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dam-l LS: Update on Pak Mun, letter to World Bank



EGAT technicians werre supposed to arrive this morning
to enter the dam and see what, if any, repair and
maintenance was necessary, as they have been claiming
it was in the news media for weeks now.  However, they
never showed up.  Instead, EGAT issued a new demand,
that villagers vacate the Pak Mun Dam parking lot
first, to allow a vehicle with a crane to enter.  They
have not yet explained why they need to bring a crane
in, as such a move would be unprecedented, at least in
the 15 months since Mae Moon Mun Yuen 1 was founded. 
The villagers are ssticking to the agreement reached
last Saturday with EGAT and the provincial governor,
to allow EGAT technicians to enter the dam along with
the news media, representatives of the Assembly of the
Poor, and neutral (non-EGAT) engineers to observe what
the EGAT technicians actually do and offer their own
opinions as to what, if anything, is actually wrong
with the dam.

At Rasi Salai the villagers held a ceremony to call
for the opening of the dam gates. 


WB letter below:
-------------------------------------------------------
June 5, 2000

Mr. James Wolfenson
President 
The World Bank
1818 H Street,
Washington, D.C.

 
Dear Mr. Wolfensohn,

We, the villagers affected by the Pak Mun Dam and
Assembly of the poor, write to you from the fenced off
car park and area around the crest of the Pak Mun dam.
One thousand of us have been living here since May 15,
2000 to demand the dam's flood gates be open
permanently to allow fish migrating out of the Mekong
to pass their way to spawn.

Ten years ago the World Bank and EGAT destroyed our
livelihoods through the construction of the Pak Mun
dam. We were promised a better way of life but instead
our fisheries were decimated and our communities
destroyed. Over the past ten years we have learnt that
compensation will not solve our problems and will only
cause new problems. We believe that the only way
forward for our communities is the dam decommissioning
and river restored. 

The World Commission on Dams(WCD)' Summary for Forum:
March 24, 2000, found that "the actual catch in the
reservoir and to a lesser extent also the river reach
immediately upstream of the reservoir is 60% to 80%
less than in the pre-dam era. The unexpected impacts
of Pak Mun dam included dramatic decrease in fish
species, fish abundance and productivity; lower
fishing income for the households and changes in
fishing occupation, fishing pattern, food expense, and
the resultant social, economic and political
consequences. The Pak Mun dam has affected aquatic
biodiversity and relative abundance of fish
populations up and down stream of the dam. The head
pond has inundated and destroyed significant spawning
habitat habitats such as rapids.

The Summary for Forum also said it is now clear that
the fish ladder is not accommodating seasonal fish
migration from the Mekong River into Mun/Chi
Watershed. The Pak Mun dam, with only 136 MW installed
capacity, de facto seals off a catchment area of
117,000 square km. Fish migration only takes place in
flood period, usual in August and September, when the
flood gates are sometimes open. However the peak fish
migration period is from May to June, at the start of
rainy season. Of the 265 species record in the Mun
watershed before 1994, 77 species were migratory.
Furthermore 35 species depended on rapid habitat by
the Pak Mun reservoir. The latest survey after dam
construction record only 96 species upstream of the
dam. There has been an apparent impact on 169 fish
species.

According the Summary Report, the 136 MW Pak Mun
scheme was designed to operate as peaking plant, using
the storage of the reservoir for daily pondage
operation. During wet months Pak Mun cannot turbine
the whole daily in flow in the 4 hours peak demand
period and must generate power in off-peak hours as
well. When the water levels in the Mekong are very
high, the power plant will be shutdown for lack of
generating head.  

Inspection of Pak Mun's monthly energy generation
value indicate that in April and May, which are the
most critical month in terms of power system demand
and hydro availability, not more than about 5 GWh is
produced. If this output is spread evenly over the 4
hours peaking period, the equivalent capacity is about
40 MW. 

The WCD report said the cost/benefit calculation for
Pak Mun dam are summarized that the EIRR(%/a) of the
dam is 4.6 to 5.6.    

Moreover, the WCD found that the actual irrigation
benefit are zero.

Therefore, we call on the World Bank to take
responsibility for the destruction you have caused to
our lives and to the ecology and fisheries of the Mun
River. We demand the World Bank work with the Thai
government to decommission Pak Mun dam by open the
flood gates permanently and restore the Mun River.

Your Sincerely,

Affected villagers by Pak Mun Dam and Assembly of the
Poor