With only 11 days to go before the Mekong River Commission decides on Laos’ proposal to build the first dam on the Mekong river, Cambodian NGOs and river communities called upon the government yesterday to stop the project, saying it would severely impact livelihoods downstream.
MRC members Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand will decide on April 19 whether or not to approve Laos’ 1,260-megawatt Xayaburi dam, the MRC announced Tuesday, after it had rescheduled an MRC meeting originally planned for April 21.
At NGO Forum’s office yesterday, villagers from five communities along the Mekong river and its tributary, the Sesan river, said they were very concerned about the dam’s potential consequences.
Village representative Ek Sivon from Stung Treng province’s Koh Sralay commune said, “It would impact our fishing; there would be less fishing, and it would destroy the seasonal [riverbank] crops.”
Chhor Sicheang, of Kratie province’s Kompong Cham commune, said, “We don’t want this dam…. It will create many problems. We catch less fish, have water pollution and get health problems if we use the water.”
Foreign donors and NGOs from the region oppose the Xayaburi dam and support an MRC study released in November that advised a 10-year wait before developing any of the 11 planned Mekong dams, as these would devastate fisheries and affect millions of fishermen.
NGO Forum, 3S-River Protection Network and the Culture and Environment Preservation Association yesterday stressed the study’s findings and supported the villagers’ appeal.
“We want the government to discuss with Laos to learn how communities would be impacted and then delay the dam building for 10 years,” NGO Forum director Chit Sam Ath said.
Te Navuth, Cambodian National Mekong Committee secretary-general, said the government would listen to the appeal, adding that Cambodia feels that information on the dam’s downstream impact is still lacking.
