Damning revelations

An environmental group has accused the Lao government of “unilaterally” pushing forward with construction on the controversial US$3.8 billion Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River, despite serious concerns about the project and an incomplete regional decision-making process.  In a statement released yesterday,  conservation group International Rivers said that a field visit to the proposed dam site late last month revealed that construction on an access road and work-camp was proceeding in spite of commitments from Laos to temporarily suspend the project. The release also stated that a meeting of the four lower Mekong countries – Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam – in Phnom Penh today to discuss further steps in the Mekong River Commission’s consultation process had been postponed “without explanation”.  

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011080550883/National-news/damning-revelations.html