Moves to curb development disputes in Laos
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The Laos government is committed to ensuring that compensation given to villagers affected by land development projects is done in a way that satisfies villagers with the outcome.
The move aims to address land rows in Laos, which have been an ongoing issue as villagers sometimes feel they don’t get appropriate compensation for land lost to development projects.
Land Administration chief in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Mr Siphandone Sihavong, said last week that if land compensation was paid at market prices problems could be resolved.
In fact, Prime Ministerial Decree No-192 stipulates that land compensation for any affected villagers needs to ensure that those people enjoy improved livelihoods after relocating to other areas.
Unfortunately, the decree is not enforced properly, causing many affected villagers to complain that they have not received adequate compensation for land taken away. Many villagers became poorer after losing land to development projects, due to unfair compensation.
Given the importance of reparations for land lost, the government issued a decree last year asking relevant sectors to review the process to ensure compensation is appropriate, and avoids further issues.
Mr Siphandone said that under the new policy, villagers would be more involved in development projects as they would get an opportunity to convert their land to shares in projects or take cash payments.
For some projects, the authorities are buying land from owners before starting any development, which results in less disputes.
