At a gathering in Cambodia’s northeastern Ratanakiri province last month, community leaders repeated their call for government cooperation to restore the Se San River which has been severely disrupted by Vietnam’s Yali Falls dam, 70 kilometres upstream.

“We appeal to the authorities,” said Lan Tit, a Tampuan leader from Veun Say district, “to bring the people’s voice to central government, to international organizations, and to the two countries of Cambodia and Vietnam, to reduce the suffering caused by the unusual flooding and less fish in the river.”

Pua Nopit, an ethnic Lao village chief, explained: “Before natural floods were very good for the people, watering crops and bringing fish…. Now the floods are destructive, rotting rice crops and no fish … we can no longer catch fish. That’s why people along Se San say the river has died because before the fish come up from the Mekong. . . but now no fish come. So I would like to appeal to all organizations responsible to help restore the river.”

In his opening speech to the crowd of several hundred villagers, Ratanakiri governor, H.E. Kham Khoeun, said that he has informed the Vietnamese authorities that operation of the Yali Falls dam is causing rapid daily fluctuations in river flow and water levels, and that this
is causing serious difficulties for the people of Ratanakiri; · a Vietnamese delegation will survey the Se San river this month as part of a joint assessment of the Yali Falls dam impacts by Cambodia and Vietnam; he hoped Vietnam would extend a transmission line from the Yali Falls dam to Ratanakiri province and provide power at a cheap rate.

Following the governor’s address, community leaders took to the podium, recounting how they were caught unaware by the dam’s first big release of water in 1996, which drowned people, swept away fishing gear, boats, and livestock, and wiped out rice crops and riverside vegetable gardens.

They reported higher-than-normal dry season flows have made it impossible for riverside families to grow vegetables along the Se San, which was an important source of food and income.

Se San fishers complain that there are less and less fish in the river and they have difficulty placing nets and traps along the shoreline because the river’s erratic flows often washes them away.

Bou Tan On, a female Tampuan elder said: “We don’t want to blame the Yali Falls dam, but these problems are happening to us and we want to know why the owners of the dam don’t take responsibility for downstream people.”

Sol Tham, a Jarai tribesman, said he wants to meet the owners of the dam to discuss their problems and negotiate to stop the construction of more dams on the Se San.

“We ask the governments of Cambodia and Vietnam to find a solution. . .” said Rachom Tweng, a village chief from Andong Meas district, “and we will continue our work until we get results.”

Village song and dance troupes performed at last month’s gathering, which was organized by the Se San Protection Network to build solidarity among affected communities.

Last year, the state-owned Electricity of Vietnam Corporation (EVN) began construction of a second hydro dam downstream of Yali Falls known as Se San 3.

With funding from the Swedish and Norwegian governments, EVN has plans to build another four hydro dams on the Se San River within the next ten years.

EVN’s transmission network linking Se San dams to Ho Chi Minh and other parts of  Vietnam is partly financed by the World Bank.

This report was compiled by the Se San Protection Network in Ratanakiri province with assistance from NGO Forum in Phnom Penh.

For more information and photos, CONTACT:

Ea Sophy, NGO Forum on Cambodia, Phnom Penh, E-mail sophy@ngoforum.org.kh
Kim Sangha, Se San Protection Network, Ratanakiri province, E-mail sesan@camintel.com