Mekong residents to fight dam ruling

THE Administrative Court yesterday dismissed complaints over the Xayaburi Dam against five state agencies. However, the 37 plaintiffs, from eight Mekong provinces, say they will appeal further.

The judge, who read the verdict, said the defendants had fully complied with their obligation according to the law, so the case was dismissed.

The villagers took a lawsuit against the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), the National Energy Policy Council, the Energy Ministry, Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the Cabinet, four years ago.

Sor Rattanamanee Polkla, plaintiff lawyer from the Community Resource Centre, explained that the reasons for the court dismissing the case were the defendants strictly adhered to Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA) and outlined the information properly according to the Office of the Prime Minister regulations.

“The court explained that the project fully complied with PNPCA procedures that require a public hearing on those who will affected by the project,” Sor Rattanamanee said.

“It was also stated that information on the power purchasing agreement between Egat and Xayaburi Power Ltd was disclosed on the government website.”

The case began in 2012, when people in eight provinces on the banks of the Mekong River – Chiang Rai, Loei, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen and Ubon Ratchathani – became unhappy that Egat and other agencies had given support for work to start on the Xayaburi Dam in Laos.

However, Sor noted that in reality the PNPCA process was done after construction had begun. She said the process was not done in all the countries that would be affected by the dam, and the public hearings in Thailand went largely unnoticed by the people who would be most affected.

Disclosing information online was inappropriate, she said, because many affected people in riverside communities had no access to the Internet.

“The court also had the view that the power purchasing agreement did not require study for an environmental impact assessment. But we thought otherwise, because this project will cause trans-border environmental impacts,” she said.

“We will surely appeal, as we still hope that the Administrative Court can protect us from trans-border rights violations. And we |want to make this case the norm for |future dam projects to come.”

Around 50 people from eight Mekong provinces showed up for the reading of the verdict yesterday. They carried fish figures to signify the rich bounty of the Mekong, which they say has been put in jeopardy because of the dam.

Sampao Khongchan, one of the plaintiffs from Ubon Ratchathani, said he accepted the judgement, but he was very concerned about the environmental effects if the Xayaburi Dam is completed.

“I and my family are fishermen in Mekong River. The river is our life. Since the dams upstream were operated, the river has become unstable and fish have decreased significantly, so we can no longer rely on fishing anymore,” he said.

He said many fellow fishermen had to leave their homes to find a job in Bangkok and the old way of living in harmony with the river was set to fade away.

Xayaburi Dam is a hydroelectric dam built with funds mainly from Thai banks, by Thai construction firm Ch Karnchang. It will sell 95 per cent of the power generated to Egat. Work on the dam is now 70-per-cent complete.