The Dawei Special Economic Zone is a controversial industrial area proposed in Taninthayri Region, Myanmar. Visiting Dawei, Mai Lan finds that despite “initial construction” activities now claimed by the developer as 65% complete, many local people remain in the dark about the project, and the impact it could have.
Coal-power complex brings misery and ecological risk to local people in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta
Three coal-fired energy plants have started construction in the coastal Trà Vinh province of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. The construction of the enormous coal-based energy infrastructure has raised concern over the effects of pollution on the coastal and deltaic ecosystems and the consequences to the farming and fishing-based livelihoods nearby.
Environmental protection begins with protecting human rights
From ensuring access to natural resources to protection against exposure to health-damaging pollution, a clean and healthy environment and the fulfillment of human rights cannot be separated. In this Commons Comment, Carl Middleton and Aadi Samarkand argue that while there is a long way to go to in recognizing the right to a healthy environment in Southeast Asia, some windows of opportunity exist.
Lawyers defending the public interest
Sor.Rattanamanee Polkla is a public interest lawyer, and co-founder of the Community Resources Centre based in Bangkok. In this article, she talks with Carl Middleton about how public interest lawyers in Thailand work to enforce and reform the law in the interest of the public, case by case.
High costs of Cambodia’s Lower Sesan 2 hydropower dams
The Lower Sesan 2 hydropower dam in Cambodia will affect tens of thousands of people if built. This article shows how lessons have not been learned from past upstream dam construction in Vietnam, and the project will mainly reap profits for the dam developers, rather that result in “poverty reduction”.
Thailand’s floodway project needs local participation
Thailand’s government is embarking on a multimillion baht “floodway project” to build a series of dykes and dams for flood management. Ms. Jittra Indrawittayananta, a woman community leader, argues that the project will exacerbate flooding and reminds us that communities need to be part of the decisions on flood infrastructure projects.