Add your comment by filling out the form below in plain text. Comments are approved by a moderator and can be edited in accordance with RFAs Terms of Use. Comments will not appear in real time. RFA is not responsible for the content of the postings. Please, be respectful of others' point of view and stick to the facts.
Lao people watch out. Your beloved party-state will send its army to calm you down.They've already pocketed " huge " commissions and there's no way to turn back.
Mar 21, 2019 04:59 PM
Reply to this comment
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
Reply to this comment