Aftershocks Along Burma's Mekong - Reef-blasting and military-style development in Eastern Shan State

Published: August 2003
Organization: Lahu National Development Organization

Many of the Lahu in Shan State live along the Mekong River, and like the other peoples living and depending on the river, were not consulted about plans to blast the Mekong reefs. The first they knew about the plans were when the explosions began, destroying forever sections of the river which had sustained them physically and spiritually for generations.

Secrecy and lack of consultation with affected communities are common aspects of development projects under the military regime in Burma. To this day, the Burmese state-run media has not even mentioned the Mekong reef-blasting program to the general public. What is more alarming is that this navigation improvement project is a regional initiative under the Greater Mekong Subregion Program of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and should have been carried out according to rigorous international standards, ensuring proper environmental and social impact assessments and participation of all affected communities