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DAM-L LS: Commentary on WCD/Pak Mun (fwd)
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Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2000 11:23:55 -0700 (PDT)
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subject: LS: Commentary on WCD/Pak Mun
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And the proof is in the report
Sanitsuda Ekachai, Bangkok Post, September 28, 2000
It's official. The Pak Moon dam is a disaster. In an eye-opening report,
the World Commission on Dams confirmed what the Pak Moon villagers have
been saying all along, but have gone unheeded. The question is: What
next?The study was done by an independent, neutral party to tell it like it
is. If respected, the long-denied truth can help resolve conflicts between
the people and the state in the face of a spiralling natural resources wars.
The report exposes serious flaws in the state agencies' decision-making and
the need to open up the system-from planning to implementing to
monitoring-to all stake-holders.
It also illustrates the necessity of participatory post-project assessment
by a neutral body to bring rationality back to the picture when discord has
turned into a question of face for the state agencies involved.
But will rationality prevail?According to the WCD report, the Pak Moon dam
cannot be justified economically. The 135 megawatt dam can produce only 15%
of planned electricity output, or only 21 megawatts.
Egat, the state power agency and dam developer, didn't have the required
environmental impact assessment done after the redesign. The number of
affected villagers was gravely underestimated. The adverse impact on the
fisheries and environment was ignored. As a result, the compensation
pay-out shot up to one billion baht from 231.6 million baht. And the Pak
Moon river ecosystem was destroyed forever.
In addition, the claims of the benefits of irrigation are misleading. The
projected fisheries benefits from the reservoir are largely exaggerated.
The fish ladder doesn't work. The dam interferes with fish migration and
breeding patterns. The permanent loss of rapids, which are a fish habitat,
is ecologically significant. Only 96 of 265 fish species remain after the
dam. The fishing communities have lost over $1.4 million (58.7 million
baht) per year from declining fish yields, not to mention the immeasurable
human misery due to family and community breakdown.
Meanwhile, the conflict gets worse as Egat and the government use divisive
strategies to split community opinion.
A full assessment of the impact on nature and the villagers' livelihoods
could have prevented unnecessary misery and Thailand would not have lost an
important ecosystem, says the report.
"... if all the benefits and costs were adequately assessed, it is unlikely
that the project would have been built in the current context", it concludes.
Details are available at http://www.dams.orgWill Thailand ever learn the
lessons?It depends on whether we can see through the state myths on
development, how we envision our goals in life and how much we value truth
over face and self-interest.
The villagers cried foul over Pak Moon dam from day one. Why did we have to
wait 15 years for the WCD findings to believe the villagers' cause is valid
and their problems real?Why? Because Thai society primarily looks down on
the poor. Poverty is considered a sin. The education system teaches us to
look down on our cultural roots and village simplicity while making Western
affluence our ultimate dream.
That's why the state development mantra of consumerism never fails to
hypnotise and blind us from the sufferings the rural poor must live with
for us to enjoy our city comforts.
Egat is in total denial regards the WCD findings, the government is too
busy making money from mega-projects, and the public are indifferent.
The Pak Moon struggle cannot wait for an enlightened city folk. The people
want the Moon river to run free once again. And they're prepared to
continue their fight.
Meanwhile, the bureaucracy is planning more dams. Will we ever learn?
Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post
sanitsuda@bangkokpost.net
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