Earthrights International Mekong School
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1 EARTHRIGHTS INTERNATIONAL MEKONG SCHOOL Preface This volume is comprised of writings from three classes of EarthRights Mekong School graduates. EarthRights International’s Mekong School is a training program for civil society advocates from the Mekong Region (Yunnan/China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam) whose work focuses on human rights and the environment. The authors whose work is featured in this volume represent a wide range of communities along the Mekong, from its origins on the Tibetan plateau to the Mekong Delta, where the river completes its 4,350 km journey and flows into the South China Sea. Mekong School alumni speak a cumulative total of twenty-three regional languages (Brao, Burmese, Cambodian, Chinese, Jarai, Kavet, Khmer Krom, Khmu, Krueng, Lao, Lisu, Mon, Naxi, Palaung, Phu Thai, Pumi, Shan, Tai Lue, Tampuen, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese), and are committed to the shared goal of strengthening environmental promotion and protection in the Mekong region. The papers presented here take an in-depth look at the impacts of large-scale infrastructure projects, and how citizens are engaged in advocating for more equitable development in the Mekong region. In the first section, authors investigate community complaints regarding negative impacts from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank funded projects, and make recommendations to strengthen international financial institution safeguard policies. The second chapter examines the threats posed by the series of hydropower dams currently planned and under construction along the mainstream of the Mekong to migratory fish stocks, local livelihoods, and regional food security. The final chapter is a survey of problems related to resettlement in the wake of large dams, with a look at how civil society groups are advocating for policy reform. It is hoped that the papers presented here will inspire further work towards greater public participation and transparency in development planning in the Mekong region. 1 EARTHRIGHTS INTERNATIONAL MEKONG SCHOOL Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Perls Foundation, the Open Society Insititue, the Frankel Family Foundation, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, the Ford Foundation, Conservation Food & Health Foundation and ICCO for their generous support of EarthRights International Mekong School and the Mekong Alumni Program. Thank you to the staff, management, and board of directors at ERI for your inspiration and guidance. Thank you to our friends at the Bank Information Center, Mekong Watch, International Rivers, TERRA, the International Accountability Project and the NGO Forum on the ADB, as well as our special guest presenters and network members for the time and effort you have dedicated to supporting our students and alumni. Thank you to the community members at Pak Mun, Rasi Salai, Huay Ra Ha, Mae Moh, Kaeng Seua Ten, and along the Salween River for sharing your courage and insights. Finally, thank you to all of the interviewees in the six Mekong countries who generously gave their time to assist our researchers. Table of Contents Preface ............................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. 3 Map of the Mekong Region and Research Areas ..........................................................5 International Financial Institutions ............................................................................... 7 • The ADB’s Process for Addressing Grievances Regarding the Stung ........................... 8 Chinit Irrigation and Rural Infrastructure Program (SCRIP) by Kunthea Keat • Social and Environmental Impacts from the Song Bung 4 Hydropower ..................... 32 Project by Ly Quoc Dang • Resettlement: A Case Study of the Dachaoshan Hydropower Plant in ........................ 46 China’s Yunnan Province by Fu Tao • The International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards, ...............................71 Focusing on Land Acquisition and Resettlement Planning: A Case Study of Sihanoukville Airport Construction by Nov Piseth • ADB Involvement in the Mekong Power Grid Transmission ...................................... 82 Line Project at Tasang Dam in Shan State, Burma by Shining Som Mainstream Mekong Dams ...........................................................................................89 • The Sambor Dam: Potential Impacts of Relocation on Island .................................... 91 Communities by Chhuon La • The Proposed Ban Kum Hydropower Dam and Mekong Villagers’ .......................... 110 Ecological Knowledge by Tanasak Phosrikun • Ban Koum Dam and the Untold Story of Mai Sing Sam Phan Village, ....................119 Champasak Province, Lao PDR by Tang Say Nam Ou • The Importance of fi sheries on livelihoods in Don Sahong and .................................134 Hangkhone villages, Khong district, Champasak province, Lao PDR by Namthipkesone Bouttasing Resettlement ................................................................................................................. 147 • Damming the Lower Sesan River: A case study of the potential effects ...................148 on a local community by Meach Mean • An Analysis of Chinese Resettlement Policies and Their Impacts on ........................168 Affected Communities: A Case Study of the Tiger Leaping Gorge Dams by Miao Yun • The Impacts of Hoa Binh Dam Resettlement Communities on ................................. 184 Upland Farming Systems by Pham Tran Thang Long • Resettlement Impacts of Nam Ngum 2 Hydro-power project on ...............................191 Local Culture by Siengxay Sengkham Map of the Mekong Region and Research Areas International Financial Institutions 7 EARTHRIGHTS INTERNATIONAL MEKONG SCHOOL The ADB’s Process for Addressing Grievances Regarding the Stung Chinit Irrigation and Rural Infrastructure Program (SCRIP) By Kunthea Keat Kunthea Keat has served as project offi cer with the Fisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT), a Cambodian NGO that focuses on advocacy around fi sheries and environmental issues in the Tonle Sap Lake area. He is currently studying for his Masters degree at the Asian Insti tute for Technology in Bangkok. Introducti on and Background The Stung Chinit Irrigation and Rural Infrastructure Project (SCIRIP) is a development project built on old infrastructure from the Pot Pot regime, located in the Santuk and Baray districts in Kompong Thom province. The project is one of Cambodia’s large-scale projects, and uses modern structure and technology. It cost a substantial amount of money and involved many diverse stakeholders. The impacts of the project are not broadly understood yet, so we need to conduct extensive research. I would like to understand the local people’s opinion of SCIRIP and its impact, and in order to do so I pursued the following research objectives: (1) to review the history of the project, (2) to understand how the project is being implemented and who is involved, (3) to investigate how people are responding to the project implementation, and (4) to understand the social and ecological impacts of the project. 8 EARTHRIGHTS INTERNATIONAL MEKONG SCHOOL The Stung Chinit Irrigation and Rural Infrastructure Project (SCIRIP) occupies a gross area of approximately 46,000 ha and is located in the districts of Santuk and Baray in the Province of Kampong Thom (ADB 2000). Kampong Thom is located in the center of Cambodia, about 166 km from Phnom Penh. The province covers an area of 15,060 km2 with a total population of 672,788 in 2003 (85% are farmers). The Chinit River is one of the tributaries of the Tonle Sap River, with a total catchment area of some 4,130 km², and a total length of 300 km. The major economic activity of the project area is agriculture, characterized primarily by paddy cultivation during the wet season and supplemented by the production of livestock, fi sh culture and fi shing. These activities occur both in the project areas themselves and on the nearby Tonle Sap River. To the east of the project area some remaining forest areas also provide supplementary incomes from fi rewood gathering, hunting, and collecting wild forest products. The irrigation scheme on the Stung Chinit was originally built under the Pol Pot regime, and became dilapidated in the 1980s. The new project is a major irrigation development designed to increase agricultural productivity and stimulate the rural economy. The original plan targets 71,609 potential benefi ciaries (of whom 37,251 are women) in an estimated 12,609 households in 80 villages (ADB 2000). The primary project objectives are to raise agricultural productivity and increase farmers’ incomes by providing irrigation and drainage for 7000 ha in the wet season and 2000 ha in the dry season, and to improve rural roads and markets in and around the project areas. The project will also (i) form and train water user groups to operate and maintain the irrigation system, (ii) apply cost recovery measures for roads and irrigation works, (iii) strengthen government staff at the central and provincial level, and (iv) conduct benefi t monitoring and evaluation. The project proposal developed by ADB (2000) argued that the main constraints to higher rice yields and crop diversifi cation in Cambodia,