仰光总主教谴责可能恢复有争议的中国项目。大坝将是第一个阻挡缅甸文明摇篮的伊洛瓦底江（ Irrawaddy River）。该位神长攻击「超级大国的贪婪」。「相信我们的领导人将抵制一切破坏我们国家命运和尊严的努力。」

仰光（亚洲新闻） - 米特斯通大坝是「缅甸人民的死刑判决」：缅甸首位枢机仰光总主教貌波对于在马里河和N'Mai河汇合处恢复壮观的中国项目发出严厉警告。该河在北部克钦邦联合组建伊洛瓦底江。

在中国国家电力投资公司的控制下，这座6400兆瓦的工厂将成为第一座阻挡伊洛瓦底江，即缅甸文明摇篮的大坝。 2011年，对北京盛怒，当时的缅甸总统登盛（Thein Sein）暂停了建设工作。军政府的决定是在工程使大坝附近人口居住环境恶化，几次民众抗议之后作出的。昂山素姬（Aung San Suu Kyi）也反对这个项目。

该遗址的开放导致15,000名居民被迫流离失所，分散在该地区的60个村庄。如今，流离失所者再次敦促政府取消该项目。在1月25日的一份声明中，他们表示他们将继续反对该项目，尽管有人试图通过削减撤离后收到的援助来使他们保持沉默。本月较早时候，一些非政府组织批评中国驻缅甸大使馆发表声明称，克钦族公民不反对恢复该项目。

内比都尚未明确表态。罗兴亚人道主义危机之后的国际孤立使缅甸越来越依赖中国的政治和经济支持。上周，在克钦邦三名高级部长被迫辞职之后，政府可能很快屈服于来自北京的压力的担忧有所增加，这已经被叛乱分子和政府军之间的冲突所摧毁。其中包括反对大坝的自然资源和环境部长拉昂（U H La Aung）。以下为貌波枢机的讯息：

We the people of Myanmar, with tears in our eyes, our hearts shaken by fear and sorrow, knock at the doors of our rulers and the international community.  Faced with the sad prospect of losing our mother Irrawaddy, through Myitstone dam, to the greed of a superpower, every Myanmar citizen pleads with all people of good will to come to the support of the poor of Myanmar.

Irrawaddy is not a river to us; she is not a commodity to be bartered.  She is the sacred mother of every Myanmar people.  Her history is intertwined with the history of Myanmar. Like the jewel around the neck of our nation, Irrawaddy traverses through the whole nation crossing thousands of miles. She is witness to our sorrows, joys and wounded history.   She is our hope, she is our destiny.

For a nation of agriculture, where 80 per cent of the people live by farming, Irrawaddy is an unfailing accompanier in their livelihood.   Her Majesty, her dancing down the mountains, her mystic meandering through the soul of the nation, her generosity to the poor farmers, make Irrawaddy the nations' sacred identity.  For thousands of sacred sites along the banks of Irrawaddy, this river is the most sacred symbol of our nation.

This sacred mother is now open for trade.   Big and powerful countries need everything from this nation. For decades, they abused its strategic position for threatening Myanmar. They commodified our girls and women through human trafficking in the northern states of Myanmar.  The same sad fate now falls on our Mother Irrawaddy.

The recent events in the country have further, unfortunately increased the leverage of certain countries over our nation.  Threats and black mail are used with impunity.          

This is the moment of heart-wrenching tragedy. 

Myitstone dam is the death sentence to the people of Myanmar. The grim prospect of millions of farmers losing their livelihood, the abuse of sacred sites along the rivers, the death and destruction of the precious flora and fauna of our dear nation, is becoming a nightmarish reality.  This dam is an environmental disaster. Myitstone dam is a toxic cognac for chronic war.  Peace will fade in the horizon.  A bleak future awaits the people of Myanmar. We do not deserve this.

For the peaceful future, Myitstone dam must be stopped.  The former President U Thein Sein took the courageous step of stopping the dam work.  We believe all those inside Myanmar will support the move to abrogate any treaty that abuses Mother Irrawaddy.  Those who support the restarting Myitstone dam are like sons and daughter who commodify their parents for monetary gains.  History will never forgive those who sell our mother Irrawaddy.

On behalf of all the people of Myanmar, especially the poor farmers, we earnestly request all stakeholders to stop their attempts to abuse our mother Irrawaddy.  We earnestly request the people of Myanmar to join hands in protecting the dignity of our mother Irrawaddy.  We are hopeful that our leaders will resist all efforts to destroy our nation's destiny and dignity. 

+Charles Cardinal Maung Bo., DD,SDB

Archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar