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Caution urged on water project plans :
Govt fails to learn from past, say farmers
By Apinya Wipatayotin
Bangkok Post. 15 March 2008.
Villagers affected by the suspended Kong-Chi-Moon project in this
northeastern province have urged the government to look into previous
mistakes caused by inappropriate water management schemes before
coming up with a new water diversion project. They were referring to
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's idea to divert water from the Mekong
river to feed farmland in the Northeast.
The Water Resources Department has also suggested the government
revive the Kong-Chi-Moon project.
The authorities, they said, should solve problems caused by the dams
built under the project and compensate villagers instead of blindly
pushing for the new megaproject, or dusting off the Kong-Chi-Moon.
Many farmers and fishermen whose livelihoods had been damaged by the
Hua Na dam in Kanthararom district and the Rasi Salai dam in Rasi
Salai district needed help.
Both dams are part of the project, which was implemented in 1992 with
the aim of distributing water to 4.98 million rai of farmland in 15
provinces.
But the project was suspended after some dams and reservoirs triggered
widespread soil salination in the area.
The Irrigation Department has completed construction of the Hua Na
dam, which is the biggest dam of the total 14 dams planned under the
project.
However, hundreds of farmers whose paddy fields were inundated by the
dam, which is built on the Moon river, have yet to receive
compensation.
Wan Sulabutra, a 71-year-old farmer of Ban Kae who was affected by the
Hua Na dam said he was worried about the proposed water diversion
projects, saying the state would only repeat the same mistakes.
''We were told that our farmland wouldn't be flooded and that
villagers affected by the dams would be fairly compensated, but in the
end that was not true,'' he said.
The Hua Na dam, once it came into operation, might cause problems for
farming because the opening and closure of the sluice gates would
change the river's ecosystem.
In the case of the Rasi Salai dam, Mr Wan said, the dam was expected
to feed water to over 34,000 rai of farmland, but in the end only 300
rai benefited from the project.
More than 500 families had lost their land while the ecological system
of Pa Tam_a unique kind of wetland found in the northeastern region _
had been severely damaged. Villagers had depended on the 4,000-rai Pa
Tam for centuries.
Dontri Srihabutra, village chief of Suan Sawan, said the government
should support local wisdom in water management rather than
introducing costly projects, which sometimes carried no benefit for
local communities at all.
He cited as an example the water pump station in Sompoi village of
Rasi Salai district, installed more than 10 years ago. The pump had
never been used because the water is too salty.
''This water pump station is part of the Kong-Chi-Moon project and if
the government doesn't change its mindset, the Mekong diversion
project will end up in the same way. The government should learn about
local wisdom and what residents need.'
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