In the Media

Article from The Cambodia Daily Concerns have been raised over a hydropower dam planned for Stung Treng province by environmental NGOs and some of the estimated 5,000 people who will be displaced if the project gets a green light. An Environmental Impact Assessment study currently being carried out for the 420-megawatt Lower Sesan II dam is due for completion in July and if cleared by the Ministry of the Environment, Vietnam's state-owned Electricity of Vietnam plans to begin construction in late 2009. According to one expert who is helping prepare the EIA, a total of 394 square-km

Article from The Irrawaddy Online Leaders of the six nations of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) gather for an Asian Development Bank-backed summit in Vientiane on March 30. The two-day meeting of senior government representatives from China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma is aimed at achieving an "integrated, harmonious and prosperous subregion" of countries through which the Mekong River flows, says the ADB. However, critics argue that the 60 million people whose lives are linked in some way by the Mekong have little or no say in what is happening to their river and the surrou

AFP [27.3.08] The Mekong River in southern Vietnam, the world's 12th largest waterway crossing six countries, may soon be tamed by a cascade of mega dams, but critics say the plan will harm the fish stocks millions of people rely on. Plans for a series of Mekong mainstream dams have been made and scrapped several times since the 1960s, but now, with oil above 100 dollars a barrel, the projects look more appealing than ever to their proponents. The river's future will be a key issue when prime ministers of the Mekong countries meet Sunday and Monday in the Lao capital Vientiane for a summit of

CHAY ARENG RIVER, Cambodia (Reuters) - Along the Chay Areng valley in Cambodia's remote Cardamom mountains, children still scamper barefoot through one of mainland southeast Asia's last remaining tracts of virgin jungle.If they take the same paths in a few years, they will probably have to be swimming.Faced with a rapidly growing but power-starved economy, Prime Minister Hun Sen has decided the rivers flowing from one of the few elevated spots in a relentlessly flat country should become its battery pack.With this in mind, in the last two years he has agreed to at least four Chinese-funded hyd

Article from The Cambodia Daily Tourism around Toek Chhou waterfall and rapids in Kampot province's BokorNational Park has taken a hit this month as construction continues on thecontroversial Kamchay dam- Cambodia's first large domestic hydropowerdevelopment, according to officials and residents in the area.Soy Sinol, Kampot provincial deputy director of tourism, said Thursday bytelephone that there were 7,700 tourists to the area in March- down fromnearly 60,000 the month before.He said tourists have been restricted from some areas because of heavyconstruction on the $270 million dam, and tha

PHNOM PENH, Mar 21 (IPS) - For the Cambodian government, hydropower development represents great economic opportunities. But for non-government organisations (NGOs), and the communities they serve, dams pose severe social and environmental impacts. Like neighbouring Laos in the 1990s, donors, electricity-hungry nations such as Thailand and Vietnam and business interests, particularly from China, are keen to make Cambodia a major generator of hydropower. Plans for developing Cambodia's hydropower potential remained on hold due to political instability and the economic crisis that struck the reg

The Wall Street Journal December 28 2007 By Shai Oster December 28, 2007 — Home to almost half of the world’s 45,000 biggest dams, China has embarked on a push to export its hydropower know-how to developing countries — even as it contends with environmental damage and social upheaval at home from the massive Three Gorges Dam. Many other countries and international organizations have begun to shy away from dam building. But Chinese companies and banks are now involved in billions of dollars worth of deals to construct at least 47 major dams in 27 countries, including Sudan and

Thailand has decided to proceed with the construction of a hydropower dam in north-east Myanmar despite from environmentalists, media reports said Sunday. ( dpa )Thai Foreign Minister Noppodon Pattama confirmed Saturday that Thailand will push ahead with the 228-metre-high Tasang dam on the Salween River which has made little progress since the country won a concession to construct the massive project 10 years ago, the Bangkok Post reported Sunday.Noppodon visited Myanmar on Friday as a member of an official Thai delegation led by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to strengthen economic ties bet

Article from Bangkok Post UBON RATCHATHANI : Networks of people affected by dams petitioned the government to scrap all dam projects as well as the proposed Mekong diversion scheme on the International Day of Action Against Dams yesterday.The Samak Sundaravej government should look into the sufferings and ecological damage caused by existing dams and come up with alternative and more sustainable ways of water management instead, they said.More than 500 dam-affected villagers and local and foreign conservationists marched for 11 hours along the banks of the Moon river in this northeastern provi

Article from Bangkok Post The Export-Import Bank of Thailand is cleared to hand Burma anyremaining funds from a four-billion-baht soft loan to the junta thathad been suspended due to alleged irregularities, Foreign MinisterNoppadon Pattama said yesterday.Thailand will also push ahead with construction of the Tasanghydropower dam and other infrastructure projects in Burma, he added.The fresh move came as Thailand tried to foster closer economic tieswith Burma following the first official visit to the country on Fridayby Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej since he took office last month.The issue o