Calls for Angkor Beer Boycott Over Laos Dam Investment
Environmental groups and a local community leader in Stung Treng province have called for a nationwide boycott of the popular Angkor Beer brand to protest the beverage company’s links to a controversial hydropower dam to be built in Laos. Laos announced earlier this month that it will commence construction on the 260-MW Don Sahong dam, which is located about 1 km from the Cambodian border in Stung Treng province. Environmentalists say the dam could block fish migratory routes, which would be devastating for communities downriver in Cambodia. ... The company in charge of the dam construction is Malaysian investment company Mega First Corporation Bhd. At the helm of Mega First is executive chairman Goh Nan Kioh. Mega First representatives said last week that Mr. Goh is also the director of Cambodian beverage giant Cambrew, maker of the popular Angkor Beer, which is 50 percent Malaysian-owned in a joint-venture with Carlsberg Group. Cambrew became the largest brewery in the country after the Malaysian investors assumed control of the Angkor Brewery in Sihanoukville in 1991. Meach Mean, coordinator for the 3S Rivers Protection Network—a local advocacy group for communities affected by hydropower development—also criticized the Malaysian firm’s dual role in beer and dams, and also called for a boycott of Cambrew products. ... Pianporn Deetes, Thai coordinator for river advocacy group International Rivers, said companies should be more mindful of how they invest in foreign countries. ...
Dene-Hern Chen and Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/calls-for-angkor-beer-boycott-over-laos-dam-investment-45646/
