Laos Dam Construction Going Ahead, Company Says
Thai construction company Ch Karnchang has continued work on the controversial Xayaburi dam in Laos, even as the Lao government has assured other Mekong River nations that the project is postponed pending further environmental studies, the company’s CEO said yesterday. Ch Karnchang’s CEO Plew Trivisvavet told news agency Reuters that the company has received no formal request from the Lao government to halt work on the Xayaburi dam, despite an agreement between Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam to stop such work. … Mr. Plew added that work on the dam’s reservoir should begin later this year. Kirk Harbertson, Southeast Asia policy coordinator for environmental group International Rivers, said the reservoir’s construction would completely alter the Mekong River’s ecosystem. …
