Government Approves Dam On Lower Sesan
The Council of Ministers on Friday signed off on the Lower Sesan 2 dam project in Stung Treng province, despite long-standing criticism leveled against the project by environmental groups who say it would adversely affect 100,000 people as a consequence of reduced access to fish. The 400-megawat dam located on one of the Mekong River’s most important tributaries will be funded with a $781.52 million investment- a share of which is from the local conglomerate Royal Group- and will take at least five years to complete, the Council of Ministers said in a statement. … The potential fallout from the dam is considerable. A 2009 study carried out by Ian Baird, a 3S Basin fisheries expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, showed that the dam is set to displace 5,000 villagers alone in Sesan district. But as many as 100,000 people who rely on the Sesan River in Stung Treng and Ratanakkiri provinces could lose the ability to catch fish. …
