] cancer, skin cancer, damage to their nervous systems, and heart disease due to contaminated water; air pollution can travel for hundreds of miles. Plantations located near, and people living along, the river will confront a lack of fishing and other work relating to water. The people responsible should consider the impacts of the plant on local people. It is important to educate people concerning the power plant.”

According to Tokyo Thai’s project handout, $2700 million USD will be invested in the power plant. It will be built on 500 acres of farmland near Ain Din Village, and will start operating in 2018.

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