Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos & Thailand Meet To Decide On First Of 11 Planned Mekong Dams

[hatrack]

Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam hold high-level talks on Thursday to decide whether to approve a controversial proposed dam on the Mekong River fiercely opposed by environmentalists.

The $3.8 billion Xayaburi project in Laos is the first of 11 dams planned for the mainstream lower Mekong, and activists warn that a green light could spell disaster for the roughly 60 million people who depend on the waterway.

Thailand, which has agreed to purchase some 95 percent of the electricity generated by the dam, has already indicated it will not oppose the project at this week's environment ministers' meeting in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap.

But Vietnam and Cambodia, wary of the dam's impact on their farm and fishing industries, have expressed strong concern and are calling for more studies on the impact of the vast 1,260 megawatt dam before it is allowed to go ahead. Vietnam, voicing "deep" concerns about fish stocks and crucial sediment flows to the rice-growing Mekong river delta, has called for a 10-year moratorium on all hydro-electric projects on the lower Mekong.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Mekong_nations_to_meet_on_controversial_Laos_dam_999.html

[DCKit]

1. Talk, talk, talk talk. What could possibly go wrrong?

:sarcasm: