Myanmar hydroelectric project to proceed amid objections

Myanmar will go ahead with construction of a major dam along its main river despite opposition from ethnic minorities and environmentalists.

Ethnic Kachin people and environmental groups say the Myanmar-China Myitsone Hydroelectric Project in Kachin state will damage the Irrawaddy River and submerge a culturally important site where the Malikha and Maykha rivers meet and form it.

They pointed out that the $3.6 billion dam would flood an area the size of Singapore, reports Google.

Myanmar's Electric Power Minister Zaw Min said construction of the dam, to be built by China, would proceed despite the objections.

Zaw Min said the dam will take eight years to construct and Myanmar will receive 10 percent of the electricity it generates.

Kachin and environmental groups have formed a "Save the Irrawaddy" movement to stop the dam.

Zaw Min, however, said the government "will not back down."