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dam-l ADB fails to compensate villagers affected by Theun-Hinboun
FIVAS INTERNATIONAL RIVERS NETWORK
Association for International Water and Forest Studies
Foreningen for Internasjonale Vann- og Skogstudier
PRESS ADVISORY
Wednesday July 22, 1998
ADB fails to compensate villagers affected by Theun-Hinboun dam in Laos
More than forty NGOs from twelve countries yesterday wrote to President
Sato of the Asian Development Bank expressing their disappointment over the
Bank's handling of the Theun-Hinboun hydropower project in Lao PDR. The
letter conveys the frustration of many NGOs who believe that the ADB is
failing to fully assess the negative impacts of their projects in the
Greater Mekong Subregion.
Thousands of people living upstream and downstream of the project site are
already experiencing various negative impacts as a result of the
Theun-Hinboun project, including declines in fish catches of between 30 and
90 per cent. Yet the ADB is downplaying the impacts of the project, and has
refused to take steps to ensure that, in accordance with its own policies,
villagers are not worse off as a result of the dam.
The Theun-Hinboun hydropower project, funded by the ADB and a consortium of
Norwegian, Swedish and Thai interests in 1994, opened in April 1998 amidst
great fanfare. At the time of the opening, International Rivers Network
(IRN) released a report by independent researcher Bruce Shoemaker, who
visited the project area in early March 1998.
Mr. Shoemaker found that local villagers were already experiencing drops in
fish catches, the loss of riverbank vegetable gardens and drinking water
sources, and transportation difficulties. Many villagers reported that they
had not received compensation for their losses and did not expect to
receive such compensation in the future.
IRN called on the ADB to ensure that local people are fully compensated for
all their losses. IRN and Norwegian NGO FIVAS also called on the Norwegian
and Swedish governments to take responsibility for their share of
compensation, and for NORAD to sponsor an independent examination of the
impacts of the project. Norway and Sweden have thus far failed to own up to
their responsibilities in this matter.
The ADB responded by sending a Mission to the project site. The Mission's
report, sent to IRN in early June, appeared to be aimed at discrediting Mr.
Shoemaker's report rather than addressing the essential question of
compensation for livelihood losses caused by the dam. The Mission found
that declines in fish catches had occurred, but attempted to blame this on
the delayed onset of the rainy season, ignoring the fact that Shoemaker had
visited the project area during the dry season.
more over…
In its report, the ADB does not explain how the Theun Hinboun Power Company
intends to assess compensation and remedial measures, nor any procedures
for allocating compensation. In fact, it is not even clear whether there
are sufficient funds available for adequate compensation. The Mission
states that the fisheries management and rural development plans, essential
parts of the project's mitigation, should be paid for by the Lao government
or foreign agencies rather than the Theun Hinboun Power Company, thereby
externalizing costs that should have been part of the project costs from
the outset.
The NGOs in their letter to Sato state that Theun-Hinboun contains a number
of lessons for how the Bank is handling other hydropower projects in the
Mekong region:
· Poor process from the outset, and unwillingness to address criticisms
from the early stages, has meant that many avoidable problems have arisen.
The ADB's inability to learn from past mistakes renders it likely this will
occur again in the future.
· Lack of consultation with affected communities means that many villagers
are suffering unexpected impacts and are unaware of any procedures in place
to deal with these impacts. The ADB has proved time and again that it is
simply incapable of carrying out effective consultation in the Mekong region.
· The way the ADB has handled criticisms indicates that the ADB is not
interested in understanding and correcting the very significant social and
environmental impacts of its hydropower projects.
· The ADB appears to be more concerned with protecting the interests of the
private investors rather than those of affected Lao citizens.
THPC is a joint venture between the Lao electricity utility, EdL, a Thai
company GMS-Thailand, and two Nordic state-owned utilities, Vattenfall of
Sweden, and Statkraft of Norway. The Norwegian aid agency NORAD gave a
grant of $7 million for the project. The ADB contributed a loan of $60
million, and the remainder of the financing came from export credit
agencies in Norway and Sweden, and a consortium of Thai commercial banks.
- 30 -
For more information, please contact:
Ž Oyvind Eggen, Director, FIVAS: fivas@online.no, 47 22 362200 (w), 47 22
083047 (h)
Ž Aviva Imhof, Mekong Program Coordinator, International Rivers Network:
aviva@irn.org (510) 848 1155 (w), (510) 499 9778 (mobile)
Available from IRN:
- Shoemaker report, Trouble on the Theun-Hinboun, April 1998
- ADB Special Loan Review Mission Report on Site Visit, 6-9 May 1998
- IRN letter in response to ADB Mission Report, July 16, 1998
- NGO letter to President Sato, July 21, 1998
Available from FIVAS:
- More water more fish? A report on Norwegan involvement in the Theun
HInboun Hydropower Project in Lao PDR, FIVAS, 1996.
- NGO letter to President Sato, July 21, 1998
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Aviva Imhof, Mekong Program Coordinator
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley CA 94703 USA
Tel: + 1 510 848 1155 (ext. 312), Fax: + 1 510 848 1008
Email: aviva@irn.org, Web: http://www.irn.org
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