After killing at least nine people in the Caribbean, Maria slammed into Puerto Rico’s southeast coast at daybreak before churning across the US territory which is home to 3.4 million.

As tens of thousands of people hunkered down in shelters in the capital San Juan, Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz broke down in tears as she spoke of the utter devastation she had witnessed.

“Many parts of San Juan are completely flooded,” Yulin Cruz told reporters in one of the shelters whose roof swayed as she spoke.

“Our life as we know it has changed… There is a lot of pain and a lot of devastation.”

Maria made landfall as a Category Four storm on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale, initially packing winds of a little over 150 mph (240 kph) before easing slightly as it powered towards San Juan.

“The wind sounds like a woman screaming at the top of her lungs!” Mike Theiss wrote on Twitter, sheltering in a safe room in the eye of the storm.

“We are getting absolutely hammered right now.”

Imy Rigau, who was riding out the storm in her apartment in San Juan, said water had “cascaded” through her ceiling.

“We are taking refuge in the hallway as there is about a foot of water in my apartment,” she told AFP.

“I boarded up the windows but with all of this, it seems they are going to be blown away. One of them was smashed up, so we are here in the hallway where there are no windows.”

500 shelters

Many of the most vulnerable of Puerto Rico’s residents took cover in the 500 shelters set up around the island, with officials warning of life-threatening floods.

Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rossello imposed a 6:00 pm to 6:00 am curfew until Saturday and warned of flooding and mudslides from what he called “the most devastating storm in a century.”

“I urge the people of Puerto Rico to commit to peace, understanding, and good judgment during these difficult times for our island,” he said.

Puerto Rico’s most catastrophic hurricane was back in 1928 when Hurricane Okeechobee — also known as San Felipe Segundo — killed 300 people.

Although engineers had managed to restore power to most of the island after the recent Hurricane Irma, Maria caused a new black-out across the island.

“There is no power on the island and there is very little communications,” according to Ricardo Castrodad, a public health official with the US Coast Guard’s San Juan sector.

“As soon as the storm passes and weather conditions are safe, Coast Guard personnel will begin assessments of ports, waterways and port facilities to identify damage and obstructions in the waterways, before they can order the opening of the ports.”

Brock Long, who heads the US federal government’s emergency agency FEMA, warned it could take days for power to be restored on Puerto Rico and the smaller US Virgin Islands which have also been badly hit by Maria.

Dominica devastation

The US and British Virgin Islands — still struggling to recover from the devastation of Irma — are also on alert, along with the Turks and Caicos Islands and parts of the Dominican Republic.

Maria has already torn through several Caribbean islands, leaving at least seven people dead on the island of Dominica.

Communications to Dominica have been largely cut, and its airports and ports have been closed.

But an advisor to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, who spoke to the premier by satellite phone, painted a picture of devastation on an island that is home to around 73,000 people.

“It’s difficult to determine the level of fatalities but so far seven are confirmed, as a direct result of the hurricane,” Hartley Henry said in a statement.

Reports from rural communities spoke of a “total destruction of homes, some roadways and crops,” added Henry.

“The country is in a daze — no electricity, no running water — as a result of uprooted pipes in most communities and definitely no landline or cellphone services on island, and that will be for quite a while.”

In the French territory of Guadeloupe, one person was killed by a falling tree as Maria hit, while another died on the seafront.

At least two more are missing after their boat sank off the French territory, while some 40 percent of households were without power.

In the US Virgin Islands, locals reported horizontal rain and trees swirling in the wind.

“Very violent and intense right now as we have just begun to experience hurricane force winds,” said 31-year-old Coral Megahy, hunkered down on St Croix island.

There had been fears that Maria could wreak fresh havoc on islands that were already flattened by Category Five hurricane Irma earlier in the month.

Reports suggested St Martin, a French-Dutch island that was among the most severely hit by Irma with 14 dead, had escaped the worst this time around.

Britain, France and the Netherlands had boosted resources in their Caribbean territories ahead of Maria, after heavy criticism of poor preparations for Irma.

All three European countries have increased their troop deployments to the region after complaints of looting and lawlessness after Irma.

On the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday met with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi, who is active among Asean members to help end the problem.

Wang said the recent violent incidents in Rakhine state in Myanmar were unacceptable but at the same time the Myanmar government’s efforts to maintain social stability were understandable, according to China’s state run Xinhua News Agency.

The Rohingya issue is complex and sensitive and dates back a long time, Wang said.

It is imperative to reduce tensions, avoid harming innocent people, prevent the spread of the humanitarian crisis, and encourage and support Myanmar and Bangladesh in their efforts to find a solution through dialogue and consultations, Wang said.

China is willing to work with the international community to continue to play a constructive role, he said.

Retno said Indonesia, as the largest Muslim nation, is deeply concerned about the situation in Rakhine state and is willing to play a positive role in helping Myanmar and Bangladesh avert deterioration of the situation and find a solution.

More than 420,000 people, mostly Muslim Rohingya, have fled Rakhine state since late last month, after an insurgent attack on a security outpost prompted a “clearance operation” by the Myanmar army.

Suu Kyi, who skipped the UN General Assembly, made a national address in Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday. Her government has come under severe criticism from the international community, in particular the UN, for lacking substance to deal with what the UN has called “ethnic cleansing” of the minority.

“The military operation must stop, humanitarian access must be guaranteed and the rule of law restored in the face of what we know is ethnic cleansing,” French President Emmanuel Macron told world leaders gathered for the week of high-level diplomacy as reported by Agence France-Presse.

The United States has been careful not to blame Myanmar’s civilian leadership for the attacks because the country’s military retains control of security operations in troubled areas like northern Rakhine. But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson felt impelled to call Suu Kyi.

While Tillerson welcomed the pledge to crack down on abuses, he also urged both the government and the military “to address deeply troubling allegations of human rights abuses and violations” during the telephone conversation, his spokeswoman said.

Macron and Tillerson’s concerns echoed those of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who issued a blunt demand that Myanmar halt military operations. Britain, meanwhile, suspended training courses for the Myanmar military in light of the violence in Rakhine.

“The authorities in Myanmar must end the military operations and allow unhindered humanitarian access,” Guterres told the General Assembly.

“They must also address the grievances of the Rohingya, whose status has been left unresolved for far too long.”

Suu Kyi, who is the State Counsellor, defended her stance, saying she is not too soft on the military for its operation to force the Rohingya out.

In her interview with Radio Free Asia, Suu Kyi insisted that military “clearance operations” had ended on September 5 although the exodus of refugees is continuing.

“The Rakhine situation has not been calm and peaceful long before we came into power. However, now that the world’s attention is focused on it, it has become overly sensitive to handle. People have been criticising and faulting each other. If you just look at it narrowly instead of effectively, instead of solving the problem you can make it worse,” she said in the interview.

“These comments are not good for the country, of course. But we have to find out how much truth there is or what evidence they have,” she said.

The 69-year-old former photojournalist suffers from lung disease and knows he is going to die — but that has not stopped him pursuing his passion for photography.

He took black and white pictures of other patients at the Assisi Hospice happily involved in various activities, and put 19 of them on display in an exhibition.

Lee said he wanted to send a message that there is no reason to give up on life even in your dying days.

“I didn’t come here to die. I still want to take pictures, there is no reason for me to stop taking pictures,” said Lee, dressed in a hospital gown, speaking softly and haltingly.

“People come with the mindset that when you go to a hospice, you’re going to die. And I wanted to change that. The only way I can do it is through my pictures,” he said.

Lee used to work for magazines in the city-state and in his younger days covered major news events in Southeast Asia.

He is facing the inevitable with calm.

“There’s no point being afraid… If you’re afraid to die, you’re a sad man,” said the divorced father of two sons.

He added that he hoped people would remember him as “a crazy old man”.

The destruction revived horrific memories in Mexico on the anniversary of another massive quake in 1985, the disaster-prone country’s deadliest ever.

It struck just two hours after the country held a national earthquake drill, as it does every year on the anniversary of the 1985 quake, which killed at least 10,000 people.

One of the most gut-wrenching scenes was at the Enrique Rebsamen primary school on Mexico City’s south side, whose three floors collapsed into one, trapping students and teachers inside.

Twenty-one children and five adults were killed, said Major Jose Luis Vergara of the Mexican navy, who was coordinating a rescue effort that involved hundreds of soldiers, police, civilian volunteers and rescue dogs.

He said another 30 to 40 people remained trapped, while 11 children have been rescued so far.

Emergency workers found a teacher and a student alive beneath the rubble and are trying to get them out, he said.

But the situation was precarious. Late into the night, part of the wreckage collapsed as rescuers continued their search.

Local media reports said soldiers had administered oxygen to one trapped child through a tube.

President Enrique Pena Nieto, who rushed to the site, warned the death toll could rise.

“Unfortunately, many people have lost their lives, including children,” he said in a national address.

The devastation struck across a swath of central states and the death toll as of early Wednesday was 216, the head of the national disaster response agency, Luis Felipe Puente, said on Twitter.

In a sign of the ongoing confusion gripping the country, he had at one point put the death toll at 248.

In addition to Mexico City, people were also killed in Puebla, Morelos, Mexico state and Guerrero.

‘Nightmare’

Well after nightfall, rescue crews and volunteers in Mexico City — home to 20 million people — were still clawing through the rubble of dozens of collapsed buildings looking for survivors and bodies.

Rescue workers reported that families were getting WhatsApp messages pleading for help from desperate relatives trapped under debris.

Memories of the devastating 1985 earthquake surged to the surface on what was meant to be a low-key 32nd anniversary.

Adding to the national sense of vulnerability, the quake also came just 12 days after another temblor that killed nearly 100 people and left more than 200 injured, mainly in the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas.

Many in the capital ran outdoors when walls around them swayed and cracked.

“I’m so worried. I can’t stop crying. It’s the same nightmare as in 1985,” Georgina Sanchez, 52, sobbed to AFP in a plaza in the capital.

The quake, which occurred in the early afternoon, caused massive damage in the bustling city centre.

“It was horrible,” said Leiza Visaj Herrera, 27. “I had to hold on to the ground.”

Scenes of chaos erupted in the quake’s aftermath. Traffic jammed to a standstill at blanked-out stop lights, and anxious people ran between vehicles as ambulances tried to make headway, sirens blaring.

In several locations, large crowds of people clambered on buildings that were now piles of stone and tangled metal, trying to pull people out.

Emergency workers held up signs commanding “Silence” so crews could listen for the sounds of any survivors.

Afraid to go home

Patients were evacuated from the capital’s hospitals, wheeled out on beds and wheelchairs.

At one collapsed building in the Roma district, dozens of people dug through rubble as they waited for the arrival of heavy machinery to move the massive chunks of stone. Officials called out for more volunteers, and for water.

Mexico City’s international airport closed for more than three hours following the quake. The stock market was forced to shut.

In Puebla, a picturesque colonial city near the quake’s epicentre, several churches were damaged and one collapsed, killing 11 people, officials said.

Fearful residents whose homes were damaged camped out for the night on the street or in parks.

On the clogged and darkened roads, muggers came out at night to assault motorists.

Trump’s prayers

Officials in several countries responded to the quake with offers of help.

Honduras sent a 36-strong rescue team.

US President Donald Trump, who has forged an antagonistic relationship with Mexico, tweeted: “God bless the people of Mexico City. We are with you and will be there for you.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted: “Devastating news from Mexico City. My thoughts are with those affected by today’s earthquake — Canada will be ready to help our friends.”

Mexico sits atop five tectonic plates, making it prone to earthquakes, and has two long coastlines that are frequently battered by hurricanes.//AFP

London said it had “deep concern” about human rights abuses and would not be resuming the military courses unless there was an “acceptable resolution” to the ongoing Rohingya crisis.

Communal violence has torn through Myanmar’s western Rakhine state since Muslim minority Rohingya militants staged deadly attacks on police posts on August 25.

An army-led fightback has left scores dead and sent more than 420,000 Rohingya fleeing the mainly Buddhist country into neighbouring Bangladesh.

“In light of the ongoing violence in Burma’s Rakhine state, the growing humanitarian crisis it has caused, and our deep concern about the human rights abuses that are taking place, we have decided to suspend the educational courses provided to the Burmese military until there is an acceptable resolution to the current situation.

“We call on the Burmese armed forces to take immediate steps to stop the violence in Rakhine and ensure the protection of all civilians, to allow full access for humanitarian aid and to facilitate the civilian government’s implementation of the Rakhine Advisory Commission’s recommendations in full.”

The year-long commission, led by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan, tasked with healing divisions between the Rohingya and local Buddhists, urged immediate action to heal the divide.

Britain’s junior foreign minister Mark Field has said the UK armed forces provided vocational courses, focused on language training, governance, accountability, ethics, human rights and international law to the Myanmar military.

“Exposing them to how modern militaries operate in a democracy is more effective than isolating them,” he told parliament on September 5.

Britain did not provide combat training, Field said.

“The UK is, and will remain, a very strong supporter of continuing the EU arms embargo” on Myanmar, he added.

Some 150 members of parliament wrote to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on September 6 calling for the training programme to be suspended.

Britain is the former colonial power in Myanmar, which gained independence in 1948.//AFP

Appearing before the 193-member body that emerged from the ashes of World War II, Trump boasted of America’s military strength, signaled he is ready to rip up a nuclear accord with the “murderous regime” in Tehran, and berated US foes from Pyongyang to Caracas.

“The United States has great strength and patience,” Trump said, as he followed in the footsteps of US presidents from Harry Truman to Barack Obama, “but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”

“Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime,” he said, using his Twitter-friendly new nickname for the North Korean dictator. “The United States is ready, willing and able, but hopefully this will not be necessary.”

Throughout the 42-minute remarks, Trump did little to temper his trademark tough-guy language for the assembled statesmen and women, warning that swathes of the world were “going to hell” and declaring any trade with North Korea an “outrage.”

In language some commentators compared to former president George W. Bush’s “axis of evil” speech, Trump pilloried Iran as a corrupt “rogue state” and threatened to rip up the landmark international deal struck in 2015 to curb Tehran’s nuclear program.

“Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States, and I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it,” Trump declared.

“Believe me. It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran’s government end its pursuit of death and destruction.”

But, the US leader added, the greatest threat to the Tehran regime was not the American military but the restless Iranian people.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif responded on Twitter: “Trump’s ignorant hate speech belongs in medieval times — not the 21st century UN — unworthy of a reply. Fake empathy for Iranians fools no one.”

‘America’s interests’

The packed General Assembly hall greeted Trump’s tough rhetoric and calls for nation states — rather than supranational bodies — to form the basis of the global order with some polite clapping.

But a few pauses for applause were met with stony silence.

Trump did not back away, suggesting his populist “America First” campaign rhetoric should be an example to other UN members: “Our respect for sovereignty is also a call for action. All people deserve a government that cares for their safety, their interests.”

“As long as I hold this office, I will defend America’s interests above all else, but in fulfilling our obligations to our nations, we also realize that it’s in everyone’s interests to seek the future where all nations can be sovereign, prosperous and secure.”

After decades in which America has led the drive toward a global rules-based order, Trump indicated his foreign policy would define the national interest much more narrowly.

“For too long the American people were told that mammoth, multinational trade deals, unaccountable international tribunals and powerful global bureaucracies were the best way to promote their success,” Trump said.

“But as those promises flowed, millions of jobs vanished and thousands of factories disappeared.”

The speech provoked strong responses almost immediately — drawing praise from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump notably made no mention of the Middle East peace process — nor of climate change, nor the crisis in Myanmar — during his remarks, and scarcely touched on relations with China and Russia.

But Trump’s tough talk on Iran delighted the Israeli leader who dedicated much of his own later speech to alternating praise for Trump with a promise to fight what he said was an “Iranian Curtain” descending across the Middle East.

In Washington, Trump’s speech was welcomed by many prominent Republicans, including Senator Orrin Hatch, who welcomed Trump’s stark challenge to North Korea’s Kim.

“Good for him,” Hatch told reporters. “It’s about time that somebody talked turkey to that little bastard over there.”

‘Irresponsible’

But foreign policy experts were less impressed, with some saying Trump was attempting to fashion an ad hoc policy doctrine to justify and unite a diverse series of campaign promises and impetuous Tweets.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned the United States would forfeit the trust of the international community if it abandons the nuclear accord with Tehran.

“If the United States were not to adhere to the commitments and trample upon this agreement, this will mean it will carry with it the subsequent lack of trust of countries,” Rouhani, in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, told NBC.

French President Emmanuel Macron, in his own UN address, said ending the deal would be a “grave error, and not respecting it would be irresponsible.”

The report by the World Health Organization (WHO) found there is a lack of new treatments being developed to combat antibiotic-resistant infections, such as tuberculosis which kills around 250,000 people each year.

“There is an urgent need for more investment in research and development for antibiotic-resistant infections including tuberculosis (TB), otherwise we will be forced back to a time when people feared common infections and risked their lives from minor surgery,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

The report also identified 12 classes of deadly bacteria, such as those that cause pneumonia or urinary tract infections, which are increasingly resistant to existing antibiotics and urgently in need of new treatments.

While resistance to antibiotics is inevitable over time, it has been accelerated by the misuse of drugs, the WHO said.

When the most common antibiotics fail to work, more expensive types are prescribed, resulting in longer illness and treatment, often in hospital.

Cases are increasingly reported in which no existing drug works.

“Pharmaceutical companies and researchers must urgently focus on new antibiotics against certain types of extremely serious infections that can kill patients in a matter of days because we have no line of defence,” said Dr Suzanne Hill, the director of the agency’s department of essential medicines.

The WHO study found that new drugs in the clinical pipeline are modifications of existing medicines and are only short-term solutions.

Out of 51 new drugs under development, the agency classifies only eight as adding any value to current treatments.

There are also very few oral treatments in the works, which are essential for treating infections outside hospitals.

Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and the Wellcome Trust have pledged more than 56 million euros ($67 million) to help counter antimicrobial resistance.

But Dr Mario Raviglione, the head of the WHO’s global TB initiative, said more than $800 million each year is needed to fund research into drug-resistant TB alone.

The WHO warned however that new treatments alone would not be sufficient and stressed the importance of responsible use of antibiotics in people and animals.

AFTER MYANMAR’S leader Aung San Suu Kyi said in a national address yesterday that she did not fear global scrutiny over the Rohingya crisis, UN human rights investigators said they needed “full and unfettered” access to Rakhine state to investigate.

“It is important for us to see with our own eyes the sites of these alleged violations,” the head of the UN-backed fact-finding mission, Marzuki Darusman, told the UN Human Rights Council. “There is a grave humanitarian crisis underway that requires urgent attention.”

The mission was set up in March to investigate possible human rights violations across Myanmar, with a particular focus on alleged crimes committed against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state.

In her live televised address from Nay Pyi Taw, Suu Kyi appealed for outside observers to visit Myanmar and see the situation for themselves – despite the severe restrictions her government has placed on access to the conflict zone in Rakhine state.

Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi delivers a national address in Naypyidaw on September 19, 2017. Aung San Suu Kyi said on September 19 she “feels deeply” for the suffering of “all people” caught up in conflict scorching through Rakhine state, her first comments on a crisis that also mentioned Muslims displaced by violence. // AFP PHOTO

“We invite you to join us, to talk to us, to discuss with us, to go with us to the problem areas, where we can guarantee security for you,” she said. “We would like you to join us there, see for yourself what is happening, think for yourself, what can you do to remove these problems?”

Conflict in Rakhine state has spiked since late last month after insurgents attacked security outposts, prompting a heavy-handed “clearance operation” by Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, that has forced more than 410,000 Muslim Rohingya across the border to Bangladesh, which had already sheltered more than 300,000 Rohingya who left Myanmar between 2005 and 2015.

“We feel deeply for the suffering of all the people who have been caught up in the conflict,” Suu Kyi said. “Those who have had to flee their homes are many. Not just Muslims and [ethnic] Rakhines, but also small minority groups,” she said, while avoiding using the term “Rohingya”.

Myanmar political elite and much of society have never recognised Rohingya as an ethnic group and have refused them citizenship rights.

Myanmar citizens hold the national flag and placards as they attend a public gathering held to listen to the live speech made by Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in front of City Hall in Yangon, Myanmar, 19 September 2017. // EPA-EFE

The national address was seen as a pre-emptive measure to forestall criticism at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, which Suu Kyi has refused to attend. She delivered her speech in English in front of diplomats and representatives from international organisations, while she called for patience and understanding regarding the unfurling crisis in her “fragile democracy”.

But she offered no solutions to what the UN has called “ethnic cleansing” in Rakhine state, where army-led operations are accused of atrocities and burning Rohingya homes, and she refused to point the finger at the military.

Rights group Amnesty International said the Nobel peace laureate was “burying her head in the sand” over documented army abuses and claims of rape, murder and the systematic clearing of scores of villages.

Inside Myanmar, Suu Kyi’s supporters say the 72-year-old leader lacks the authority to rein in the military, which ran the country for 50 years and only ceded limited powers to the civilian government.

“She is trying to claw back some degree of credibility with the international community, without saying too much that will get her in trouble with the [military] and Burmese people who don’t like the Rohingya in the first place,” said Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch.

While the international community expressed disappointment, Suu Kyi’s address was widely welcomed at home as thousands of people gathered in public places in many major cities such as Yangon and Mandalay to show their support for the de facto national leader.

People hold the Myanmar national flag and placards as they attend a public gathering to listen to the live speech of Myanmar’s State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in front of City Hall in Yangon on September 19, 2017. // AFP PHOTO

Social media users, particularly on Facebook, changed their profile pictures to show support for Suu Kyi and the government’s stance on the crisis.

A Yangon-based intellectual, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Rohingya were not a Myanmar ethnic minority. He said “Bengalis” had crossed the porous border into Rakhine state over many years, adding that in towns close to the border, 98 per cent of the population were “Bengalis”, while ethnic Rakhine had been mistreated.

“This message has never been reported. Now as usual, western countries and media are using this to get attention and make the world know that they are doing great things. It is just one side of the coin, which I view as unfair,” he told The Nation.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, whose administration has aligned its stance with that of Myanmar’s government, said Thailand was ready to provide support on a humanitarian basis. “We have helped them all the time, tell us if they need more help,” he said, responding to reporters asking about Suu Kyi’s speech.

    “It is important for us to see with our own eyes the sites of these alleged violations”, the head of UN-backed fact-finding mission, Marzuki Darusman, told the Human Rights Council, asking for “full and unfettered access to the country.”

“There is a grave humanitarian crisis underway that requires urgent attention,” added Darusman, who is leading an investigation that Myanmar has vowed to reject. //AFP

The Federal Court in Malaysia has granted the final award to the Lao government, ending the case, the Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment said in a press statement.

The government granted two separate concessions relating to coal mining and construction of a 700MW thermal power plant in the Hongsa region, Xayaboury province, in 1992 and 1994 respectively.

Nearly 13 years after the concessions were granted, the said investor had consistently failed to fulfill its commitment by never achieving the full development of the Hongsa thermal power project.

The government, therefore, was compelled to terminate the project concessions in 2007 in order to maintain the country’s development plan.

To avoid any further delay, the government requested potential investors including Banpu Public Company Limited to submit a proposal for the timely development of the power project.

The proposal submitted by Banpu Public Company Limited was later selected out of two other contenders due to Banpu’s proven experience in power plant development as well as its expertise in coal mining.

Banpu Public Company Limited immediately fulfilled its commitment and, as a consequence, three 600MW generators totalling 1,800MW, which are responsible for electricity production for sale to both Electricite du Laos and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, had been installed within the commercial operations schedule.

“The government of the Lao PDR is proud to have put the long delayed Hongsa power project into operation to serve the needs of both Thailand and the Lao PDR,” the ministry said in the statement. However, the disappointed Thai-Lao Lignite Co., Ltd. initiated an arbitration process in Kuala Lumpur against the Lao government, claiming breach of contract. Over the Lao government’s strong objections, Thai-Lao Lignite Co., Ltd. wrongfully sought damages from the two concession contracts initially granted to Thai-Lao Lignite Co., Ltd.

The arbitrators also erred in allowing the damages, which in their December 2009 ruling awarded over US$25 million to Thai-Lao Lignite Co., Ltd. with interest running at 9 percent per year. The Lao government refused the enforcement of the erroneous arbitration award and, simultaneously, requested the Malaysian court, where the arbiter was seated, to �set aside’ the award in 2013.

After reviewing the case, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur decided to set aside the arbitration award in its entirety. After almost three years of legal appeals by the investor, on August 17, 2017, the Federal Court in Malaysia denied the Thai-Lao Lignite Co., Ltd.’s appeal thus bringing the long case to an end, with a clear and important victory for the Lao governmentใ