Photo retrieved from: www.asiapacific.anu.edu.au
“A field visit to the site of the proposed Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River in Laos has revealed that construction on the dam’s access road and work camp is rapidly forging ahead, in spite of commitments by the government of Laos to temporarily suspend the project.
The trip to the Xayaburi dam site on July 23 revealed that a substantial construction camp has been established near Ban Talan village, with at least a few hundred workers present. An access road leading down to the dam site was also under construction and some land had been cleared without compensation provided to the owners.
The government of Laos appears to be set on unilaterally moving forward with the Xayaburi dam in violation of international law and its commitments under the 1995mekong Agreement. By building this dam, Laos is disregarding its regional commitments and robbing the future of millions of people in the region who rely upon the river for their livelihood and food security.
Representatives from the four lower mekong countries – Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand – had originally been scheduled to meet in Phnom Penh in order to discuss the next steps in the mekong River Commission’s (MRC) Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA), the regional decision-making process for the Xayaburi dam. However, the meeting was postponed indefinitely without explanation.”
Read more: The Nation
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