Cambodia Says Laos Lacks Documents on Transboundary Impacts of Proposed Pak Beng Dam

Cambodia Says Laos Lacks Documents on Transboundary Impacts of Proposed Pak
Beng Dam

Cambodia will request further information on the transboundary impacts of
Laos' proposed Pak Beng hydropower project following an upcoming regional
stakeholder meeting on Friday, an official has said.

So Sophort, deputy secretary-general of the Cambodia National Mekong
Committee, said Cambodia would attend the meeting of the Mekong River
Commission (MRC) in Vientiane, which is part of a six month prior
consultation process for the 921-megawatt dam.

He said when the process concludes in June, Cambodia would call for more
detailed impact assessments as the current information provided by Laos was
inadequate.

"In general, we see that the documents provided by Lao have many loopholes,
especially related to transboundary impacts to lower countries, including
Cambodia," Sophort said.

"We also want to see the collective impacts [of all Laos' dams] since the
Mekong has 11 proposed dams. We want to see the collective impacts on water
quality, fisheries, sediment, environment and ecology," he added.

The $2.3 billion project is the third such dam Laos is building on the Lower
Mekong mainstream, much to the dismay of environmental groups and downstream
communities who stand to be affected. The dam is expected to be approved and
completed in 2024.

It would follow two other mega-projects Laos has undertaken on the Mekong:
the Don Sahong and Xayaburi dams, which have become major concerns for
environmentalists.

Environmental groups have urged "a fair balance" on Mekong dams, reiterating
concerns over the new proposed dam.

International Rivers has urged the MRC and regional governments to extend
the prior consultation process for Pak Beng in order to conduct new studies
based on up-to-date data and analysis.

"The Prior Consultation should also take into account the findings of the
MRC's Council Study, which is due for completion in December and looks at
cumulative and basin-wide impacts of all planned Mekong mainstream dams and
is important to properly understand the environmental and social costs of
these projects," said Maureen Harris, Southeast Asia program director at
International Rivers.

"The Prior Consultation for the first two dams, the Xayaburi and Don Sahong
dams, was in both cases a highly controversial and fraught process, with
Lower Mekong governments - Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam - unable to
reach agreement," she added.

"The stakes for the Mekong and the people of the region are too high to get
it wrong on Mekong dams."

The MRC said this week's forum would allow for feedback from participants
and also feature a presentation of the MRC's technical review of Laos'
plans.

Daovong Phonekeo, permanent secretary of the Laos Ministry of Energy, told
VOA Khmer that there are no new concerns and the Laos government has
followed all regulations and procedure as requested by the MRC.

"For our position in Pak Beng, we support the project to be implemented," he
said. "I don't think there is a new concern because the project is upstream
from Xayaburi. I think the main concern is about the coordination within
this project and Xayaburi project."

"We have carried out all of the mitigation measures in accordance with
Xayaburi project," he added.

Laos has not yet outlined a timeline for construction, but after the prior
consultation process is completed later this year it was likely talks with
the developer would begin, Davong said.

It is expected that 25 villages in Laos and two villages in Thailand will be
directly affected by construction of the Pak Beng dam, with an estimated
6,700 people re-settled, according to International Rivers.

Thailand has said it will conduct further studies of Pak Beng's impacts.

In February, Vietnam Rivers Network shared their concerns, saying that prior
consultation processes should be re-evaluated to include overall impacts of
large dam projects.

Laos contributes about 41 percent of the flow into the Mekong River, more
than any other country. The only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, it
plans to develop more dams to profit from electricity exports.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.voacambodia.com/a/cambodia-says-laos-lacks-documents-on-transboun
dary-impacts-of-proposed-pak-beng-dam/3836497.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com