Residents residing near Pin Pat steel mill are worried as the military council is trying to re-operate the suspended steel mill, which was opposed by the local community, in Nam Si village-tract in Taunggyi Township in southern Shan State.
Nineteen of 22 workshops in Pin Pat steel mill have successfully started trial operation in early June. Plan is under way to fully operate the remaining three workshops soon, Khun Oo, Director of Pa-O Youth Organization (PYO) said.
“A series of meetings were held in Nay Pyi Taw, Russia, and the steel mill. After meeting with some of the local residents, we made a consultation in the form of an EIA to get an agreement on the work they did. These are obvious situations. We can know it by looking at it. The buildings are under construction. There are renovation works,” he said.
It has been about six years since Pin Pat steel mill stopped its operation. Since the military coup in 2021, the military council’s Chairman Min Aung Hlaing personally visited the factory and has been working to resume the operation of mill, according to the Pa-O Youth Association.
In addition to it, local residents said they are worried as the junta conducts a test-run of 19 workshops.
Khun Oo said: “The first concern of the locals is agriculture. The people have to earn their living by relying on Thabet creek. The main concern is whether their land will be lost. The second concern is they have to earn their living and do farming by relying on Thabet creek.”
The operation of Pin Pat steel mill affected livelihood activities of about 35,000 people living along Thabet Creek and damaged farmlands, rivers and creeks. Local residents are facing natural and health problems and air pollutions, the PYO said.
“The pollution of this creek will worsen the situations for drinking water, agriculture and animals. I am very worried about the ecosystem. It may cause a lot of damages to the creek,” Khun Oo continued.
A local whose land was confiscated for the Pin Pat steel mill said: “There were many losses. Our ethnic people solve all kinds of issues such as economy, health and religion only with this land and agriculture.”
The main purpose of resuming the Pin Pat steel mill is to increase revenue for the military council. The iron and ore produced from Pin Pat steel mill are also intended to be used for the military’s weapons industry, according to the PYO.
Military Council’s chair Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and Russian Foreign Minister Mr. Sergey Lavrov in Nay Pyi Taw in August 2023. At the meeting, they discussed the plan to speed up Pin Pat steel mill. The agreement was reached between the two countries on technical cooperation in nuclear power plant in early October, the state-owned media reported.
Pin Pat steel mill was built by the Myanmar military-owned Myanmar Economic Corporation and the Russian state-owned Tyazhpromexport (TPE) at a cost of 137.5 million euros, but the residents want it to be closed permanently because it does not weigh the pros and cons.
More than 11,000 acres of land were forcibly confiscated for a small amount of money when the construction of the steel mill project started.
More than 50 people from 15 houses were also forcibly relocated, according to the PYO.
The steel mill project started in 2006. In the tenure of the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government in 2017, the factory was suspended. Following the 2021 coup, the military council is trying to resume the operation of the mill.
Sent by NMG