HURFOM launches documentary, Touching the Fire, in Mawlamyine

February 5, 2015

The Human Rights Foundation of Monland, based out of Mawlamyine’s Mon State, launched a documentary film and press conference on January 31, 2015, at Mawlamyine’s Kaung Myat Hotel, concerning a coal-fired power plant project in Ann-din Village, Ye Township, Mon State. The film, “Touching Fire”, introduced to media and civil society organizations, documents the voices of both local residents and Toyo-Thai Company representatives in order to express each perspective surrounding the proposed power plant project.

The Toyo-Thai Company, a Thailand-based company comprised of a majority share-holder of Japanese companies, plans to build a coal-fired power plant capable of producing 1270 megawatts of electricity in Ann-din Village, Ye Township, Mon State.

HURFOM’s field coordinator states that, “After investment, there was conflict amongst the villagers in the region, so the local opinions differ. Because of these different views, there has been an impact on the unity of local people. There has been a lot of investment coming into the region, so local people should be careful. The other issue is that the environment of the Mon region must be maintained, and the Mon Third Generation Rights must be protected. We should highlight the environmental issue for our Mon people; as such we plan to go against the coal power plant. We planned to make this documentary about the power plant to provide the public with the information that we have.”

“The launch for the video documentary was scheduled for January 31st because we just finished editing, and don’t want to distribute the film illegally. So,” the field reporter continued, “we are choosing to premier the film on January 30th and distribute it on February 4th at the Mon National Day celebrations in Ye Township. We have already given a copy of the video to the administration office in Mawlamyine and the Ministry of Electric Power, so we did not invite them to the video launch. Through this documentary, we want to express the opinions of the local people,”

Touching the Fire was produced by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland, in networking connection with Director Min Than Oo from the Mon Multimedia Institute.

A staff member from HURFOM states, “the video includes the voices [of local civil society organizations (CSO) and community-based organizations (CBO), monks and local residents from Ann-din village], but we did not put HURFOM’s voice in the video. The recording of the video was not very difficult, but it took a long time to plan interviews and manage the video. When we first recorded interviews, local people often did not understand, and did not really talk about their opinions. We encouraged them and we took the video. Locals also had some video about the power plant which was very useful for us.

It is difficult to gain access to interview a Member of Parliament, so we have not including MPs in our film; however, MPs have stated their opinions in town meetings, and local people have recorded it. We have included what they said. It has taken us around two months to finish the film.”

This 40-minute documentary depicts the tradition of the village, including local reliance on the land and farming. It also shows the minister, Member of Parliament, and representatives from the Toyo-Thai Company visiting the village to advocate about the power plant, as well as depicting opinions from local residents, the EITI group, youth learning about coal power plants in Thailand, power plant experts, and a Member of Parliament who was against the proposed power plant. In the end, we show how the local people are becoming divided over the coal power plant, resulting in conflict amongst the villagers. Due to this conflict, the government has ordered the company to stop the project, which is conducting field tests in the districts.

The field reporter adds, “We have not received any threat from the government yet. We already provided them with a copy of the film, and asked permission so that we would not have any difficulties. However, before we show our film on January 30th, the Minister of Electric Power Nai Lwai Ong invited HURFOM staff to meet with him, just for a formality. The minister was worried that our answers to the media were getting worse, so he suggested individuals that we should include in the press conference. In this film, we take the opinion of the company and that of the local people who do not agree with the power plant, as well as those that do agree with the power plant. We plant to follow-up on this situation and continue to report on the coal power plant project.”

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