Thai firm resettles Lao village near "postponed" dam site
A Thai construction firm has resettled an entire village near a controversial dam site in northern Laos and dredged sections of the Mekong River, despite governmental calls to delay the project, an environmental group said Wednesday.
According to International Rivers, which visited the Xayaburi dam site in northern Laos on June 14-18, Thailand's Ch Karnchang PCL construction company resettled more than 300 residents of Houay Souy village, which was in the dam's planned spillway, in January 2012.
The company has informed other affected villages that they may be resettled as early as November, the group said.
In April, the company also began dredging the riverbed at the dam site, and built a large concrete retaining wall, despite calls by the Lao government to postpone all work on the project until an environmental assessment is completed.
On December 8, ministers from the Mekong River Council - made up of water and environment ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam- called for the project to be delayed for further environmental research, at its annual meeting in Siem Reap, Cambodia.//DPA
