User:Marcus334/Weigyi Dam

The Weigyi Dam is one of five proposed hydroelectric dam projects on the Salween River in Burma. It is planned to be in Papun District, Karen State, just across from Mae Sariang District of Mae Hong Son Province in Northern Thailand. This will be the second largest capacity hydrolectric dam in Burma, if completed.

Background
On December 9, 2005, The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Burma for the development of the dam. The dam is planned to provide electricity forThailand and foreign income for the Burmese Government.

Design
The planned dam height is 168 m with a maximum water elevation of220 m Amsl. Maximum installed capacity is planned between 4,540 and 5,600 MW. A640 km2 reservoir, that will go as far as 400 km to the north, will be created by the Dam. The Dagwin Dam, or Lower Salween Dam on the border between Thailand’s Mae Hong Son Province and Burma’s Karen State, is planned to serve as a pumped storage facility for the upriver Weigyi Dam.

Construction
The Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) will jointly manage the project, with possible Chinese collaboration of the Sinohydro Corporation, China Southern Power Grid Company and China Three Gorges Project Corporation. the The Dam's Construction has not yet begun. However, the Htoo Company, with close ties to SPDC Chairman Than Shwe, has been logging the teak forests in the planned reservoir area.

Impact
28 villages, including the ancient towns of Karenni, Bawlake and Pasaung, will be submerged. Over 30,000 people, including the last remaining 1,000 Yin Ta Lai people, will be displaced from their homeland. Livelihoods will be destroyed and the culture of Karenni people will be devestated, as most of their sacred historical sites will be submerged. The entire remaining population of just 1,000 Yin Ta Lai people will face extinction due to scattering and livelihoods changes caused by displacement. The tribal people who live around the dam site and in the reservoir basin will face forced relocation, land confiscation, human rights abuses and landmine casualties, if the project is implemented as the Lawpita Hydropower Project was. Like Lawpita, the Weigyi dam site is already an active armed conflict zone.

External sources

 * Damning the Yin Ta La This 13-minute film provides a rare glimpse into the remote heart of Karenni State in eastern Burma and the life of the Yin Ta Lai, of whom only 1,000 remain.