Two pipelines that are being built to establish Myanmar as a regional
trade hub have stirred tension among the local populations, who see
their livelihoods threatened. They are calling for a stop to the
project.
Myanmar could potentially become the most important energy crossroads in Southeast Asia.
It provides an overland bridge between India and China that does not
entail having to negotiate the permafrost of the Himalayas. As their
economies boom, the two most populated countries in the world are
changing the way the whole region works.
China has long understood Myanmar's key location. The movement of people
and goods has been growing steadily and new routes are planned.
Two pipelines that will provide energy-hungry China with crude oil and
natural gas are currently in construction and a new train-line from the
Burmese port city of Sittwe to Nanjing in China - which will continue
both towards the North but also southwards to the Vietnamese capital,
Hanoi - is also being discussed.
China's strategic interests
The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has invested about two
billion euros (2.6 billion US dollars) into its pipeline project over
the past four years. Natural gas is supposed to be flowing through one
pipeline from the Shwe Gas reserves in the Bay of Bengal by the middle
of the year and a parallel crude oil pipeline is expected to be
operational by the end of 2013. The pipelines, which are almost
finished, stretch from Kyaukphyu in Rakhine state to Ruili on the
Chinese border.
They are intended to help China bypass the Malacca Strait through which
most of the oil it transports from the Middle East and Africa is
transported. "The project is very important," says Li Xiangyang, the
director of the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies in Beijing. "These
pipelines could reduce China's dependence on the Malacca Strait. It will
secure China's energy supply."
Growing resistance in Myanmar
China and Myanmar's military government negotiated the project in 2009
but, since the transition to a civilian government and the reforms in
Myanmar, there has been more open opposition to the pipelines from the
local population.
"Some farmers sent a letter to the government, to the Chinese operators
and to other shareholders,” says Khur Hsint from Sapawa, an environment
NGO in Shan, Myanmar's biggest state. "They want the construction to be
ended until all open questions have been answered."
CNPC has tried to ease the concerns of ethnic minorities living in areas
where the pipeline has been built by putting about 20 million euros
into education and development projects but people are angry that they
were not consulted. "They will not benefit at all," says Khur Hsint.
"Some farmers are not getting any compensation at all and some are only getting inadequate compensation," he continues.
Those who have been able to keep their fields are also worried that the
pipelines have been built in a substandard way and are not tight. "This
can be seen at the Yadana pipeline in the southern Mon state where there
have already been 48 explosions. The leaking gas is also threatening
the existence of farmers, ruining their harvests and contaminating their
fields."
Lack of control
Sectarian tensions are also threatening China's interests, says Li
Xiangyang. "The construction of the pipelines is important. What's even
more important is to ensure that there is a smoothly functioning
pipeline. There is still a lack of clarity."
In the past months there have been massive riots in Rakhine state
between the Buddhist majority and Muslim Rohingya minority. Up to
140,000 people have been forced to flee. The pipelines go right through
this unstable region.
The situation in the northern Shan state is even more tricky. There are
at least four independence movements that all control parts of the
region around the pipelines. In the middle of May, guerrillas from the
Restoration Council of the Shan State-Shan State Army opened fire at the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise compound killing two people and injuring at least three.
"Despite the ceasefire agreement there are still battles," says Khur Hsint. "The pipeline is just exacerbating the tension."
When they signed a ceasefire agreement with the government, armed groups
in Myanmar were told they would not have to leave their territories but
now they are being told to leave their camps near the pipelines.
"There is a fear that the conflicts between the Burmese Army and the
armed opposition groups will break out again," says Khur Hsint.
Those suffering most are the people, he says. The fragile peace could
well collapse and this would lead to thousands of refugees streaming
into the cities, to China and to Thailand. Therefore, in Khur Hsint's
opinion, there is only one solution.
"The project should be stopped until a sustainable political solution
and a real agreement with all parties is found. We need negotiations so
that the profits of the project are shared out in a fairer way."
source: Deutsche Welle
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