BURMA

Clashes Likely To Delay Burma-China Pipeline Start-Up: Official

By AUNG HLA TUN / REUTERS WRITER| Monday, May 13, 2013 |

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The Chinese-backed Shwe gas pipeline runs from an offshore site in the Bay of Bengal to Kyauk Phyu beach in Burma’s western Arakan State. (Photo: Ko Soe / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON—Security concerns will likely delay the first shipments of gas and oil from the Burma coast to China through a new pipeline running across territory controlled by ethnic militia groups, a Burma energy official said on Saturday.

Construction of the 793-km pipeline will be completed by the end of May, according to Li Zilin, vice chairman of South East Asia Gas Pipeline Company, a conglomerate of Chinese and Burma companies.

“Technically the gas pipeline is ready, but I’m not just sure when the situation along its route will allow it to operate,” said a senior Energy Ministry official who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The official said operations were likely to be delayed due to recent clashes between government forces and ethnic militia fighters in Shan State, as well as “fierce fighting” with the Kachin Independence Army in Kachin State, a northern state that borders China.

The pipeline will be a conduit for gas from the Shwe fields off the coast of Arakan State, a western state bordering Bangladesh, to China’s Yunnan Province.

It will also transport oil from the Middle East and Africa overland across Burma, allowing China to avoid using the Straits of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

The project has also sparked protests in Manday Island where the pipeline begins and residents say land has been confiscated to make way for a deep sea port.

New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the government to drop charges against 10 protesters accused of illegally organizing a demonstration and are scheduled to appear in court May 13. It said the detainees sought permits to protest twice but were denied after being told Manday Island was under a state of emergency.

“We are waiting to have transparent talks about our grievances with the authority and the Chinese companies,” Tun Kyi, chairman of Maday Island Development Association, told Reuters.

About 400 villages on Manday Island staged a protest last week. Demands included adequate compensation for land seizures, improved roads and creation of jobs.

Additional reporting by Reuters reporter Jared Ferrie.

source-The Irrawaddy news