Press Advisory
March 16, 2004

Plans to build a large hydropower plant in northeast Cambodia have alarmed communities already hard hit by Vietnam’s dam building on the Se San River.

“We are very worried about this plan and what it means for our communities,” says Mr.Bun Lam of Andong Meas district, a member of the Ratanakiri-based Se San Protection Network. “We have not been treated fairly in the past, in the case of the Yali Dam, and
we are very upset the government did not consult us before talking with Vietnam about this plan.” says Mrs. Khlan Leam, Andong Meas district, Ratanakiri province. “We want to be informed of the government‚Äôs plans, we want to have a say.”

Se San Protection Network’s reaction follows last month’s news that Cambodia’s energy ministry is planning a US$400 million hydro project on one of three northeastern rivers in cooperation with Vietnam’s national electricity company.

Despite villagers’ appeals, Vietnam has yet to offer compensation or mitigate damages caused by the Yali Falls dam, the first in a series of dams planned for the Se San River, which flows from Vietnam’s central highlands through Stung Treng and Ratanakiri provinces.

Last year, the World Bank assured NGOs that Electricity of Vietnam was taking “immediate action” to assess the damage caused by Yali Falls but little or nothing has been done. An environmental impact assessment EVN promised to undertake several years ago has not even started yet.

According to the Se San Protection Network in Ratanakiri province, local communities have heard very little about the latest plan but they fear the worst based on their experience with Yali Falls.

NGO Forum on Cambodia plans to request meetings with the relevant ministries and also the Cambodian ministers on the council of the UN-backed Mekong River Commission to press for dialogue between the government and local communities and NGOs.

Until late last year, the Cambodian government had been working through the Mekong River Commission to persuade Vietnam to mitigate the devastation caused by Yali Falls.

But talks so far have produced only pledges for cooperation on future studies and early warnings for water releases from the Se San dams.

Proposals for changing Yali’s operating regime to reduce damages downstream stalled, despite urgings from Cambodian officials and NGOs.

“We have seen no results from this process,” says Tong Lean, a community representative from Ratanakiri’s Voeun Sai district. “And now we hear the government wants to dam our stretch of the river.”

Earlier this year, Phnom Penh groups were told that responsibility for Se San problems had moved from the Cambodian National Mekong Committee to a new Standing Committee for Coordination on Dams and Canals along the Cambodia-Lao-Vietnam-Thailand Borders. The new committee is reportedly inactive pending approval by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

“Nobody is taking responsibility for damages caused to our river,” says Dam Chanty, a founding member of the Sesan Protection Network, fluent in 8 of the 9 languages spoken along the Se San River. “We are not against development but the river is our rice and fish store. We want the government to look at other power projects that don’t destroy our
rivers.”

Notes

Since the 720 MW Russian-built Yali Falls dam began generating power in 2000, Se San villagers have reported more than 30 deaths and unusual floods caused by its erratic releases, as well as a serious decline in fish stocks and water quality.

Funding for the Cambodian dam could come from the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank, both longtime proponents of large hydro development in the Mekong basin.

Yali Falls’s transmission lines were funded by the World Bank and the Swedish government.

About 90 communities (55,000 People) live close to the Se San River, a large Mekong tributary, which flows from Vietnam’s central highlands through Ratanakiri and Stung Treng Provinces in northeast Cambodia.

For more information and photos, CONTACT:

Ea Sophy, Environment Coordinator

NGO Forum on Cambodia, Phnom Penh

Tel: 855 (0) 12-986-652, E-mail: sophy@ngoforum.org.kh

Kim Sangha, Coordinator

Sesan Protection Network Project, Ratanakiri Province

Tel: 855 (0) 11-942621, E-mail: sesan@camintel.com

Dam Chanty, Network Support Officer

Sesan Protection Network Project, Ratanakiri

Tel: 855 (0) 12-434-670

Try Thoun, Network/Advocacy Coordinator

CEPA, Stung Treng/Phnom Penh

Tel: 855 (0) 12-439-693, E-mail: cepa@online.com.kh