Lies, threats at dam site

Stung Treng province Commune chief Seak Mekong changes into uniform in his family’s small wooden home in Sesan district’s Srekor I village before leading reporters to a speedboat on the Sesan River and motioning them to climb aboard. … Mekong, a 42-year-old Sam Rainsy Party official, says that in the past week, he has been threatened by forestry administration officials and warned not to speak to the media about the luxury-grade timber he claims is being cleared a short boat trip away. … Hundreds of families in Mekong’s commune – and about 1,000 in total in a wider area – live in houses that will be submerged by the reservoir of the Lower Sesan 2 hydropower dam, which was approved in February. In exchange for making way for the $781 million, 400-megawatt dam – to be constructed by Royal Group and Chinese company Hydrolancang International Energy beginning next year – the government has promised families homes, farmland and infrastructure on sites as far as 15 kilometres away. … When Post reporters meet with Sesan district officials at their head office, Yoeung Srey Pheary, deputy district governor, says the “900 to 1,050 families” affected by the Lower Sesan 2’s reservoir will be moved at the end of this year or by early next year, according to information she has received from provincial officials. …

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040864946/National/lies-threats-at-dam-site.html