AlQa'dah 2, 1432, Sep 30, 2011, SPA -- Myanmar said Friday it will stop construction on a controversial hydroelectric dam in the north of the country, in a move expected to ease tensions with ethnic minorities, dpa reported. "I have just received a letter from President Thein Sein," Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann told parliament. "Briefly, he has decided to stop the hydroelectric dam project in Mitzone, in keeping with the wishes of the people." The 6,000-megawatt plant was to be built in the Kachin State, at the start of the Irrawaddy River, which flows the length of the country to the rice-growing delta region. The dam was opposed by the Kachin people, conservationists, farmers who depend on the Irrawaddy for irrigation and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi last week said a decision to shelve the project would encourage unity in the country. Members of the Lower House greeted the decision with applause. "This is not just about unity. This is getting us closer to peace and national reconciliation," said Doibu N'Brang, a parliamentarian for the Unity and Democracy Party. N'Brang's constituency is in the Mitzone region in Kachin. The Kachin are one of a dozen ethnic minorities who have been fighting for autonomy for more than five decades. She said that the project had not yet created much environmental damage. -- SPA
