Srekor village has stood on the banks of the Se San River in
northeastern Cambodia for generations. In a few years it will be gone,
submerged along with more than 300 square kilometres of surrounding
farmland and forest.
Work has started on the Lower Se San 2 Dam, a 400-megawatt hydropower project whose vast reservoir will force thousands to move.
For 37-year-old rice farmer Pa Tou, the future looks bleak. The
relocation site set aside for them is wholly unsuitable, he complains.
There is no irrigation, it is miles from the river and the ground is
either rocky or covered with trees. And at this stage it has no schools,
no health clinics, no pagodas and no roads.
“Everyone here worries how we will make a living,” he says.
Fish highways
Scientists share Pa Tou's pessimism about the $800-million Lower Se San 2
Dam, but note that its effects will be felt far beyond Srekor. That is
because the Se San River, which the dam will block, is a vital breeding
ground for fish in the region.
Dr Eric Baran, the senior research scientist at WorldFish, an NGO
focused on food security, describes the Se San River as one of four
“fish highways” in the Lower Mekong Basin. Along with the Sre Pok River
and the Se Kong Rivers, both of which flow into the Se San, this
collection of three tributaries is known as the 3S network and is where
migratory fish breed. Read the full article at The Deutsche Welle.
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