(June 5, 1996) This report was prepared at the request of Probe International. The purpose of the report is to address the process of electricity development in Laos and to propose an alternative approach.
Lao PDR Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric project
(May 28, 1996) To read Gráinne Ryder’s report on the Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric project.
Probe Alert: UN body financing the destruction of two major river systems
(September 2, 1995) Contrary to its ideals of promoting “pro-poor, pro-nature, pro-jobs and pro-women” sustainable human development, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has a dismal history of supporting some of the largest and most destructive development projects in the world.
Spirit trap: The Mekong
(March 21, 1995) Before sunrise the men have collected the night’s catch from the large lee traps scaffolded over the rushing water. Women sit gutting and chopping the silver-white fish, to get them ready for smoking. ‘Not a great catch, but good enough,’ says one man, placing his fish on the scales. ‘Last season, one of these traps caught over a ton of fish in just one night.
Thirsty for the rivers of Laos
(December 1, 1994) On the advice of the World Bank, the Laos Ministry of Industry and Handicraft hopes to raise US $2.5 billion in foreign capital, over twice the national GDP, for investment in up to 58 big dams over the next 15 years.
Rent-a-river, build a dam
(December 1, 1994) The river auction has commenced. The Lao PDR government has taken its first steps down a seductive but treacherous path to prosperity and development: renting its rivers for hydroelectric dams.
Overview of regional plans
(December 1, 1994) The 4200-kilometer Mekong is the tenth largest river in the world, carrying 475,000 million cubic meters of water to the sea annually. The river flows from the Tibetan Himalayas southward through China and passes north of Burma, its watershed encompassing nearly all of Laos, northeast Thailand, most of Cambodia, and the delta of south Vietnam.
Salween Dams: a study
(May 23, 1994) This report is an introduction to the impacts of large dams in general, the environmental problems associated with existing large dams in Asia, and the potential impacts of damming the Salween.
Probe Alert: Mekong ecosystem under new attack, as Asian Development Bank prepares to finance dam in Laos
(February 1, 1994) Meanwhile, independent experts blast World Bank for ignoring mounting disaster at downstream tributary’s Pak Mun Dam.
Damming the Mekong: Canadian Connection
(December 31, 1989) Through the Asian Development Bank, Canadian taxpayers financed studies recommending up to 15 giant hydroelectric dams on the upper Mekong and 40 tributary dams; Mekong farms, fisheries and water supplies, vital to the livelihoods of 100 million people, are threatened.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
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