The Thai developer of the US$ 3.5 billion Xayaburi hydropower dam in
Laos says the Laotian government never sent a formal letter asking it to stop
construction of the dam, which has prompted serious concerns from Cambodia and
Vietnam that it will damage the ecology and livelihood of the region.
On July 13, the Laotian
government said work had stopped after neighbors' Cambodia and Vietnam said the
1,285-megawatt dam would harm the economy along the river and damage the
fishery, which is heavily relied upon as a food source.
“We are still working on the
project. We haven't received a formal letter from the Lao government that we
should suspend or put the project on hold,” Plew Trivisvavet, the chief
executive Officer at Thailand's Ch Karnchang Pcl, told reporters, according to
a Reuters news agency article on Thursday.
The government of Laos made no
immediate comment regarding the report.
The dam would be the first along
the main stream of the Mekong in Southeast Asia.
The Mekong River Commission,
comprising Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, have said that member
governments agreed to approach the Japanese government and other international
development partners to further study the dam's implications before giving Laos
the go-ahead to continue construction.
Plew said Ch Karnchang, the dam's
main contractor, expects to begin construction of a reservoir at the site later
this year. “We have entered the area for some relocation work and to prepare
for the construction of the reservoir,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Vietnam News
Service (VNS) on Thursday said Vietnamese experts have again called for a
moratorium on dam building on the Mekong River, saying the lives of as many as
60 million people could be adversely impacted by the dams.
Two key economic sectors in
Vietnam's fertile Mekong Delta, would suffer critical losses in rice and
seafood production, said conservationists.
Dr. Dao Trong Tu, a former member
of the Viet Nam Mekong River Committee, said the river runs across six
countries, and that dams on its upper reaches would have harmful impacts on a
vast area of the river basin.
Daniel King, Southeast Asia Legal
Director of Earth Rights International, said there was a need to strengthen
regional institutions to improve implementation of a common legal framework on
exploitation of the river, according to VNS.
“In addition to making findings
and recommendations on the environmental and social impacts of the 11 dams, the
Mekong River Committee should identify critical shortcomings that should be
addressed prior to any dam construction on mainstream Mekong,” he said.
It is the first of 11 dams
planned in the lower Mekong that are projected to generate 8 percent of
energy-hungry Southeast Asia's power by 2025.
The proposed 11 dams would turn
55 per cent of the river into reservoirs, resulting in estimated agricultural
losses of more than $500 million a year and cutting the average protein intake
of Thai and Lao people by 30 per cent, according to a study by the Mekong River
Commission.
China has completed four dams on
the upper river, closer to its source. Activists say they were responsible for
a 2010 drought that sent lower Mekong water levels to their lowest in half a
century.
Ch Karnchang's 50 per cent-owned
subsidiary, Xayaburi Power Co, has received a 29-year concession contract from
the Laotian government to operate the dam's power plant.
Xayaburi Power said it will sell
the power to state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, the
country's sole power distributor, in 2019, Plew said, adding Ch Karnchang
anticipated revenue of about 4 billion baht ($127 million) from the project
this year.
Mizzima News
Business & Investment Opportunities
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