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Attack won't stop Myanmar dam
: Thai firm
Attack won't stop Myanmar dam
: Thai firm
Wednesday September 05, 2007
Thailand's biggest utility company vowed Wednesday to press ahead with its one-billion-dollar dam project in eastern Myanmar, despite an attack by ethnic rebels that killed a worker last weekend.
Karen rebels killed a Thai technician who was surveying the dam site on the Salween River on Sunday, according to Myanmar's official media.
The state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) immediately evacuated the remaining 42 workers and announced it was suspending the project.
But EGAT said Wednesday that it would send workers back to the site as soon as Myanmar reinforces security.
"We will continue with the project after the Myanmar side promised to step up security to ensure the safety of our staff," said EGAT official Apichart Dilogsopon.
"The project is a joint venture between Thailand and Myanmar. We must go ahead with it despite the risks," he told AFP.
Apichart said that Myanmar could send its own technicians to finish the survey work, while the company reassures its staff about their safety in Myanmar.
Another Thai man was killed last year when he stepped on a landmine while surveying for the dam, which will produce 1,200 megawatts of electricity.
Thailand is increasingly turning to military-ruled Myanmar to meet its growing energy needs, seeking to build hydropower dams while tapping the country's natural gas reserves.
Critics say the dam projects will displace ethnic Karen villagers while bringing few real benefits to the people living in the region.
Fijilive
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