17 Sep 2012
by OOSKAnews Correspondent
Vientiane, Laos
— Laos’ energy minister announced last week that the country will sell
energy supplied by the controversial Xayaburi Dam to Cambodia. It is
already planning to sell power to Thailand, where last month a lawsuit
was lodged to stop the country from buying electricity produced at the
dam because of environmental and other concerns.
The Lao minister, Soulivong Daravong, also denied claims that Vietnam
and Cambodia oppose construction of the dam. He insisted that the
project will not be shelved.
His comments to journalists on the sidelines of a meeting of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Phnom Penh on
September 12 created confusion about the future of the $3.5 billion USD
project, the first of 11 planned dams on the Lower Mekong River’s main
stream.
Two months ago, at an ASEAN ministerial meeting, Laos’ Foreign
Minister Thongloun Sisoulith declared that the dam project was shelved
pending further studies, winning praise from many delegates.
But the official Vientiane media told another story, saying the
government will still let Thai developer Ch. Karnchang pursue
"scheduled" building site action, including resettlement of villagers.
Independent analysts who assessed the development site confirmed that construction continues.
On September 9, speaking at a Xayaburi Dam workshop in Bangkok,
Montree Chantawong of Thai-based NGO Towards Ecological Recovery and
Regional Alliance (TERRA) said his estimates of those impacted by the
dam are much higher than the Laotian government’s. His explanation: The
dam will cause flooding both downstream and 150 kilometers upstream
towards Luang Prabang.
“The Lao government has talked about only the 2,000 people in 10
villages that will be relocated, but there are more than 20,000 people
in about 30 villages from the dam site all the way to Luang Prabang who
will also be affected,” Radio Free Asia quoted him as saying.
The downstream flooding looks set to raise the river’s water level by at least 3 meters, he said.
The Xayaburi is just one of a series of hydropower dams planned for
the Mekong. There are 11 planned dam projects on the Mekong mainstem,
and another 77 dams planned in the basin by 2030.
Hydropower dams planned for the lower main stream of the Mekong River
could devastate fish populations and with them the main protein source
for 60 million people, according to a study by international
conservation organization WWF and the Australian National University.
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