Fourteen years after public protests forced construction to stop, Myanmar is preparing to restart the $3.6 billion (£2.8 billion) Myitsone hydropower project in Kachin State. The China-backed dam would create a reservoir roughly the size of Singapore and generate up to 6 gigawatts (GW) of electricity. The administration led by military chief and president Min Aung Hlaing wants the project completed within eight years. Reuters reported on 1 July that the plan had been discussed privately by officials, including Kachin State chief minister Khet Htein Nan. The dam is planned at the meeting point of the Mali and Nmai rivers, which form the headwaters of the Irrawaddy. Construction was suspended in 2011 by then-president Thein Sein after large public protests over environmental damage and the displacement of communities. “It will begin shortly,” Htet Paing Htoo, a member of the Kachin State parliament, told Reuters. “An official announcement will be released. The president himself has already stated that it will be restarted.” The proposed restart follows Min Aung Hlaing's visit to China, which has supported the project for years.
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