Talk:Myitsone Dam

Untitled
The UK-based Kachin National Organization (KNO) is planning to protest the Myitsone Dam construction in front of the Burmese Embassies in the UK, Japan, Australia and USA on 5th February 2010.Marcus334 (talk) 05:53, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

Conflict of interest
If any editor of this page has conflict of interest, may I remind that Wikipedia's acceptable use policy requires to declare it before contributing. Thanks. S  WH® talk 06:45, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

Proposed changes
Hi – some key facts are missing from the intro that would push it more towards NPOV. I’ve suggested some changes and included references in templates (only for the changes, I haven’t included the references from the article). Could someone please review these and feedback either here or on my talk page? Please note that I have a conflict of interest – I work for Bell Pottinger and represent China Power Investment Corporation. See my user page. I will post on COIN. Thanks. Jthomlinson1 (talk) 14:40, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

Paragraph 1


 * 1. “…lit. the Confluence Dam) is a large dam and hydroelectric power development project on the Irawaddy River…” As its name suggests the project is located on the confluence of two rivers (see this from Reuters). Suggest the following:


 * …is a large dam and hydroelectric power development project at the confluence of the Mali and N’mai rivers and the source of the Irawaddy River (Ayeyawady River) in Burma (Myanmar).


 * 2. “The dam …. is being built by Burmese government contractors (Asia World) and the China Power Investment Corporation (CPI).”


 * This doesn’t quite give the full picture. CPI, the Myanmar Government and Asia World are partners in the Upstream Ayeyawady Confluence Basin Hydropower Co (ACHC) and it is ACHC that is building the dam. See this from Burma New International:


 * CPI’s Burmese subsidiary ACHC is 80% owned by CPI, while Burma’s Ministry of Electric Power owns a 15% stake and Asia World—a firm controlled by the controversial tycoon Steven Law—owns the remaining 5% of ACHC.


 * Suggest the following:
 * The dam, planned to be 1,310 m (4,297.9 ft) long and 139.6 m (458.0 ft) high, is to be built by the Upstream Ayeyawady Confluence Basin Hydropower Company, a joint venture between the China Power Investment Corporation (CPI), the Burmese Government’s Ministry of Electric Power and the Asia World Company.


 * 3. “It is expected to provide between 3,600 to 6,000 megawatts of electricity primarily for Yunnan, China.” – as the Reuters source also makes clear, the dam’s capacity will be 6,000 MW.

Paragraph 2


 * 1. “The dam project has been controversial in Burma due to its enormous flooding area, environmental impacts, location on the Sagaing fault line…” – this from the NYT shows it’s actually 60 miles from the fault line. Suggest:


 * The dam project has been controversial in Burma due to its enormous flooding area, environmental impacts, location 60 miles from the Sagaing fault line…


 * 2. “The Burmese public regards the Irrawaddy River as the birthplace of Burmese civilization and protests against although the Chinese market guarantees the dam’s electricity sales, to many Burmese, Myitsone represents growing Chinese influence in Burma, which they perceive as "exploitative" to the country hitherto isolated by Western economic sanctions.”


 * It should be included that the Chinese market guarantees the dam’s electricity sales – see this from Xinhua.


 * Suggest:


 * The Burmese public regards the Irrawaddy River as the birthplace of Burmese civilization and although the Chinese market guarantees the dam’s electricity sales, to many Burmese, Myitsone represents growing Chinese influence…”

Firstly, thank you for declaring COI. Few users do. I personally have no problems with the suggested edits above. S WH® talk 02:28, 29 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Hi  S  WH®, thanks for getting back to me here and for your introduction on my talk page. I've updated these two paragraphs in line with the suggestions here in my sandbox. If you're okay with them would you mind pasting them across? Because of the COI I prefer that I don't do it directly. Thanks. Jthomlinson1 (talk) 18:54, 5 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks Jthomlinson1. I have pasted it. If you have further suggestions about any section, please do so. Your suggestions can be about anything! Don't let COI hinder you. None of us is perfectly neutral anyway!   S  WH® talk 02:04, 6 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks very much  S  WH®, really appreciate your help and comments. Jthomlinson1 (talk) 12:26, 6 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Hi  S  WH®, in the Economics section, there are a couple of stats that would help to put the scale of the project into some context in terms of Burma’s current power consumption and economic output, as well as the fact – which isn’t quite made clear in the current version – that the 10% of power generated that’s going to the Burmese government will actually be free. I’ve updated my sandbox again as before, with the references in templates. My suggestions are in bold – would you mind taking a look? Jthomlinson1 (talk) 11:46, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Hi  S  WH®, any thoughts on this? Thanks. Jthomlinson1 (talk) 13:59, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

Yunnan not the primary market
Hi there, I posted this a while back while I was working with Soewinhan who's done a lot of work on this article. My COI is that CPI is my client as per my user page. I've also got some suggestions in my sandbox, where I've highlighted additional stats in bold. Thanks. Jthomlinson1 (talk) 17:59, 5 February 2016 (UTC)

As CPI's head of public affairs pointed out in this article from the Myanmar Times, Myanmar gets the first 10pc of the electricity for free and then gets first claim on anything generated after that for a negotiated price. Yunnan has an electricity surplus and doesn't need power from Myanmar.

In the intro, after 'It is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity primarily for Yunnan, China,' could I suggest the following:


 * "In June 2015, CPI questioned whether China was the electricity’s primary market and stated that Myanmar would have first claim on the electricity generated, with the remainder sold for export."

Please note that I have a COI - I work for Bell Pottinger and CPI is my client. Thanks. Jthomlinson1 (talk) 22:48, 7 September 2015 (UTC)
 * Posted version: "CPI contended that China would not be the electricity's primary market and stated that Myanmar would have first claim on the electricity generated, with the remainder sold for export. Opponents remained skeptical because most Burmese are not connected to the electrical grid and doubted that the dam would improve their livelihood." It is important to preserve the context of the source that you cited. It would not have been appropriate to present only what CPI told the Myanmar Times while leaving out the second half of the paragraph your citation refers to. Thanks, Altamel (talk) 02:19, 6 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Thanks Altamel – did you also have a look at the suggestions in bold in the Economics section here in my sandbox? Thanks. Jthomlinson1 (talk) 12:14, 8 February 2016 (UTC)


 * I have, and I am not comfortable with the wording, as it carries a very strong slant in favor of the dam project. Using the word "free" directly contradicts the last sentence of the paragraph, "the government economic calculations have been criticized for not considering potential environmental and societal impacts." "Free" is an oversimplification, and for the best interest of our listeners, an article on so controversial a subject should lean further toward nuance rather than labels. Altamel (talk) 05:24, 5 March 2016 (UTC)

External links modified (February 2018)
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100106124049/http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=10064 to http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=10064
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20111119030521/http://www.mmtimes.com/2011/news/597/news59707.html to http://www.mmtimes.com/2011/news/597/news59707.html

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