Burma Suspends China Dam Project

Posted September 30th, 2011 at 2:45 am (UTC-5)
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Burma's president said Friday that construction of a Chinese-backed hydroelectric dam would be suspended.

In a note read to Parliament, President Thein Sein said the Myitsone dam, Burma's largest hydroelectric project, would be shelved during the term of his government.

The announcement was a rare gesture to environmentalists and Burma's opposition pro-democracy movement.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said the dam in Kachin state would force the relocation of thousands of villagers and threaten the ecology of the Irrawaddy River.