The Asian Development Bank says it will further evaluate the downriver effects on Cambodia of a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Se San River in Vietnam before committing funds to the project.
At a conference held last month in Sydney, Australia, by the Australian Mekong Resource Center, environmental and human rights advocacy groups called on the ADB to postpone a decision on funding until more detailed impact studies could be completed.
The groups’ concerns over a new dam in the region stem from complaints by Cambodian villagers downstream from the 720 megawatt Yali Falls Dam, 20 km upriver from the proposed site of Se San 3. Their complaints were recently outlined in a report published by the fisheries office in nearby Ratanakkiri Province.
The report estimated that 3,500 families had been adversely affected by the construction of the Yali Falls Dam, including over 32 deaths by drowning, as well as a loss of livestock and fishing equipment.
The report blamed damage on sporadic fluctuations of river levels that have plagued the downriver area since hydropower workers began to release water from the dam’s reservoir in 1996.
A study of the anticipated dam, Se San 3, aims to assess the environmental and social impact of a dam built 50 km from the Cambodian border, according to Urooj Malik, the bank’s resident representative in Cambodia. Malik said the bank will spend an estimated $1.8 million on the year-long study.
“At the end of the day, there is still no guarantee that there will be a loan [for the dam],” said Malik “The study will determine it.”
Representatives from Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance, a Bangkok-based environmental and social advocacy group, spoke out against future projects at the conference in Sydney saying that the problems posed by the Yali Falls Dam demonstrate the dangers of similar projects in the area.
The proposed study will be conducted by ADB in conjunction with the Mekong River Commission. Although the bank can refuse funding for the project, neither organization can guarantee that the Vietnamese government will ultimately accept the recommendations outlined in a study.
“The decision of whether to build or not ultimately rests on the individual country,” says Joern Kristensen, Chief Executive of the Mekong River Commission. “Our role is just to provide advice.”
