JUST as cruising along the famous Mekong River in Vietnam and
Cambodia is hitting its straps, news is that dams being built further up
the river in Laos in a joint project with Thailand seem likely to change
the nature of the Mekong forever.
Anyone who has cruised the Yangtze in recent years will know
firsthand how comprehensively dams can alter the character of a
river. Instead of little traditional villages and subsistence farming and
fishing, we have concrete and steel replacing authentic materials
as the water rises and the population is relocated to high-rise
developments.
Will this happen to the Mekong? The truth is no-one knows. But what
is fairly certain is that the river dependent communities in Cambodia
and Vietnam who the river cruising tourists visit on a daily basis will
face food security threats. Fish migration patterns and the life-giving
flood cycles will be seriously impacted.
Worldwide, the Mekong River ranks second in fish diversity after the
Amazon, with more than 1000 new plant and fish species discovered in
the past decade, according to the World Fish Center. About 60 million
people in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia are dependent on the
Mekong for their livelihoods, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
“The Don Sahong… will block migratory fish, which is 70 percent of
Mekong fish, from swimming upstream and down on the only channel
that allows the fish to reach the upper part of the Mekong,” said Ame
Trandem, the Southeast Asia programme director at advocacy group
International Rivers.
She said the (Don Sahong) dam, which will require 95,000 truckloads
of riverbed to be removed, will devastate the region’s fish and
dolphins, the tourism industry, and the hundreds of thousands of
fishermen whose livelihoods depend on the Mekong.
Further north in Laos, the Xayaburi Dam is creating equal if not
greater concern. The Mekong Basin Community Council Network
(MBCC) has called on the Thai Government to step in and help block
the construction of both dams on the mainstream Mekong River.
Critics and environmentalists are angry with Laos and Thailand for
failing to uphold their pledge to consult neighbouring countries under
the 1995 Mekong Agreement, which requires thorough consultation
on every project proposed for the mainstream Mekong River. Others
are less coy in their objections, accusing stakeholders in both Laos and
Thailand of putting massive profits before the livelihood and security
of the residents all along the Mekong.
One cruise operator spoke to Cruise Weekly on condition of
anonymity.
“We just don’t know what will happen. All around the world the
effects of dams on rivers can be seen and Mekong cruise lines
have made massive investments in ships, staff and infrastructure.
This uncertainty is not good for anyone’s business and clearly the
people who stand to suffer the most are those who live along the
river. Our guests develop an emotional bond with the families and
townsfolk who welcome and host us. Many are distressed that the
river communities who have already suffered so much face new and
completely avoidable threats.”
British-born journalist and filmmaker, Tom Fawthrop, has worked
in Southeast Asia for more than 25 years and studied the dam project.
“Yes, of course the rural people in Burma, Laos, Cambodia and
Thailand have the right to electricity, but they also have the right to
fish. You can’t eat electricity.”
