Posted on 04 September 2015

Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Sept. 4, 2015  – WWF-Cambodia is alarmed at reports in the Sept. 1 Phnom Penh Post that the Laos National Assembly has approved the concession agreement to begin construction of the Don Sahong Dam while the serious concerns of neighbouring Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand have not been addressed.

The Don Sahong Dam is an ecological time bomb that threatens the food security of millions and a population of critically endangered Mekong Irrawaddy dolphins. The dam will have negative impacts on the entire Mekong River ecosystem all the way to the Delta in Vietnam. The dam is moving forward despite the opposition of neighbouring countries, some of the world’s leading scientists, local communities and hundreds of thousands of people who signed a petition opposing it. It is still undergoing international mediation as required by The Mekong 1995 Agreement.  Meanwhile, an alternative project that would generate about the same amount of electricity but with much less damage – the Thako Water Diversion Project -- has been ignored with no reasons given.
 
We ask the Laos Government and the developer – Malaysia’s MegaFirst Corporation Berhad – to reconsider this ill-fated decision and wait until further studies on the environmental and social impacts and all legal options and requirements under The Mekong 1995 Agreement have been completed.