China to fully fund $20-billion rail link

“We heard that China will cover the entire cost of the railway linking Kyaukphyu to Kunming. We have been conducting feasibility surveys and are nearly finished with the first stage. This is a joint project between China and the Ministry of Railway Transport and I don’t know which company will be permitted to construct [the project],” said Myint Wai, the ministry’s general manager.

The two governments signed a memorandum of understanding on the rail project in April 2011. The US$20-billion project (Bt590-billion) was signed after President Thein Sein took office, but no information about it has been released to the public.

At present, the construction of the Kyaukphyu-Yunnan oil-and-natural-gas pipeline project is nearly complete and natural gas could soon be sent to China. However, locals have been staging protests against the project for land confiscation, lack of compensation and lack of transparency regarding the project. 

Tun Kyi from Shwe Gas Movement said: “Locals still have not reached a settlement for forced land confiscation and inadequate or no compensation regarding the Shwe natural-gas project, the deep-sea port [project], and the oil and gas project. We protested against this project at Maday Island [in Kyaukphyu] on April 18. Ten leaders who applied for the protest permit were arrested on April 19. The court released them today [Monday] on bail. 

“[The government] has not released anything about environmental assessments to the residents. We, residents, don’t know anything about this rail project... [they] need to inform the locals what they are doing.”