[ad_1]
The Higher Yeywa Hydropower dam final October. / GNLM
By Hein Htoo Zan 28 April 2023
Swedish-Finnish engineering companies provider AFRY has withdrawn from Myanmar’s hydropower tasks, citing the junta’s human rights abuses.
The enterprise cited final month’s UN report advisable that corporations working in Myanmar ought to examine the junta’s rights document.
AFRY has operated in Myanmar for over 20 years, engaged on 13 hydropower tasks, together with three incomplete schemes, the corporate acknowledged on April 21.
The Nordic agency was paid US$4.7 million in service charges for consulting on the Higher Yeywa and Center Paunglaung tasks from February 2021 to September 2022, in accordance with Justice For Myanmar (JFM), based mostly on leaked tax filings from the whistleblower web site Distributed Denial of Secrets and techniques.
The 280-megawatt Higher Yeywa dam mission on the Namtu River was deliberate beneath the sooner army dictatorship in 2008 and has been opposed by residents for its devastating social and environmental impacts, lack of transparency, the menace to ancestral lands and for fuelling of battle.
In 2020 the Shan Human Rights Basis documented rights violations by the army close to the mission, together with extrajudicial killing and torture.
The group known as on international corporations to withdraw from the mission or danger complicity in atrocities.
In December the Namtu River Protectors, a group community, warned that greater than 40,000 residents would face flooding due to the mission.
The 152MW Center Paunglaung River dam close to Naypyidaw can be because of displace giant numbers of villagers.
JFM has known as on AFRY and different corporations concerned to droop work in Myanmar till the institution of a federal democracy and known as for them to elucidate their involvement with the regime.
AFRY has been the engineering advisor for 13 hydropower tasks in Myanmar and delivered in-house engineering service to the Nancho, Thaythay, Higher Yeywa, Kun and Higher Keng Tawng tasks.
Feasibility research, detailed designs and building companies had been additionally supplied for the Deedoke, Shweli, Tamanthi, Center Yeywa and Higher and Center Paunglaung tasks.
It has additionally supplied geological investigations, building website supervision and advisory companies for the junta’s Ministry of Electrical energy and Vitality on transmission traces and thermal tasks.
“The contracts had been signed earlier than the army coup in February 2021 and AFRY has not signed any extra contracts after that. Now we have evaluated our presence within the nation, worldwide sanctions, the shopper almost about the army regime, security of our staff, environmental and social impression regarding the continuing tasks,” AFRY’s assertion mentioned.
It mentioned it has not contributed to any violations of human rights and it has ensured stronger environmental safeguards by means of its engineering competence whereas the hydropower tasks have supplied cleaner vitality.
“However, AFRY’s assignments will likely be ended on the newest by the top of this 12 months because of the damaging improvement within the nation, whereas we proceed to observe the scenario carefully,” the agency mentioned.
[ad_2]
Source link
