World green groups will fight Lao dam across Mekong

BLM2010 · Senior Member

Environment in Lao PDR

chiip · Guru

It's a very good idea but for me I think that first of all, the government and concerned authorities should focus on preserving the precious water of the small rivers all over the country by constructing a kind of weir (small dam not higher than its banks) to keep water in dry season in every appropriate small rivers that local people could enjoy growing vegetable, cattle breeding , poultry farming and pisciculture or fish breding . It would be much easier and more profitable for all of them . Yes we should make a big effort to aleviate the poverty. The water is source of life. Whithout it, no projects, small or big couldn't survive. I have experieced it in 1970 but very few people profited from it because there were very few people in our village but the preserved water was full of fish. but one fine day (in 1973 I think) the tubular steel frame was strongly corrosived by the salty water ( the enginieur did not know that the water was salty) and the sad and irreparable thing occured : the small dam collapsed and now it was replaced by a concreted bridge and no more water in dry season and...no more fish...or vegetable growing...

khonthakek · Guru

khonthakek · Guru

BLM2010 wrote:

Lao PDR is highly dependent on natural resources for its prosperity but faces mounting environmental challenges. In addition to natural resource based investments, the expansion of commercial agricultural plantations and the extraction of minerals puts further pressure on the land.

The recent increase in economic activities linked to the country’s natural resources has also had an impact on environmental quality. Managing these natural resources is vital as environmental conditions are closely linked to the livelihoods, health and vulnerability of people living in poverty, particularly women and children.
The UN is working at all levels to address the environmental challenges facing the country. The Poverty Environment Initiative supports the mainstreaming of poverty-environmental concerns and opportunities into national level planning. The recently developed Fisheries and Aquaculture Law is a landmark step for Lao PDR in protecting a vital food source and people’s livelihoods. Fish and fisheries play an important economic role contributing an estimated 13 percent of GDP.
Please read more about UNDP’s work on MDGs in Lao PDR.

thank for sharing brother BLM.. yes any Laotians have a right to live with a good environment , Any Laotian have a right to protect the environment as well.

KAONIAW · Senior Member

Very well done cartoon. Hopefully the message will be heard.

Lao Isan · Senior Member

Lao government should regulate and enforce the law to protect the environment. These company will exploit Laos.

khonthakek · Guru

I support their work

World green groups will fight Lao dam across Mekong

By Janjira Pongrai

We have been gathering signatures of people who are against this dam," Thailand's Chiang Khong Conservation Group leader Niwat Roykaew said at an international meeting in Mexico.

"We will fight to the end because the dam will cause huge trouble to so many people".

He spoke at an international meeting of dam-affected people and their allies in the city of Temacapulin.

Laos recently gave official notice to the mekong River Commission (MRC) of its plan to construct the Xayaburi dam.

Jeremy bird, chief executive officer of the MRC secretariat, said recently he would tell all country members of the matter and encourage them to find a mutual conclusion.

The 260-megawatt electric dam is expected to disrupt the lives of millions of people who live downstream from the proposed site, near the town of Luang Prabang, if it goes ahead.

The mekong is one of the world's major rivers - stretching 4,350 kilometres from China, through Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Niwat lamented yesterday that a handful of people had used their money and power to manage rivers for their benefit at great cost to large numbers of others.

He said four dams on the mekong River in China had already caused a crisis and the Xayaburi dam would make the situation even worse.

Speaking at the same meeting, International Rivers Network executive director Patrick McCully, said many dams had been dismantled in North America and Europe after people became aware of the dams' adverse impacts on the environment and ecology.

"Developing countries, however, continue to build new dams," McCully told the meeting, which concludes tomorrow.

-- Edited by khonthakek on Wednesday 6th of October 2010 12:54:08 AM