The Mekong has become a battleground
between hydropower dam projects and the survival of the world's greatest
freshwater fisheries. (Getty Images)
Laos’s Xayaburi dam project faces opposition throughout the region over its ecological impact.
The Mekong, a precious jewel of Southeast Asia,
has become a critical battleground between hydropower dam projects and
the survival of the world’s greatest freshwater fisheries.
The future of this 4,880 km (3032 miles) long river may well
be decided by what happens to the Xayaburi mega-dam project in Laos, the
first of a cascade of 11 dam projects on the lower Mekong.
Ame Trandem from the NGO International Rivers explained that, “The
Mekong River is the lifeblood of Southeast Asia, feeding and employing
millions of people. To move forward with the Xayaburi Dam would be
reckless and irresponsible, as the dam would fatally impact the river's
ecosystem and fisheries.”
In spite of repeated reports that the Xayaburi dam project had been
suspended pending further scientific studies, a recent visit to the
dam-site has suggested that the Lao government has not bowed to
international pressure. As a World Wildlife Fund analysis recently warned,
“Construction work is marching ahead at the Xayaburi dam site in
northern Laos and risks making a mockery of the decision last December
by Mekong countries to delay building the dam on the Mekong mainstream.”
In December 2011 the four-member nations of the Mekong River
Commission – Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam –agreed that no dams
should be built until further scientific studies of the negative impacts
on all the riparian countries had been completed.
Scientists have warned that if the 11 dams are built it could bring on an ecological disaster that harms many of the 877 Mekong
fish species. Furthermore, it is the uninhibited flow of the Mekong
through the heart of Southeast Asia and the river’s bountiful natural
resources that guarantees 65 million people’s food security.
Although Cambodia and Vietnam are determined to stop the dam,
everything indicates that the Thai developer Ch. Karnchang and the Lao
People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) are equally determined to build it.
In this context, a failure to resolve the dam issue could also trigger a
major diplomatic row among the Mekong nations, undermining the
credibility of the MRC and disrupting international cooperation along
the region’s most important waterway.
“The Xayaburi Dam will trigger an ecological crisis of tremendous
proportions. We urge the Prime Ministers of Laos and Thailand to show
leadership by cancelling this project,” Shalmali Guttal of Focus on the
Global South, a member of the 263 coalition of NGOs from 51 nations said in a statement condemning the damn.
In response to this opposition, Lao Foreign
Minister, Thongloun Sisoulithmade announced during last month’s ASEAN FM
summit that his country was suspending work on the Xayaburi dam until
further studies on its impact could be done. Although opponents of the
dam welcomed Vientiane’s announcement, they soon were disappointed.
Soon after the Lao government’s announcements, a number of
diplomats, MRC officials, experts, and donors visited Laos to see the
site. After the visit some MRC observers then asserted that, “the project is in an advanced preparation stage with exploratory excavation in and around the river completed.”
Similarly, International Rivers concluded in their own unofficial investigation of the dam-site in June, that, “the dredging and widening of river has already taken place.”
Meanwhile back in Bangkok, Ch.Karnchang, the Thai developer of the
US$3.8 billion project, said the dam was going ahead with no delays in
the original timetable.
Initial construction has evidently started, however. Has the Laotian government then reneged on its international commitments?
Deputy Minister for Energy and Mines Viraphonh Viravonghas denied any violation of the MRC agreements. Instead he contended that
all the construction done so far falls under the rubric of “preparatory
work,” noting that the construction “does not involve permanent
structures” and instead is mostly about building makeshift housing for
construction workers.
But fisheries experts say that long before the river is fully
blocked, existing construction will disturb the riverbed enough to
significantly affect fish populations and the flow of sediments
downstream.
Dr. Jian-hua Meng, a sustainable hydropower specialist working at the WWF, argues that, “This will be the first direct intervention in the riverbed, and will mark a milestone in the ongoing dam construction.”
According to a WWF report, which was strongly critical of the Dam
project, Viraphonh Viravong, Laos’s Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines,
contradicted the foreign minister when he allegedly told the MRC-led delegation that the project would proceed without further reviews.
Since September 2010 ongoing consultations based on
the MRC regulatory framework has resulted in the Lao government trying
to answer the strong objections from Cambodia and Vietnam. Unsatisfied,
Vietnam has called for a 10-year moratorium on dam construction.
To answer these objections Laos appointed two foreign consultants:
the Swiss –based Poyry Energy and French
company CNR (Compagnie Nationale du Rhone).
Still, Cambodia and Vietnam remain convinced that any dam will block fish migration and reduce the flow of sediment.
Both foreign consultants argue that fish ladders or fish passes can
enable 85% of all fish to get past the turbines and successfully swim up
or down river but this claim has not been fully tested.
Indeed, many dismissed Poyry’s previous report- a compliance review
of the Xayaburi Dam in 2011 regarding the consultation process with its
neighbors- as lacking the necessarily scientific data.
It’s also worth noting that the Finnish-based Poyry has been blacklisted
by the World Bank for unrelated corruption charges that have led the
CEO to resign. This calls into question its credibility.
Very different advice to the Lao government came from the visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said last
month that, “I'll be very honest with you; We made a lot of mistakes….
We've learned some hard lessons about what happens when you make certain
infrastructure decisions, and I think that we all can contribute to
helping the nations of the Mekong region avoid the mistakes that we and
others made.”
Washington is also concerned that if the Xayaburi dam goes ahead,
China is lined up to build at least three more dams further down the
Mekong thus penetrating ever deeper into the Mekong sub-region.
NGOs representing people from the eight provinces in northeast
Thailand are about to file legal action in the courts to force the Thai
government to review the contract with the Electricity Generating
Authority of Thailand (EGAT), the state’s electricity body. Thailand has
agreed to buy 95% of all the power generated from the Xayaburi dam.
The Thai government has quietly endorsed the MRC consensus that
further scientific study is needed. Now NGOs are demanding that the
Thai government do more and use its power to freeze
the Xayaburi/EGAT contract, which in turn would pressure the Thai
dam-builder Karnchang to halt the project.
According to scientists the stakes are high in this ongoing battle over sustainable development. WWF’s Dr. Jian-hua Meng has warned,
for instance, that “Resting the future of the Mekong on flawed analysis
and gaps in critical data could have dire consequences for the
livelihoods of millions of people living in the Mekong river basin.
Tom Fawthrop is a Thailand-based journalist and producer. His
work has appeared in The Guardian, Al-Jazeera and the New Statesman,
among other publications.
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