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The long-awaited Nam Theun dam project in Laos is gradually moving forward, despite concerns of local villagers and international conservationists over the social and environmental impact of the project. Siphoun Siprachan, head of Ban Sop Phene village on the bank of the Nam Theun River, has told his villagers to prepare to leave home several times as their village is located at the center of the proposed area of the Nam Theun 2 hydro-electric dam project. All 228 people in the village listened closely to their headman but did nothing—not out of disobedience, but because they have nothing to prepare. Their small wooden houses, some merely bamboo huts, require little time to desert and they have few belongings to pack. In fact, this village has relocated at least three times in the last 50 years—in 1952, 1962 and 1984—so it is no big deal to move again. "What I want to know is when exactly we have to go," says Si, a 75-year-old resident who moved along with this village all three times. The story of Nam Theun dam has been discussed among local people since the World Bank began a feasibility study in 1991. The project was supposed to materialize after the Nam Theun Electricity Consortium (NTEC) was formed in 1995, but since then, the scheme has forged ahead only on paper. The Lao government planned to build the 1070 megawatts (MW) hydropower dam to export 995 MW to Thailand by 2008 in order to bring foreign currency to give a boost to the cash-strapped economy. The construction costs, estimated at US $1 billion, nearly equals the $1.6 billion gross domestic product (GDP) of the country last year. The plan means around 5,700 people from 28 ethnic groups of 17 communities in the plateau need to find new places to live since their homes would be submerged underwater. But many of the recently interviewed villagers said they do not fear the impact since they have nothing to lose. "Dam or no dam, I don’t mind," said Si flatly. "What we want are sources of food, a school for our children and a public health care station for aging people like me." The Nakai Plateau lies between the lowland areas of the Mekong River and mountainous border region with Vietnam and is the driest highland in central Laos. Rice does not grow well here. And in recent decades, slash and burn cultivation as well as heavy logging has damaged huge tracts of forest. Almost everything here in the highlands, including the lives of the people, is underdeveloped by regional standards. Some live in bamboo huts, hunting to survive. Many villages are isolated, particularly during the rainy season, as driving across the jungle or paddy fields is impossible because there are no roads, let alone other facilities. Villagers in Nakai cling to the hope that the project will bring prosperity to their communities, including new houses, gardens, water, electricity and the chance to fish in the proposed reservoir. International conservationists who are a good distance away from Nakai, however, voiced concerns about the social impact and environmental damage to the local bio-diversity. They have reason to be worried: the reservoir would cover 450 square kilometers while the power house would release 220 cubic meters per second of turbine water into another river, Xe Bang Fai, resulting in higher water levels downstream. The conservationists pressured the World Bank to delay the dam due to their dissatisfaction with the resettlement program and environmental protection scheme of the project. The bank got involved in the project because financiers have asked for a risk guarantee against any breach of contract by the Communist regime. The investment arm of the bank would also finance the project, apart from a loan for the Lao government’s share of project equity—about $100 million. In exchange for the guarantee, the bank required the developers to allocate about 10 percent of the $1 billion investment costs for the resettlement program and environmental protection. This requirement forced the developers to provide at least one hectare of land to each family for residential and cultivation needs, as well as upgrading their farming skills to enable them to produce enough rice for annual consumption within three years after resettlement. The project developers also need to contribute $1 million per year during the 25-year concession to protect the Nakai-Nam Theun Biodiversity Conservation Area, which is the watershed that will flow to the reservoir. The bank’s board will not make a decision to grant a guarantee unless it can build consensus among international conservationists and shareholders involved with the project. The US, a major shareholder in the bank, has aired its discontent over the resettlement and environmental schemes, sources said. The moral highground taken by the bank has taught a lesson to Laos on how to deal with international practices, said a Vientiane-based analyst.