Thai construction
and energy companies press ahead
Despite the opposition of three governments and an array
of environmentalists and public service groups from across the planet, the
Xayaburi Dam, deep inside the mountains of northern Laos on the lower Mekong
River, appears to be almost unstoppable.
The Thai energy company Ch. Karnchang is said to be
pressing ahead with the dam, to be built to supply electricity to the Energy
Generating Authority of Thailand despite the fact that the Mekong River
Commission, comprising water and environmental ministers from Cambodia, Laos,
Thailand and Vietnam agreed to a ban on further construction in December while
a more comprehensive environmental study of the dam is completed.
However, according to the Berkeley, California- based
environmental organization International Rivers, their investigation of the
site reveals work is still moving forward. Significant resettlement of
villagers in the area has already been undertaken, International Rivers said,
despite promises by the energy company that it would comply with the Laotian
government’s commitment to postpone construction until there is regional
agreement.
The Mekong, which supports the largest freshwater fishery
in the world, is being increasingly imperiled by plans for a long series of big
dams. The downstream governments are concerned that the Xayaburi and 10 other
structures planned for the Mekong, which originates in China and flows through
Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, will wreck the fishery and
imperil the lives of those who live below it. The river’s silt deposits provide
rich soil nutrients for rice and other crops. It feeds a river basin populated
by 60 million people. Environmentalists say anywhere between 23 and 100 fish
species could be adversely affected.
Ch. Karnchang, however, appears to have signed an
agreement a month ago to move ahead on the project despite the objections of
the Mekong River Commission, according to media in Thailand, despite the fact
that Virapong Viravong, the Laotian Vice Minister for Energy and Mines, said
the dam may have to be redesigned to avoid any adverse impact on the
environment The Chiang Rai-based Lower Mekong People’s Network, A group of
riparian communities opposed to the construction from seven different provinces
in Thailand along the Mekong, said they would launch a lawsuit on July 9
against the construction after collecting signatures from hundreds of people
who say they will be negatively affected by the construction. The organization
has been holding a series of rallies and protest meetings in the villages that
are expected to be adversely affected by both the construction and the dam
itself.
The lawsuit alleges the Thai government forged an
agreement with Laos to buy electricity generated by the US $3.8 billion dam
upon completion, without disclosing the details of the agreement to the public
as required by Thai law. The 1,260-megawatt dam would provide 95 percent of its
electricity to Thailand.
A Thai villager who spoke to Radio Free Asia on condition
of anonymity, said that Lao officials had a duty to explain the cross-border
ramifications of the massive dam.
“If Lao officials state that the riparian Thais have no
reason to protest the dam, that is inappropriate because the Lao authorities
haven’t explained to us villagers about the possible cross-border impacts,” the
villager said. “When those impacts occur, who will be responsible? Studies show
that the dam will have negative impacts on people downstream, especially people
in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.”
“International Rivers found construction activities
underway during a visit last week to the dam site and 15 affected villages,”
said Ame Trandem, the Southeast Asia Program Director for the Berkeley,
California-based International Rivers.
“Recent activities include dredging to deepen and widen
the riverbed at the dam site, the construction of a large concrete retaining
wall, and an increase in the company’s local labor force. One village, Houay
Souy, was already resettled from the dam’s planned spillway to near Xayaboury
town in January 2012.”
Ch Karnchang, Trandem said, “has blatantly defied the
diplomatic process underway to decide on the future of the Mekong River. The
company has violated the trust of the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand,
and Vietnam, with apparent impunity.”
She charged that Aswin Kongsiri, the Ch. Karnchang Board
of Directors chairman, had told newspapers the company would to wait for all
stakeholders in the Greater Mekong Subregion to agree before going ahead, and
that the company had not yet started construction.
“We have thus focused on project preparation, mainly
financing and the environmental impact report.” Aswin told the Bangkok Post.
These claims came weeks after the Lao government publicly announced that dam
construction had been postponed and only “preliminary construction” such as
building access roads had taken place.
“The definition of ‘preliminary’ keeps expanding,” said
Kirk Herbertson, Mekong Campaigner for International Rivers,” in a prepared
news release. “Ripping up the riverbed and resettling entire villages cannot be
considered a preliminary activity.”
International Rivers interviewed resettled families from
the village Houay Souy in the path of the dam and, the organization said, found
a series of broken promises. The resettled families have yet to receive new
agricultural land and have been required to spend much of their own
compensation money to finish building the houses that were provided to them.
Ch. Karnchang also reneged on a promise to provide one
year of free electricity and water, the organization said. “Instead villagers
were provided only one month free. The company has informed other villages that
they will be moved as soon as December 2012, but said they will not compensate
the villagers for the loss of fisheries, access to agricultural land, gold
panning, and other major sources of food and income, in violation of Lao law.”
Teerapong Pomun, Director of Thai NGO Living River Siam,
who joined the trip to the dam site, said, “Even at this early stage, the
Xayaburi Dam is causing harm to local people and the environment. Ch. Karnchang
needs to be held accountable for its irresponsible and illegal behavior. It’s
only a matter of time before the damage to the river’s ecosystem and fisheries
begins to impact downstream countries like Thailand, something the company has
failed to even take into account.”
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