Laos has officially announced its plan to develop the Don Sahong hydropower project on the Mekong River, and this project will be seriously affect Vietnam’s agriculture and aquatic resources in the Mekong Delta region, experts have warned.
On the occasion of the Mekong River Commission’s Regional Public Consultation on the Don Sahong Dam, on December 12, 2014, the Save the Mekong Coalition reiterates our call for the cancellation of the Don Sahong Dam and the protection of the Mekong River. The Don Sahong Dam poses an unacceptable risk to regional fisheries and food security, placing the future of the Mekong River and her people in jeopardy.
Townships along the Mekong River should suspend the construction of dams, which negatively impacts both the environment and residents near the river's lower basin, said experts at yesterday's seminar on the construction of the Don Sahong hydropower plant.
Residents of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta have raised objections to the Don Sahong hydropower dam that Laos plans to build on the Mekong River's main stream. The objections came in late November after the Hanoi-based Green Innovation and Development Center, the Center for Biodiversity and Development at Vietnam Rivers Network, and local authorities finished a nearly two-week survey in communes in Can Tho and the five provinces of Ca Mau, Soc Trang, An Giang, Kien Giang, Vinh Long.
A short video produced by PanNature, reflecting opinions and perspectives of different stakeholders, especially local people living in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, about hydropower dam projects on the mainstream Mekong.
Bangkok, Thailand - The Save the Mekong coalition (StM) supports the Network of Thai People in the Eight Provinces of the Mekong Basin (the Network) filing an injunction today in the Thai Administrative Court calling for a suspension of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the Xayaburi Dam, the first dam being built on the Lower Mekong River.
Vietnamese environmentalists say the hydropower race unfolding on the lower Mekong River will destroy the delta's downstream economy. Experts at a Tuesday conference in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang called the dams "bombs" looming over millions of people, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported.
On 10 September 2014, the Save the Mekong Coalition sent a letter to the regional Prime Ministers urging them to halt the Prior Consultation process for the Don Sahong Dam and addressing flaws in the PNPCA.
As Mekong ministers meet for the 20th Meeting of the Mekong River Commission Council in Bangkok tomorrow, the Save the Mekong coalition has issued a statement calling upon the Prime Ministers of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam to work together to address the threat posed by a proposed cascade of eleven Mekong mainstream dams to the region’s food security and people. The coalition requests that immediate action be taken to cancel the planned mainstream dams, including the Xayaburi and Don Sahong dams, which are already under construction. And to ensure that future decisions over the shared river are based on scientific knowledge, transboundary impact assessment, robust consultations, and respect for the rights of all riparian nations and the public to a transparent and participatory decision-making process.
Laos is continuing to build Don Sahong dam in the mainstream Mekong River regardless of objections and consultation requests from neighboring countries, the International Rivers Network said in a statement.