MEKONG REGION: 'We Didn't Know A Dam Was Being Built'

Following are some comments regarding the impacts of dams, from members of Rivers Watch East and Southeast Asia (RWESA).

Sai Bunlamb, villager from Ta Lao village, Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia:

"At the early stages of the Yali Falls dam construction, people living on the Sesan River didn't know a dam was being built upstream. People used to be very happy. They were able to catch fish from many places - around the river pools fish were easy to catch. At first, my community didn't know why the flooding happened - the water flooded our rice fields destroying our rice. When we returned to our village after the flooding, we saw that our chickens were washed away. Villagers are scared now of the water fluctuations. Many people have moved away. The vegetable gardens on the river banks have been badly affected."

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(http://www.rwesa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=21)

Sin Tong Lao, villager from Lumpait town, Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia at meeting with Srepok people:

"I've lived by the Srepok River since I was young. It used to be easy for my family to earn money; we fished and had a small vegetable garden close to the river. Every day I collected vegetables and fish to sell in the market. Now the water levels always change - sometimes up, sometimes down - making it difficult to grow vegetables along the river or to catch fish. The water quality has changed as well. We have set up a village working group with support from 3 S Rivers Protection Network and we organise meetings with villagers in the district to discuss how to overcome these problems."

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(http://www.rwesa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=21)

Ethnic Nya Heun man from Paksong district, Champassak province, Laos:

"We want to hold accountable those companies that built or profited from the dam - the Korean company that built it or the Belgium company that owns the dam now. There should be letters sent saying, 'You are making money from this, why don't you take some responsibility and help all those people impacted by this project - allow them to move back?' We need to have enough land for us to be able to farm, which means moving to areas we consider our old territory and we need to be given the right to live there with self respect and independence."

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(http://www.rwesa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57&Itemid=21)

Wang Yongchen, journalist and member of Green Earth Volunteers, China:

"Before I visited Nu River I had just heard about the area and that 13 dams were going to be built. Immediately I told myself, 'Go and then share this information with more people, that there something is happening to nature.' In 2004, together with 20 journalists, I conducted interviews there. I found not only is nature so beautiful, the cultural diversity is so rich and I understood why this area is so special - there are so many cultures, so many traditions. Everyone in China is thinking we are developing economically so quickly, but we have forgotten sustainable development and nature."

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(http://www.rwesa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=21)

Suriya Kotamee, Thai Baan researcher from the Songkhram River Basin:

"Villagers have benefited from their Thai Baan research. Now they understand their own natural resources better than before. They are able to take the research results to other forums, whether it is with the government or other groups, and share the results. They have also started using the research for managing natural resources, like making fish conservation pools or replanting the forest. The local and provincial governments accept the results and are joining in the process. Just a few months ago there were people from government institutions and local NGOs joining together with the villagers to replant the forest."

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(http://www.rwesa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=21)

RWESA’s website: http://www.rwesa.org/