An estimated 125 families from seven villages in Vienthong district of central Laos’ Bolikhamxay province, who would be displaced after construction of a new dam are refusing to accept compensation from the developer, saying what they have been offered is not enough.
Construction on the Nam Theun 1 hydroelectric dam began in 2016 and so far about 40 percent of it has been completed. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2022.
The developer has plans to relocate a total of 624 families by November this year. They are scattered about the proposed flood zone in Ban Thadeua, Ban Phiengton, Ban Sombath, Ban Kokton, Ban Vangmark, Ban Nammeut and Ban Phonhong villages.
The Nam Theun 1 Power Group, which has private and public backing from both Laos and Thailand, offered payments to villagers to vacate their land.
“Most villagers have already accepted the offer except a small number of them, maybe 120 households or so, perhaps 20 percent,” said an official from a village administration authority in an interview with RFA’s Lao Service on Tuesday.
The official said that the developer had offered each family $8,000 per hectare but the villagers are demanding between $10,000 and $14,000.
An official from the energy and mines department of Bolikhamxay told RFA “It’s not possible [to offer them more] because the amount they were offered is in compliance with provincial policy.”
“They all signed contracts determining the [amount] of payment. Under that contract, most people have accepted the offer, but only 20 percent are opposed,” said the energy official.
Hydroelectric dam projects disrupting the lives of rural villagers is not a unique issue in Laos. Villagers from 132 families in Phongsaly province’s Khoua district are demanding that the developer of the nearby Nam Ou 5 dam build them a new temple because the old on had to be demolished last year for the dam project.
“There’s no more place to worship or reflect on our merits. The Nam Ou dam project demolished it,” said the chief of one of the villages, adding, “Before there was a Buddhist temple by the road in the village. Now it’s gone.”
The chief lamented that even the local government was unhelpful in their efforts to replace the temple.
“We don’t even have land for a new temple,” he said.
“That part of land now belongs to the project. Right now we don’t know what to do, and we’ve made a request to the district’s office but they’ve refused to help us,” said the chief.
Many villagers say they need the new temple soon so that they can properly celebrate Pi Mai (Lao New Year) next month.
The chief noted that none of the 132 families are being relocated for the Nam Ou 5 dam project, but the temple had to be demolished because a road to the construction site had to go through the land it was sitting on.
Reported and translated by RFA’s Lao Service. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Dear Sir/Madame,
First of all, I would like to introduce myself. My name is “Vongdeuane” and I am in charge of Environmental and Social Department of Nam Theun 1 Power Company. I read the contents of the news in regard to the Compensation Offer for Relocation of Nam Theun 1 HPP. I have seen that some information is correct such as names of relocated villages, number of relocated families and general information regarding to the progress of the project. Nevertheless, please be aware that some information in your news is incorrect. The misleading information that you provided includes paragraph 1; paragraph 5; paragraph 6; and paragraph 8. Please see the actual circumstances as follows:
Paragraph 1 – It is not true that “125 families who will be displaced after construction of a new dam are refusing to accept compensation from the developer”. Frankly speaking, there is only one household out of 624 households within those 7 villages who refuse to accept their compensation costs.
Paragraph 5 – From the explanations on Para 1 above, so the sentences you mention in this Para “Most villagers have already accepted the offer except a small number of them, maybe 120 households or so, perhaps 20 percent” are incorrect.
Paragraph 6 – The whole sentences in this para “The official said that the developer had offered each family $8,000 per hectare but the villagers are demanding between $10,000 and $14,000”. This information is not correct as well. Please let me explain: the GOL/developer evaluated the cost of lands based on their productions and technical calculation nationally. The prices are various depending on type of lands, e.g., residential, paddy field, grass land, garden, upper land, etc. (totally 14 types). The cost of existing paddy field that the developer offers to each household is 12,000 LAK per square meter or equal to $14,000 per hectare.
Paragraph 8 – The whole sentences in this para are also misleading “They all signed contracts determining the [amount] of payment. Under that contract, most people have accepted the offer, but only 20 percent are opposed”. From my explanation ins Para 1, your information in this para is not correct.
I would like to comment further into your news that it is nice to provide information to public, but before posting, please make sure that the information you transmitted to the public is reliable. Otherwise, it can discredit the developer like us. If all information you posted about Nam Theun 1 HPP is correct, I would not dare to write these clarifications.
Apr 11, 2019 05:17 AM
