Myanmar-China pipeline firms must share profits, says Shan MP
Namsan Township MP Aung Tun has called in parliament
for the Burmese and Chinese oil and gas firms who operate pipelines through Kyaukme
District in northern Shan State to pay a percentage of profits to the Shan
State government.
“The oil and gas pipeline operations of Myanmar and
China should pay about a 5 percent profit share to the Shan State regional government,”
the Ta’ang (Palaung) National Party representative said, addressing lawmakers
yesterday at a parliamentary session in Shan State capital Taunggyi.
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| Aung Tun, an MP from the Ta’ang (Palaung) National Party representing Namsan Township Constituency No. 2 |
“If this pipeline project impacts upon the local
population, it is the Shan State government’s responsibility to take care of
the people,” said Aung Tun. “My question is that if such things happen, how
will they help local people?”
His question was answered by Shan State Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental
Conservation Dr. Nyi Nyi Aung, who suggested that the matter be raised
at a national level in Naypyidaw.
“This question cannot be answered at a state level,”
he said. “It is not [the regional government’s] responsibility.”
The controversial Sino-Myanmar
pipeline is financed by the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in
coordination with state-owned Myanma Oil & Gas Enterprise. It spans from
Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State, western Burma, to Kunming in China’s southwestern
Yunnan Province, a distance of 771 kilometres. Operations on the project were
initiated in 2009. The pipeline carrying natural gas to China was opened in
October 2013, and the pipeline transporting crude oil was completed in August
2014.
However the US$2.5 billion project has
incurred the wrath of protesters in Burma who claim that the project will have
adverse social and environmental impacts.
But for China the trans-Burmese
pipeline carves a short-cut that allows its ships from Africa and the Middle
East to avoid the treacherous and time-consuming Malacca Straits voyage.
Beijing has maintained pressure on successive Burmese governments not to waver
in the same way that the Myitsone Dam hydropower in Kachin State was halted by
public opinion.
The current Shan State parliament session
is scheduled from 28 August to 1 September. Other items tabled for debate include
state finance, and infrastructure including the laying of telecommunications
lines in rural areas.
Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Tags: General, News
