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DAM-L world bank, pak mun commentary (fwd)



Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 17:29:51 -0700 (PDT)
Message-Id: <200010260029.e9Q0Tps04224@DaVinci.NetVista.net>
subject: LS: PR: Arrogance blinds World Bank to true impacts of Pak Mun
Sender: owner-irn-mekong@netvista.net
Precedence: bulk

International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley CA 94703
USA

PRESS RELEASE

Thursday, October 26, 2000

On Planet World Bank, Thailand's Pak Mun Dam is a Success
Arrogance blinds Bank to true impacts of disastrous dam

In a recently leaked memorandum, the World Bank continues to deny the 
impacts of the Pak Mun Dam despite the findings of the independent World 
Commission on Dams and the affected communities' 10 year struggle.

In an unauthored set of comments submitted to the WCD in June 2000, the 
World Bank maintains that the lack of baseline data collected prior to 
project construction has "resulted in exaggerated and ever-increasing 
claims for compensation. This lacuna has also resulted in current (in our 
view unsubstantiated) claims that the Pak Mun project has been directly 
responsible for a permanent and substantial loss of fish species and fish 
catches." The memorandum goes on to claim that the project "may have been 
beneficial" for fish, and that the dam's impact on aquatic diversity "may 
be relatively low".

The World Commission on Dams released its final study on the Pak Mun Dam 
project in August 2000. The WCD found that the dam has failed to meet its 
projected benefits and has had substantial impacts on fisheries. 
Researchers found that the dam, which is supposed to generate 136 megawatts 
of electricity, barely generates 20 megawatts in high-demand months. The 
WCD estimated that the actual fish catch in the reservoir and upstream is 
60-80 percent less than in the pre-dam era, resulting in an economic loss 
to villagers of about US$1.4 million per annum. The WCD concluded, "if all 
the benefits and costs were adequately assessed, it is unlikely that the 
project would have been built in the current context."

Before the WCD's Pak Mun Dam Study was released, the World Bank had stated 
to IRN that the "results of the WCD study should provide the basis for our 
discussions with the Government on what the appropriate steps should be to 
address adverse residual impacts if the resulting findings point to such 
results."*

Ms. Aviva Imhof, South-East Asia Campaigner with International Rivers 
Network, says:
"The Bank's comments demonstrate the continuing arrogance of World Bank 
staff, who seem incapable of admitting that they were wrong. The Bank said 
that it would accept the findings of the WCD study, and now that the study 
is contrary to their beliefs, they are attempting to discredit it. The 
World Bank owes a debt to the villagers affected by Pak Mun Dam, and they 
should own up to it."

Mr. Chainarong Sretthachau, Director of the Thai NGO SEARIN, says:
"For the first time ever a truly independent study has been completed 
investigating the actual impacts of Pak Mun Dam on fisheries and on local 
communities' livelihoods. The study vindicates what the villagers have been 
saying all along  the Pak Mun Dam has destroyed their lives. The World Bank 
should work with the Thai government to decommission the dam and restore 
the river."

Villagers have been protesting the project since it was first proposed. 
They are demanding that the dam's gates be permanently opened and the river 
restored.  In March 1999, more than 5,000 villagers occupied the area 
adjacent to the dam and remain there today. In July 2000, thousands of 
villagers camped outside the Government House in Bangkok, refusing to leave 
until the government complied with their demands. After huge demonstrations 
and a mass hunger strike, the government decided to open the dam's gates 
for four months. Villagers argue that this measure was inadequate and that 
the only way to recover their lost livelihoods is through restoring the Mun 
River, thereby restoring the fisheries that are essential for their survival.

The Pak Mun Dam was completed in 1994 with $23 million in financing from 
the World Bank. From the outset, the project was highly controversial due 
to the predicted impacts on the rich and productive fisheries of the Mun 
River, the largest tributary of the Mekong River. As a direct result of the 
dam, more than 20,000 people have been affected by drastic reductions in 
fish populations upstream of the dam site and other changes to their 
livelihoods.

The World Commission on Dams' final report is due to be released on 
November 16 in London, with special guests Nelson Mandela, Mary Robinson 
(UN Commissioner for Human Rights) and James Wolfensohn (President of the 
World Bank).

* Letter from Messrs. Julian Schweitzer, Tom Tsui and Maninder Gill to Ms. 
Aviva Imhof and Ms. Nurina Widagdo, BIC, July 13, 1999.

The World Bank's comments on the WCD's Pak Mun Basin Study are available on 
the web at www.irn.org

For further information, please contact:

Aviva Imhof, International Rivers Network, aviva@irn.org, 510.848.1155 (w), 
510.666.0622 (h), www.irn.org

Chainarong Sretthachau, SEARIN, searin@loxinfo.co.th, Chiang Mai  053 
221157(h), 053 278 334 (w), 01 999 5451 (cell), www.searin.org


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