Cambodia Supports Lao Dam: PM

Cambodia will support the Don Sahong hydroelectric dam planned to be built in south Laos less than two kilometers from the Cambodian border, while civil society groups continue to appeal to regional authorities to halt construction on environmental grounds.   According to a post on Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Facebook page yesterday, he discussed the dam proposal with visiting Lao National Assembly president Pany Yathotou on Saturday.
 

“Cambodia supports Laos with Don Sahong dam construction and allows Laos to use roads and ports to [trade] goods because Laos has no sea,” he wrote, speaking about an agreement to boost bilateral trade. The prime minister’s post said Ms. Yathotou had agreed to sell electricity generated by the dam to Cambodia at affordable prices to boost development of the border region.
 

Last week the prime minister met with the leaders of Laos and Vietnam to discuss the ongoing development of the provinces in all three countries that are near the dam and that are presently deemed under-developed.   In Stung Treng province’s Pharla Baravat district, Sous Chanphal, a Preah Rumel commune deputy chief, told Khmer Times that the dam would damage tourism, which focuses on the critically endangered Mekong dolphin and the region’s natural beauty.

read more http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/32475/cambodia-supports-lao-dam--pm/

 

-- © Copyright Khmer Times 28/11