Karen National Union (KNU)-backed economic project in Tanintharyi Region is stalled pending public opinion

A major economic project backed by the Karen National Union (KNU) will be stalled pending comments from the public.

The Mae Tha Mee Khee Industrial Estate Project will be set up on 7,760 acres of land located five hours from Dawei, the capital of Tanintharyi Region, which is under KNU control.

Parliament members are scheduled to make a trip to the project site to gather views from the local communities affected. They will file a report at the regional government’s office afterwards. 

“We need to get community views on the project and investigate if the project will really benefit all the stakeholders,” said U Khin Mg Aye, President of the Tanintharyi Region parliament.

The project is one of several projects signed during December 2016, when two Myanmar companies, Noble Prince and Sun and Rainbow, signed an agreement with  Power China International Group to develop the Mae Tha Mee Khee Industrial Estate Project and the Tanintharyi Renewable Energy Power Project, which involves dam construction on the Tanintharyi River, and other works, including the construction of a small port and the building of a road linking Htee Kee and Ka Net Thi Ri in Tanintharyi Region.

Noble Prince, a KNU-owned company, will own the projects, while private company Sun and Rainbow has been assigned to operate the projects and raise funds from investors. 

Civil society organisations have been pushing the regional government to make a proper decision on the project since 2016.

“The heavy industrial zone projects are handled by the Union or regional government. But in this case, it is handled by private companies so it is a bit difficult for us to make a decision,” U Khin Mg Aye said.

Meanwhile, the Dawei Special Economic Zone project within the area has been pushed forward. “For all projects, Power China will be involved in providing the finances and the likely investment will be in the millions of dollars, with profit-sharing arrangements yet to be decided and submitted to the Myanmar Investment Commission,” he said.

U Ye Myint, director of Sun and Rainbow, is positive that the project will go through.  “I think we will get the green light from the regional parliament, which leaves us with one more step at the Union level,” he said.

After reviewing comments from the local communities, further discussions on the project will take place during the next parliament session in January,  U Khin Mg Aye said.

(The Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/knu-backed-project-stalled-pending-public-review.html )

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