Plans to proceed with a benefits-and-risks review of a proposed hydropower dam on the Mekong River have sparked concern in both Laos and Thailand about the impact on communities and the ecosystem.
The U.S. $2 billion, 12-turbine Sanakham hydropower dam will be built about 155 kilometers (100 miles) west of the Lao capital of Vientiane, and 25 km (15 miles) upstream from Sanakham district of Vientiane province, near the Thai-Lao border.
More than 62,500 people in Thailand and Laos will be forced to relocate due to rising waters, according to submitted documents.
Lao residents say they have hardly had a chance to give feedback on the project.
“I’m so concerned that we’ll have to move to another village,” a Sanakham district resident told Radio Free Asia. “They [the government] did not clearly explain it to us at all.”
Dozens of hydropower dams have already been built on the Mekong and its tributaries, and there are plans to build scores more in the coming years. The Lao government wants to harness their power generation to boost the economy, which has been battered by soaring inflation and a weakening currency.
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