Concerns mount over dam

Sketchy details that fail to specify when construction of the Lower Sesan 2 hydro dam will begin, or name the Chinese company involved, have villagers fearing for their future, representatives and environmental groups say. Since the Council of Ministers announced on Friday it had signed off on the $780 millions dam, set fora tributary of the Mekong River in Stung Treng province’s Sesan district, villagers have questioned how they will survive of they are forced to make way or it. About 5,000 people are expected to be relocated, and the impact on fish and land could affect 100,000. … The government’s announcement about the construction of the 400-megawatt dam on the Sesan river comes amid staunch opposition from environmental groups who fear it will destroy the livelihoods of tens of thousands of fishing and farming families. A statement from the Council of Ministers says the Hydro Power Lower Sesan 2 company, comprising an unnamed Chinese company and firms from Cambodia and Vietnam, will invest $781 million in the five-year construction project. …

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