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dam-l LS: Villagers get B132 from EGAT



This is from April 8 - I forgot to forward it earlier.

PAK MOON DAM



Villagers get B132 million from Egat

Project causes drop in river fish stocks

Ubon Ratchathani

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) yesterday paid
132.6 million baht in compensation to another 2,210 fishermen affected by
construction of the Pak Moon dam.

The money was handed over at a presentation ceremony in Phibun Mangsahan
district hall, presided over by Prapas Bunyindee, deputy Ubon Ratchathani
governor.

Under the compensation package, worth 132.6 million baht for 2,210 affected
people, Egat will pay a one-off 30,000 baht to each fisherman and 10,000
over three years to each affected villager.

The Pak Moon dam has been blamed by local people and activists for a sharp
drop in the fish population in the Moon river.

Supin Panyamark, Egat deputy governor, said fishermen would receive no more
compensation after this latest package.

Mr Supin said total compensation approved by Egat has now reached 488.5
million baht for 6,165 cases. Some 3,955 affected fishermen have already
received 90,000 baht each.

Egat has already spent 499.9 million baht on liabilities, road upgrades and
infrastructure construction in affected areas.

The total sum of compensation now stands at 988 million baht, or about 20%
of the project's total cost.

Mr Supin said negotiations for 15 rai of land for each affected villager
were under way between the Egat and representatives of the affected group.

This compensation was mostly requested by villagers from other provinces,
he said, adding that less than 20% of the claims were from Ubon Ratchathani
villagers.

Sources said the group, led by the Forum of the Poor, had been gathering at
the dam site in Khong Chiam district to demand compensation.

Vanida Tantivitthayapong, adviser to the Forum of the Poor, said affected
villagers would stay at the site until their demands were met. She said the
government was dragging its feet in alleviating the plight of the poor.



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Aviva Imhof
South-East Asia Campaigner
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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