‘ No enough info’ on upstream impact
Described: 20 Dec 2024 at 05: 00
The controversial Sanakham electricity project in Laos is being sued by activists who are urging the government to delay the public hear process in order to provide more details to the site’s developer.
The state is reportedly rushing into the nearby consultation process that is necessary for the project to continue despite its potential effect on provinces that border the Mekong River as a result of the call.
Laos must make sure the Sanakham hydropower project adheres to the Mekong River Commission’s ( MRC ) Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation, and Agreement ( PNPCA ) as stipulated by the project, as the project will restrict the flow of the river downstream of the dam.
Part of the process requires that the dam’s designer take into account the information gathered through public hearings held in nearby communities that will be impacted by the bridge. In Thailand, the procedure is overseen by the Thai National Mekong Committee, which is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong.
The Committee recently gave the Office of the National Water Resources ( ONWR ) the task of holding public hearings on the subject, with the first one scheduled for December 24 in Loei’s Chiang Khan district.
The government should not get too excited about the program’s development, according to Pianporn Deetes, campaign director of the International Rivers Southeast Asia program.
Ms. Pianporn said the whole PNPCA method should only start when the site’s designer has provided all the necessary information to the nearby committees tasked with organizing the open hearings, citing a suggestion made by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Ms. Pianporn urged the Thai commission and the MRC secretariat to hit the project’s developers for more details, particularly its assertion that the dam had a” not significant transnational impact.”
She said the engineer had previously requested more information from the secretariat, but she never did, before claiming that some academics and activists were surprised by the government’s desire to continue holding the public hearings.
The Sanakham bridge will be constructed between the Xayaburi and Vientiane provinces in Laos, according to data that was made available on MRC’s site. In the series of reservoirs that are proposed along the lower Mekong River, it is the fifth and fifth.
The job page lies about 25 miles inland of Sanakham region in Vientiane state, about 155km from Vientiane, and about 84km upstream of the Pak Lay job. The location is also about 2 kilometers from Loei’s Thai-Lao borders.