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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