Cambodia Groups Urge to Reject New Laos Dam at Talks

[geovalin]

Pak Beng, a $1.88-billion dam about 1,540 kilometers (960 miles) from the Cambodia-Laos border, would be the third dam on the lower Mekong mainstream.

 

PHNOM PENH — 

At the forthcoming regional consultation forum on Laos’ Pak Beng hydropower dam in Luang Prabang, Cambodian environmental groups will urge relevant stakeholders, including the Cambodian government, to reject the 912-megawatt project, alarmed by the potential impacts on fisheries and sediment flow in the Mekong.

 

The two-day, February 22-23 forum organized by the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the only inter-governmental organization involved in managing the Mekong waterways, will be open for relevant stakeholders to share information and exchange views on the dam, according to an MRC announcement.

 

Pak Beng, a $1.88-billion dam about 1,540 kilometers (960 miles) from the Cambodia-Laos border, would be the third dam on the lower Mekong mainstream.

 

Laos’ controversial dams, the Xayaburi and Don Sahong near the border with Cambodia, have become a major concern for people living along the rivers.

 

In an interview with VOA Khmer, Tek Vannara, NGO Forum executive director, said that environmental groups would reject the dam, raising the expected serious impacts on Cambodia.

 

read more http://www.voacambodia.com/a/cambodia-groups-urge-to-reject-new-laos-dam-at-talks/3709493.html

 

 

-- © Copyright VOA 08/02

[Alan Deer]

one of the world's greatest rivers is being strangled by ignorance, greed and public apathy.