Hydropower dams

A prominent activist in Koh Kong province who has opposed the construction of the Stung Cheay Areng dam has been summonsed to court for alleged “forest crimes”. ...

When the Lao national assembly last week approved a potentially destructive dam project just 2 kilometers from the border with Cambodia, the surprise announcement was yet another blow to the regional framework designed to protect the Mekong River.  ...

Most families immediately downstream of Cambodia’s first major hydropower dam are worse off than they were before the project, according to a new study by U.K. researchers that urges the government to pay more attention to impacts on local residents as it gears up for ...

The construction of the Kamchay Dam in Cambodia, though beneficial to urban areas, has not been so good for those who live close to the dam site in Kampot province, according to a study. ...

Villagers in Stung Treng province have rejected a new compensation offer from the firm building the divisive Lower Sesan 2 hydropower dam. ...

People who have accepted relocation from the future reservoir zone of the Lower Sesan II hydropower project have called for the suspension of the resettlement program for one year and help to repair homes built by the Cambodian-Chinese energy firm constructing the dam.Villagers who held ...

Energy is a basic human need that must be fulfilled to achieve sustainable development. This kind of development is not possible without energy and policies to meet energy demand. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has dismissed reports that Lao PDR has commenced construction of the giant 360MW Don Sahong Hydro Dam project. ...

Villagers living downstream from the controversial Lower Sesan II hydropower project have claimed that they contracted unusual skin ailments causing large black spots on their bodies after the firm building the dam drained industrial waste into a river they use for bathing. Cambodia’s Royal Group, a ...

As work moves ahead on the controversial Lower Sesan 2 dam in Stung Treng province, the Ministry of Mines and Energy met Tuesday with representatives of more than 250 families still refusing to make way for the dam’s reservoir. ...

Despite protests from its neighbours and the international community, construction is ramping up at the proposed Don Sahong dam site in southern Laos, according to Cambodians living near the border. Vanna, 34, said activity spiked last Thursday at the site, less than 2 kilometres north ...

Representatives of a group known as Cambodia Youth Movement 157, which counts Defense Ministry officials among its leadership, on Sunday handed out money to eviction-threatened indigenous families in Koh Kong province’s Areng Valley on behalf of Hun Manet, the son of Prime Minister Hun Sen. ...

An intergovernmental body that supervises development along the Mekong River must address regional concerns over the controversial Don Sahong dam project in Laos at its annual consultation meeting next week, an environmental watchdog said Thursday. ...

Residents of Stung Treng province who are facing eviction due to the Lower Sesan II hydropower project accused local officials yesterday of threatening to arrest them if they don’t refrain from hanging banners reading “Would rather die than leave” on their homes. ...

With 35 nations signing on as founding members, Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has a reported US$50 billion foundation from which it plans to spur infrastructure growth in developing Asian countries with projects that include hydroelectric facilities.​ ...

Ethnic minority villagers who live in the planned reservoir zone of the Lower Sesan II hydropower project along the Sesan and Srepok rivers have said they will not move from their homes unless the dam company and authorities pay for the removal of their ancestors’ ...

Cambodia’s largest hydropower project has been redesigned, leading to concerns from environmental groups, but a company official who confirmed the “design optimisation” over the weekend insisted that the Lower Sesan II dam will provide clean, safe energy and have few downstream impacts. Ren Zhonghua, deputy director ...

Rights advocates have called for construction of the Lower Sesan II hydropower dam in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province to be halted until new environmental and social impact assessments can be carried following changes allegedly made to the project’s plans. ...

The development of two dams on the Lower Mekong River in Laos may have potentially devastating impact on the food security and livelihoods of 60 million people in the area, an international environmental group said. ...

The Koh Kong Provincial Court has agreed to a request to delay the questioning of an anti-dam activist accused of illegally felling trees to build a community center in the Areng Valley. Ven Vorn—an ethnic Chong who has joined local protests organized by the NGO Mother ...

Electricite du Cambodge director Keo Rattanak said on Saturday that the stalled Chinese-backed hydropower project in Koh Kong province’s Areng Valley has set back Cambodia’s plans to become energy self-sufficient. Rattanak, who was speaking at a gathering for soldiers in the Odar Meanchey province, singled out ...

Villagers in Koh Kong province’s Areng Valley, the site of a proposed hydropower dam opposed by most of the local ethnic minority Chong, say police deleted their photos and video of a visit by CPP lawmaker Ay Khorn on Friday to promote the project’s potential ...

Hundreds of indigenous villagers on Monday threatened to continue protests against the developer of a controversial hydropower dam in Cambodia if it does not halt construction of the project, which they say will negatively affect their cultural traditions and livelihoods. ...

Villagers in Stung Treng province displeased local authorities on Saturday by holding a traditional ceremony calling upon a powerful local spirit to curse those behind the construction of the Lower Sesan 2 dam. ...