More than 90 villagers in Stung Treng province on Tuesday rejected compensation packages for the land they will lose to the under-construction Lower Sesan 2 hydropower dam, a local official said.
Deputy provincial governor Duong Pov, joined by representatives of the Royal Group and China’s Hydrolancang International Energy, the companies that are building the 400-megawatt dam, met with 96 villagers at a pagoda in Sesan district’s Srekor commune for two hours of negotiations on Tuesday morning, said commune chief Siek Mekong.
“These villagers were among those who have not yet reached an agreement about compensation,” Mr. Mekong said, adding that about half of the commune’s 500-odd families had already accepted a variety of compensation and land swap offers.
According to Mr. Mekong, the companies on Tuesday offered each of the remaining families 5 hectares of farmland, 1,000 square meters of residential land and $6,000. The proposed relocation site is about 2.5 km away from the dam site, he said.
“But today, nothing was resolved. The company should provide a better solution for the villagers because they do not want to leave their ancestral land,” Mr. Mekong said.
“The officials left the commune at 11 a.m. without an agreement. They plan to meet with nine representative of the residents at the provincial hall on March 24.”
Puth Khoeun, whose family attended on Tuesday’s negotiations, said he would not leave his home until he received a better offer.
“We are willing to die on our land. We will not move if we do not receive a better solution,” he said. “If the company forces us to leave and floods our land, we will build a floating house like the people on the Tonle Sap.”
Mr. Khoeun said he would attend the next round of negotiations on Thursday so that he could speak directly with provincial officials.
Representatives for Hydrolancang and Royal Group could not be reached.
