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Laos, Firm Agree on Mekong Dam Near Border
By Fergal Quinn
The Cambodia Daily, 22nd February 2008
The construction of the first hydropower dam across a section of the Lower Mekong mainstream, which experts claim will have a disastrous impact on Cambodia's fisheries has moved a step closer to reality.
Malaysian company Mega First Corporation Berhad have signed a Project Development Agreement with the Laos government for the development of the Don Sahong Hydropower Project just one kilometer upstream from the Cambodian-Lao border.
According to the document dated February 14, this clears the way for them to develop, build, own and operate the project. Any electricity generated by Don Sahong would be sold mainly to the Laos and neighboring countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, it states.
Although the 240-megawatt dam would not cross the whole Mekong River, it would block one of the mainstream Mekong River channels in the Khone Falls area.
Experts have predicted that this would change the river's ecology and fish migration routes and have a devastating effect on fisheries downstream. The dam could also wipe out the entire population of the endangered Irawaddy dolphins, according to a recent WWF briefing.
Minister for Water Resources and Meteorology Lim Kean Hor said Thursday that the Mekong River Commission-which he currently chairs-was studying the impact the Don Sahong dam might have, and a report would be released before the end of the year.
"The MRC have not ignored the potential problems with the fisheries on the Cambodian side," he said. "After the study is finished we will talk about the benefits and negatives because it is a multi-purpose project."
But Deputy Executive Director of the NGO Forum on Cambodia Ngy San called on the Cambodian government to take a firmer stance.
"It is very difficult to predict the exact nature of the impact, but numerous prominent organizations such as the World Fish Center have explained there will be a major one," he said.
"The government and the dam-building company must show that this is not the case and the Environmental Impact Assessment process should be participatory and public," he said.
Fisheries Expert Touch Seang Tana said some environmental groups could be overestimating the effect Don Sahong would have on fisheries here.
"This is just one channel and I believe it will not cause a serious impact," he said.
However, Mekong program coordinator with International Rivers Carl Middleton said this was manifestly not the case.
"During a part of the dry season, this channel is the only one available for fish migration, so to block it would be very serious," he said. "Its hard to see how the negative environmental and social impacts of Don Sahong would be outweighed by the economic benefits in Cambodia," Middleton added.
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