REGIONAL

RECOMMEND (194)

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PLUSONE

MORE

E-MAIL

PRINT

TEXT SIZE

The Communist regime which is familiar with imposing order upon its citizens, has to now learn how to compensate people who will feel the negative impacts from the project, he added. Civil society remains weak in Laos. Neither a headman like Siphoun nor an ordinary villager like the elderly Si possesses the ability to oppose the government’s plans. No matter what they need or want, they can only say "yes" to the Nam Theun dam, the analyst said. NTEC advisor Loy Chansavat agrees, adding that the project also provides a test case for the developers if they can build an environment- and social-friendly dam. The developers have shown a commitment to the requirements as several projects under the resettlement scheme are already underway, he said. "We can do it in a commercial way like other dams that force villagers to run away from the site in exchange for compensation—in fact, many local people have asked for such treatment—but that way is not good for our country," he said. In the early stages of the project, the government mishandled the project allowing the then military-run company, Bolisat Phatthana Khet Phudoi, to undertake logging concessions in the expected inundated area in the 1980s and early-1990s. Deforestry has begun on the ground in speculation that the dam would be built in Nakai. Only 30 percent of the forest in the area remained when NTEC began its survey, Loy said. The Phudoi company enforced the resettlement scheme in its own vision which did not meet the demands of the local people. The company built prefab housing for the villagers. The company now plays no role in the project since it was forcibly transferred from the military to the finance ministry at the recommendation of the International Monetary Fund. According to Loy, the NTEC is confident the project will proceed as the power purchasing agreement with Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand is expected to be signed by March. The preparatory work on the Nam Theun dam would begin around the same time as the clearance of the Unexploded Ordnances (UXO) in the future construction areas, he said, adding that the main work would began as soon as early-2004 before full commercial operations begin in 2008. Supalak Ganjanakhundee is a regular contributor to The Irrawaddy.