"Right now the draft and field surveys are complete. The environmental management plan is underway and the EIA is being finalised. Two public meetings will be held and they could all be completed in January or February 2013,” said Tin Maung Swe, the chairperson of the supporting team for the development of the zone.
Zaw Aung, a researcher from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, said an EIA will show if a project has positive and negative impacts on the environment before actual construction begins.
The Team Engineering Group, Environmental Research Group, and Pamya Consultant from Thailand have been hired for the detailed assessment of the environmental impact of the project.
The industrial project will have a total area of 250 square metres and will be located in Ye Phyu Township in southern Myanmar.
The multibillion zone will be established in accordance with the Myanmar Special Economic Zone Law (no.8/2011).
Most government projects in the past never had to produce an EIA before they were built.
Projects such as the Kaladan River All-Round Development, for instance, produced its EIA after the project had started.
