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dam-l LS: Laos eager to build Nam Theun 2
Thursday September 10 11:55 PM EDT
Laos Eager To Build $1.2B Dam
DON PATHAN Associated Press Writer
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Laos is determined to become the battery of
Southeast Asia through its $1.2 billion Nam Theun II hydroelectric dam, the
country's largest development project.
Hoping for an annual income of $250 million to help alleviate poverty, Laos
is pushing ahead with the dam, which critics say will destroy the
environment and displace about 800 families.
A coalition of 14 environmental groups recently called on Thailand to forgo
agreement to purchase power from the dam, citing economic viability, as well
as environmental and humanitarian reasons.
The group said Thailand needed to reassess its power demand in light of the
current economic crisis, which has slowed industrial growth.
The NT2 Consortium, which is building the dam, dismissed the allegations,
saying Laos affected people will be adequately compensated and the Thai
economy will be back on track in about two years.
The consortium is looking to the World Bank to unlock loans from commercial
lenders by providing the controversial project a ``political risk
guarantee.''
``We expect to receive a final appraisal from the World Bank by next June
and begin construction by the end of next year,'' said Khamleuang Sayarath,
the Lao government's project director for the dam. ``The bank has been with
us every step of the way and we are positive it will come through for us.''
The bank, however, has been tight-lipped, having been severely criticized in
the past for backing dams that have wrought environmental destruction.
Other dams are being planned or built in Laos, which has few other
income-producing resources. But the question of who will buy the electricity
weighs heavily in Asia's economically depressed times.
``We are talking about a project that will begin generating electricity at
the earliest in 2004. The situation should have improved by then,'' said NTZ
Consortium Director Jean-Christophe Devallet. Besides Thailand, Laos hopes
that one day Vietnam and Cambodia will also be buying its electricity.
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