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dam-l PR: WB visits Pak Mun Dam - Villagers reject offer of development
Press Release
Southeast Asia Rivers Network(SEARIN)
February 5, 2000
World Bank visits Pak Mun dam site - Villagers reject Bank's offer of
development
Last Monday, 31 January 2000, World Bank Thai Country Director, Mr. J.
Shivakumar, together with representatives from the World Bank's Thailand
Country Department, visited Mae Mun Man Yuen 1, the protest village
established at the Pak Mun dam site.
Several hundred villagers gathered to hear Mr. Shivakumar speak and to tell
him about the problems they have experienced as a result of the dam. Mr.
Shivakumar told the villagers that the World Bank would "do our best to
study as much as we can and find a solution." He said "we have come here as
your friend and we owe it to you to help you achieve a better life".
Many village leaders spoke passionately to Mr. Shivakumar, telling him of
loss of fisheries, poor resettlement, and inadequate compensation. Time and
again, the villagers stated that the only solution they could see to their
problems was for the dam to be removed. They told Mr. Shivakumar that they
were prepared to fight until their fisheries were restored.
After hearing the testimony, Mr. Shivakumar stated that he felt that he was
now a part of their family. However, he stated that "going back to the past
may not be a better way to deal with the future." He asked them to consider
more options than just removing the dam, and suggested that development
implied moving forward, not backwards. He said that the World Bank would
study why the villagers were unhappy, why they have come here and how to
make their lives better. He said the Bank could share this information with
government and make suggestions, but the Bank could not force to the
government to do anything, and would not work to support the villager's
demands for dam removal.
The villagers then took Mr. Shivakumar on a tour of affected villages. It
was clear that the solution the World Bank had in mind was to bring
"development" to the area, through such tried and failed schemes as fish
ponds, water supply projects, and income generation schemes such as
eucalyptus plantations. Villagers felt that the Bank was not sincere in
listening to, and understanding, their problems. Villagers did not trust
the Bank's empty promises of development, having already experienced the
brunt of the development process over the past ten years.
Mr. Thongcharoen Srihadhamma, a villager leader from Pak Mun, says
that "the World Bank tried to say that they were part of our family.
But when we discussed the problems that have resulted from the dam,
it was clear that we were not part of the same family because they
would not listen to us. They tried to persuade us to accept their
development plan. But we feel that the World Bank is still
approaching this problem in the wrong way. They want to proceed with
the development, with projects like fish ponds, that were tried and
proven to fail in the past, and which the Bank wants to reinstate.
They also want to develop eucalyptus plantations, which proves that
they are only concerned with development, because the villagers in
this area have been strongly opposed to these plantations for over 10
years."
Mr. Thongcharoen added, "we felt very bad when the WB told us to
forget about the past and look toward to the future. We only want
removal of the dam, we want to restore the Mun River and return to
the way of life that we once had. The river and the fisheries are the
future of all these villagers, and the Bank is telling us to forget
about that."
A day after the visit, the Thai country office called advisors to
Assembly of the Poor and said that the Bank would like the villagers
to send a list of representatives, plus trusted academics, to be part
of a committee for a new development program.
The villagers and advisors resolved to reject the World Bank's offer
of assistance, seeing it as a veiled attempt to silence their
protests and their demands for restoration of the Mun River.
Another reason for the villagers decision to reject the WB's offer is
that, after consulting with various NGOs in Northeast Thailand, we
found that the Bank had also contacted them and offered to supply
funds to villager organizations to help alleviate the poverty in
rural villages. During their visit at Pak Mun, the WB officials
seemed very concerned with finding solutions to the problems of Pak
Mun villagers. But once they returned to Bangkok, they requested that
the villagers send a list of representatives from every dam within
Assembly of the Poor, and WB revealed that they would try to solve
the problems of villagers from every dam, even those which were not
financially supported by the Bank.
So it is clear that the WB program is not solely focused on the
problems at Pak Mun, and that they were not honest with the Pak Mun
villagers because they concealed this information about helping rural
communities in NE Thailand.
Moreover, even though we don't know where the money will come from
for this program, the World Bank has claimed several times, to NGOs
and villagers, that the Thai government has a fund of 1.2 billion
baht to solve the problems of villagers affected by the dams, but
that no villagers stepped forward to claim this money. This is not
true. Because, in reality this fund was only created to compensate
people affected by Sirindhorn dam, not for general dams. The Chavalit
government did approve 1.2 billion baht for the 2,526 families
affected by Sirindhorn dam in 1997. However, in 1998 the Chuan
government cancelled this agreement with a new Cabinet resolution
stating that "no money would be paid to be people affected by dams
built in the past."
Mr. Preeda Dechakampoo, a village leader from Sirindhorn dam, states
that "The people affected by Sirindhorn dam are still demanding
compensation for their losses. The truth is that there is no
compensation money for these people. Another important note is, if
the government and WB distributed the money alotted for the people of
Sirindhorn dam to other areas, the affected people and Assembly of
the Poor would have a strong opposition."
Finally, the villagers have resolved to continue to fight for the
removal of the dam,
which is the only solution they can see to their problems. They do not want
compensation. They call on the World Bank to:
1. Take responsibility for the destruction it has caused to the lives of
Mun River villagers, and the ecology and fisheries of the Mun River,
acknowledge mistakes and respect their demands.
2. Work with the Thai government to decommission Pak Mun and restore the
Mun River.
Restore the Mun River! Remove the dams!
************************************************
Chainarong Sretthachau
Southeast Asia Rivers Network(SEARIN)
25/5 Moo 2 Soi Sukhapibarn 27
Changkhien-Jed Yod Road
Chang Phuek
Muang
Chiang Mai 50300
Thailand
Tel/Fax: (66) 53-221157
Email: <mailto:searin@chmai.loxinfo.co.th>searin@chmai.loxinfo.co.th