Mekong Utility Watch (translated from the Cambodian Daily)
June 11, 2007

Cambodia’s National Assembly discussed concerns about Vietnam’s Yali dam at a recent meeting to approve a new water resources bill, the Phnom Penh-based newspaper, Cambodia Daily has reported.

Lawmaker Monh Saphan asked Cambodian water resources minister, Lim Kean
Hor, to request that Vietnamese authorities stop releasing excess water from the 720 MW Yali Falls dam, which sits upstream of Ratanakiri province on the SeSan River in Vietnam.
Water released from the reservoir in the rainy season kills fish and causes hardship in Cambodia, Monh Saphan told the Cambodian Daily on May 23. “We want a good friend to continue to be a good friend” he said referring to Vietnam.

Minister Lim Kean Hor said the government was already discussing the matter with Vietnamese officials and that Vietnam had agreed to build a reservoir to retain the extra water.

Vietnamese Embassy spokesman Trinh Ba Cam said he was not personally aware of problems caused by the dam but added that Vietnam was acting to protect the environment. “We must protect the environment,” he said.

“If there is a problem, the two sides will work to solve the issue.”

The eleven-chapter water resources law, which declares that all water resources are public property and places them under government administration, was approved by a vote of 87 of 89 lawmakers present.

The law provides jail time and fines for offenses such as filling in lakes or unlicensed dredging, but Water Resources Minister Lim Kean Hor told the Assembly that the law would not be applied retroactively.