We, the undersigned civil society organizations working in Myanmar, are troubled to learn that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 13 December 2016 between Noble Prince Company Limited, Sun and Rainbow Company Limited and Power China International Group Limited for the development and implementation of the Mae Tha Mee Khee Industrial Estate Project, Tanintharyi Renewable Energy Power Project for dam construction on the Tanintharyi river, and other related projects such as a small port and Htee Kee – Kanetheyi road construction in Tanintharyi Region. There has been no information provided to the public about these development projects, and no consultation with local Karen communities or civil society. This represents a severe lack of transparency and violation of international human rights principles. The Karen National Union (KNU) seal was on the invitation letter for the MoU signing ceremony, and KNU chairman Mutu Say Poe attended the ceremony in Dawei. However, it is unclear how the KNU is involved in these development projects.

Furthermore, there are complaints from local Karen communities about the negative impacts of other projects in the KNU Myeik-Dawei (Mergui-Tavoy) District – such as the Myanmar Stark Prestige Plantation (MSPP) palm oil project and the Ban Chaung coal mine – that have not yet been resolved. The KNU must listen to the Karen people and not proceed with more business interests that harm the environment and human rights. We are greatly disappointed that the KNU chairman rushed to attend the signing ceremony, and we do not accept the MoU signed for these projects because the signing is against the will of Karen people. Investment in large-scale infrastructure projects must not come before sustainable peace and political dialogue. New development projects in Tanintharyi must not move forward without transparency and accountability, including a public consultation process with civil society, and the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of local communities.

Contact Persons:

• Naw Pe Tha Law (Tarkapaw Youth Group) – 09422207276
• Saw Frankie (Trip Net) – 09459220956
• Saw Koe (CSLD) – 098740172
• Saw San Ngwe (Southern Youth Organization) – 09793958730

Download this statement in English HERE.

သေဘာထားထုတ္ျပန္ေၾကညာခ်က္ ျမန္မာဘာသာကုိ ဤေနရာတြင္ ရယူႏုိင္သည္။