Posts tagged water

Copper, Gold, and Water

By Martin Saxer | April 19, 2012

Josh Tapper (The Star) reports on the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mines in Mongolia. Oyu Tolgoi, he writes,

is expected to balloon the Central Asian country’s GDP — an estimated $13.28 billion in 2011 — by more than 30 per cent when it starts full production later this year.

But the economic boon is also, for some, an environmental nightmare as the project will allegedly soak up valuable water resources in the already-arid Gobi. While reports vary, the mine plans to use up to 920 litres of water per second.

This is the Gobi Desert and water is scarce. Yet, Rio Tinto – the majority owner of Ivanhoe who has a 66% stake in the mines – says that there is nothing to worry about. The water used will be taken from a non-replenishable groundwater source, which would only be depleted by 20% over the course of 40 years.

This would create surplus reserves for the local population, a company spokesperson said. The company contends that by using Gunii Hooloi, it will not have to deplete limited surface water reserves used by herders.

Things in Mongolia happen at such a mind-blowing speed that making sense of such claims is very difficult. For sure, this is an issue to keep an eye on.

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Myitsone spirits

By Martin Saxer | March 30, 2012

Qin Hui, professor of history at Tsinghua University, has written a three-part series on the suspended Myitsone dam for The Economic Observer. A revised version of the text is now accessible at chinadialogue. Qin argues that while ecological problems are usually foregrounded in the opposition against the dam, the real reason for the fierce and widespread opposition lies elsewhere:

Everywhere in Kachin, you see photos or paintings of Myitsone, the confluence of the Mail and N’Mai rivers and source of the Irrawaddy. The iconic image is visible in any public space and is a familiar sight even in non-Kachin areas (a “Myitsone Restaurant” near the Chinese embassy in Yangon is adorned with the image). It seems that Myitsone is to this region what Mount Fuji is to Japan or Mount Kumgang to North Korea: an emblem of the nation.
Why is this place so significant? Kachin legend has it that Father Dragon and his two sons, Hkrai Nawng and Hkrai Gam, were born here. Locals believe that, if the mountains are damaged, the dragons will awaken and bring disaster. Of course, many people don’t believe this, but the point is the Kachin do – and this is their land isn’t it?

In the third part, the author concludes:

I left Kachin state with two clear impressions. First, the people who cooperated most closely with China in the past (former Burmese Communist Party members, for example) are the fiercest critics of China today. They commonly feel that China cannot be trusted and that the Kachin should seek western support.

This is a very informative piece. Highly recommended.

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Burma Army Tells Locals to Leave Myitsone Area

By Martin Saxer | March 23, 2012

Saw Yan Naing for the Irrawaddy:

Burmese authorities have told hundreds of villagers living near the site of the suspended Myitsone hydropower dam project in Kachin State to leave the area within 10 days or face the consequences, according to a local group monitoring the project.

These are resettled people who came back to their original villages after Myanmar’s president Thein Sein put the dam project on hold last September. China Power Investment (CPI) and Asia World, its Burmese partner, still have good friends in high places, it seems. And they have clearly not given up.

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The next gorge – reviving the West Seti dam project with Chinese help

By Martin Saxer | March 8, 2012

Its official: last Wednesday, the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nepal government regarding the construction of the much-contested West Seti Hydro Electricity Project, eKantipur reports. GTGC gets a 75 percent stake in the 750 MW project; the Nepal Electricity Authority will hold 25 percent and CTGC has promised to help them obtain a Chinese bank loan to shoulder the investment.

There is no question that Nepal and especially the Kathmandu Valley lack electricity. However, West Seti is in far-western Nepal and the plan is to export most of the electricity to India. The dam has a long and complicated history. For sixteen years, the Australia-based multinational Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation (SMEC) held a licence to develop the project. Chinese Banks as well as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had agreed to provide loans. About 13,000 people would have to be resettled and the Maoists said in 2009 that they would not allow the operation of the dam. After Kathmandu-based NGO WAFED showed that the project violated several of ADB’s policies (reports here and here), the bank pulled out in 2010. Finally, in summer 2011, Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation (SMEC) lost its licence.

Now, the Maoist-led government comes back to the plan and provides the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC) with a next gorge for their ambitions.

 

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Farming in Tajikistan and Afghanistan

By Martin Saxer | February 23, 2012

Mark Vinson for The Jamestown Foundation (via Asia Times online) on a Chinese agricultural project in Tajikistan:

Chinese officials have pledged US$2 million of direct investment, including new technology and technical assistance in an effort to revitalize the land, which in recent years has become non-arable through poor management. According to the agreement, the Chinese will only be allowed to sell crops produced on that land in Tajik markets.

Sounds like a reasonalbe deal. However, Tajikistan has handed over more then 1,000 square km of disputed territory to China last year and there is a strong opposition against the current deal. Critics suspect that the companies coming in will privilege Chinese workers:

Faromarzi Fosil, a Tajik journalist, in an article entitled, “Tajiks go to Russia and Chinese come to Tajikistan?” expresses this sentiment, “It is clear that Chinese companies [in Tajikistan] give privileges to their fellow countrymen. What should the people of Tajikistan do? And another question: if the Chinese and other foreigners build all the roads, power plants, companies, and farms then why do we even need our own ministries?”

Similar Chinese investments in the agricultural sector have recently been announced in Afghanistan. The plan is to refurbish and old, unfinished irrigation system. Farid Behbud (Pukhtoonistan Gazette) writes:

The Chinese-initiated project would irrigate thousands of hectares of farmland in Parwan and neighboring Kapisa and Kabul provinces, said some local people.

The logic in both cases is that poor management and poor infrastructure diminish agricultural output. That might well be the case. What I wonder, however, is whether and how both projects approach existing local systems of water rights.

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Rebels, Resources, Religion

By Martin Saxer | February 3, 2012

It is sometimes difficult to follow and make sense of the events in the conflict between the Kachin army and government troops in northern Burma. The Democratic Voice of Burma reports that

Burmese soldiers have been withdrawn from conflict zones in Kachin state as both sides push for ceasefire talks, but reports from nearby Shan state suggest extra battalions have been deployed to guard the lucrative China-backed Shwe pipeline.

After the decision to halt construction of the Mytsone dam, the Shwe oil and gas pipelines is the most important piece of Chinese investment in Burma. The two pipelines are currently under construction and the first gas is expected to flow in April 2013. According to the report, the project will eventually account for around 6 percent of China’s total energy needs.
ChinaAID, a US-based Christian NGO, reports that around 40,000 refugees from the conflict zone have crossed the border to Yunnan. The NGO cites a pastor:

For many years, Burmese Christians who do business and have relatives in Yingjiang have regularly attended our church services.  And brothers and sisters here also frequently travel to Burma to visit relatives and friends. In fact, we and they are as close as flesh and blood.

ChinaAID calls out to “to brothers and sisters in China and overseas” for prayers and financial assistance.
At the same time, the Yunnan International Power Investment Co. invests in a new church, as Pal Nyiri notes in his blog:

Yunnan International Power Investment Co., a daughter of China State Grid, inaugurated a Baptist church at the resettlement village built for villagers resettled from the site of the now-suspended Myitsone Dam. Does that mean that those already resettled will stay where they are?

Rebels, (Christian) religion, and (energy) resources – an all important triangle.

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