Mass Displacement and Underdevelopment on the Sekong River

By: 
Tanya Lee

(Part 1 of 2)

Along a stretch of road close to 150 kilometers long in south-eastern Laos that connects the towns of Sekong, Kalum and Ta-Oy, the surrounding land near the Sekong River is becoming a barren moonscape. Logging trucks ply the road, carrying full loads of cut timber onwards to be quickly transported across the borders to Vietnam. This area is at the center of local media intrigue and much speculation, as simultaneous and overlapping concessions have been granted to the well-connected Lao company Phonesack Group Ltd. to log the area, mine for coal, build a thermal plant and partake in the construction of a cascade of at least four dams planned for the Sekong River.

To make way for these developments, the Phonesack Group, in collaboration with Indonesia's PSI Drilling, is working alongside Lao government officials and armed police to move more than 8,000 people from the surrounding riverbanks and hillsides to settlements along newly constructed roads. The agenda to develop a series of over 10 hydroelectric dams in the Sekong River basin – and to move river-based villages into consolidated settlements near the roadside – is one which has on the one hand attracted intvestment from foreign banks and companies, and on the other, has prompted serious concerns amongst environmental, social justice and human rights advocates. Recently, Russia's InterRAO United Energy Systems confirmed its intention to help advance the building of hydropower projects on the Sekong by partnering with Lao and other potential institutional financiers, in spite of criticism from Russian-based and international organizations. The Asian Development Bank is considering supporting the construction of transmission lines to allow for the export of the power generated from these dams to Vietnam, but has cited concern over the lack of project compliance with basic social and environmental standards.

Last week, while visiting this area, I spoke with people about their perspectives on what is happening to the land, the rivers and their lives, gaining insights into the systematic dislocation, despair and induced fear they are experiencing. I also witnessed scenes of stark ecological devastation in the name of "development" that have left people on the brink of starvation, without water and with little hope of a better future.

Logging Along Road to Kalum, March 2014
Logging Along Road to Kalum, March 2014
International Rivers

In place of a natural forest, rows of identical pre-fabricated homes are being constructed, squeezed in close proximity to one another. These skeleton settlements are where the thousands of ethnic minority villagers are expected to move. People moving here are left with no land to farm, no forest to gather food from, no streams or rivers to provide water and wild catch fisheries, and no place to raise poultry or small livestock. As a result, they are expected to renounce their past of subsistence agriculture and fishing, and seek a living as wage laborers.

 

Broad Implications, But No Accountability or Transparency

The Sekong River is part of a larger transboundary system of interconnected watersheds spanning Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam that is known as the "3S Rivers" (Sekong, Sesan, Srepok). According to a 2012 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Ziv et al), the Sekong dams planned for this stretch of the river present the highest risk to fish biomass compared to other proposed dams in Laos, due to the high fish catches and diverse species that migrate along this passage. In addition to this critical loss of food security for Lao and downstream Cambodian communities, the inundation of cultivable and forest land adds to the dismantling of local livelihoods.

Sekong River in Kalum District, March 2014
Sekong River in Kalum District, March 2014
International Rivers

Very little information about any of these dams has been made public. Given the number of different projects planned in the area by Phonesack and its subsidiary groups, it is not clear which of the dams on the Sekong River will move forward, or exactly when they will be built. Information about approximate locations and villages that will need to move is based only on hearsay from people living and working near Kaleum and Sekong towns. Taken together, it is estimated that thousands of people will be forcibly displaced, and hundreds of thousands of people will be affected by a near complete loss of fisheries upstream and downstream. Two of the dams, Sekong 3A and 3B, are planned to generate 205MW and will be built close to Sekong town. At least two villages near the riverbank, Nava and Geng Luang, have already been notified that they may be moved to a resettlement site in the near future. The Sekong 4 Dam is planned to generate 600MW, and is believed to be designed to have a reservoir approximately 170km2 and a 169m-high dam wall, located near the village of Talak. The Sekong 5 Dam is planned to generate 400MW with a 200m-high dam wall and a reservoir of approximately 33km2, located upriver from Kalum town. It would inundate a critical part of the Xesap National Protected Area. As a road is already being built into the park toward the river, presumably to allow for construction to begin, the area is becoming increasingly accessible for timber and wildlife poaching.

Timber Transport, Kalum District, March 2014
Timber Transport, Kalum District,
March 2014
International Rivers

As families are being displaced and confined to live within the designated resettlement zones, they say they are neither receiving monetary compensation nor equivalent amounts of land that would make up for the losses of areas they cultivated in the past. Despite the fact that compensation, public participation, consultation, and full resettlement site development are all guaranteed under the 2005 Prime Minister's Decree 192 on the "Compensation and Resettlement of the Development Project," Phonesack Group and other corporate collaborators, including InterRAO, are ignoring the Lao law at their convenience. Stripped of their land, livelihoods and homes, the dislocated families can be monitored, controlled and potentially forced to move again in the future, depending on business deals signed by Lao or foreign corporations. InterRAO’s website promotes the values of corporate social responsibility, sustainable development, transparency and anti-corruption. However, it remains questionable how these commitments can be upheld in the context currently unfolding along the Sekong River.

To be continued in Part 2....

Local boat transportation, Kalum District, March 2014
Local boat transportation, Kalum District, March 2014
International Rivers
Date: 
Monday, April 7, 2014