Irrawaddy Division Coal Power Plant Grounded on Local Pushback

Irrawaddy Division Coal Power Plant Grounded on Local Pushback

RANGOON — The fate of a planned coal-fired power plant in Irrawaddy Division’s Ngapudaw Township remains unclear amid local opposition, with representatives from two companies jointly involved in laying its groundwork offering differing accounts of the project’s status.

Local newspaper 7 Days reported on Monday that the proposed 300-megawatt power plant in Nga Yoke Kaung sub-township had been “stopped,” citing Irrawaddy Division’s Electricity and Industry Minister Saw Mya Thein, who told the Burmese-language daily that a halt to the project was due to local opposition.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation has partnered with local conglomerate A1 Group of Companies to undertake preliminary field research at the site of the planned power plant.

“The companies have been doing surveys. Because [people] are rejecting this, they have stopped,” Saw Mya Thein was quoted as saying. “The companies also don’t want to continue. The chief minister has also asked them to stop.”

Read More: http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/irrawaddy-division-coal-power-plant-grounded-on-local-pushback.html