STUDY INTO IMPACT OF YALI FALLS DAM ON RESETTLED AND DOWNSTREAM COMMUNITIES
Prepared by the Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies (CRES) Vietnam National University February, 2001 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ------3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ------4
MAP. LOCATION OF STUDY SITES------5
I. INTRODUCTION ------6 1.1. YALI FALLS DAM ------6 1.2. RESETTLEMENT SITES ------6 1.3. DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES ------8 II. ITINERARY, STUDY SITES AND METHODOLOGY ------10 2.1. ITINERARY ------10 2.2. STUDY SITES------11 2.3. M ETHODOLOGY------11 III. RESULTS OF THE STUDY ------13 3.1. RESETTLED VILLAGES ------13 3.1.1. Types of Compensation ------13 Housing: ------13 Cash compensation: ------15 Moving ------15 Construction of latrines and wells ------16 Lost crops and fish ponds ------16 Moving ancestors' tombs ------17 Agricultural extension support ------17 Rice ------18 Compensation for inundated crop land ------18 3.1.2. Life at the Resettlement Site ------20 Food security------20 Housing and other living conditions at the resettlement site ------21 Firewood ------22 Access to health care and education ------22 Cultural and Religious Practices at the Resettlement Site ------23 CONCLUSION ------24 3.2. DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES ------25 3.2.1. Population distribution of downstream villages ------25 3.2.2. Impacts of the Yali Falls Dam ------26 3.2.3. Impacts of first large releases of water in 1999 ------27 3.2.4 Impacts of the Dam on Fisheries and Other Aquatic Life ------30 3.2.5 Changes in Water Quality ------31 IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMENDATIONS ------35 4.1 CONCLUSIONS------35 4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS------36 V. REFERENCES ------37
VI. APPENDIX ------38 6.1. APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDY OF RESETTLED VILLAGES ------38 6.2. APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDY OF DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES-- 42
2 LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 1. CASH COMPENSATION FOR LOST CROPS AND FISH PONDS ------16 TABLE 2. FOOD SECURITY OF 42 HOUSEHOLDS IN 2000------20 TABLE 3. FIREWOOD SITUATION OF 45 HOUSEHOLDS ------22 TABLE 4. SURVEYED DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES ------25 TABLE 5. DAMAGE CAUSED BY WATER RELEASES FROM THE YALI RESERVOIR------28 TABLE 6. IMPACTS OF THE YALI FALLS DAM ON DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES ------32
3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The study team would like to express its sincere thanks to the International Rivers Network for providing advice on study design, and to the Oxfam America for providing the grant to conduct the study and to write the report. We thank the Kon Tum Department of Science, Technology and Environment and the Gia Lai Department of Science, Technology and Environment in arranging the study and for giving us valuable information. The People's Committees of the districts and the communes where the study team visited were very helpful. Most especially, we thank the local people in the study villages for welcoming us into their homes and for answering our questions so patiently.
4 MAP. LOCATION OF STUDY SITES
Kon Tu m
&\&\ &\ &\&\&\ &\ &\&\ &\ &\ &\ &\ &\&\ &\&\ &\ &\&\&\ &\ $T Sa T hay Yaly dam distr ict
&\ Chu Pah &\ &\ district
&\
Gia Lai C AM BOD IA
Hanoi
N Legend
Kon Tum Boundary G ia Lai &\ Resettled villages &\ Downstream villages $T Yali dam 100 0 100 200 Kilometers River Ho Chi Minh City Road
(This map is intended only for giving the readers a more concrete and clearer conception of the position of study sites, and has not any political and legal value).
5 I. INTRODUCTION 1.1. YALI FALLS DAM
Construction of the $1 billion Yali Falls Dam began in November 1993 and was completed in 1999. The dam is located on the Krong PoKo, a tributary of the Sesan River, which originates from the North of the Central Highlands, Vietnam. The Sesan flows through Cambodia, where it enters the Mekong River. The site of the project is located on the Yali Falls, where water surges are estimated to be 40m high. The dam is situated in Ya Mnong Village, Chu Pah District, Gia Lai Province and the other side of the dam is located in the Yali Commune, Kon Tum Province. The project, which has 4 turbines, is designed to produce 720 MW of electricity. The first turbine was commissioned and produced electricity on May 12, 2000. The project is expected to be fully commissioned by 2001.
The 69 metre high dam is built at the elevation of 522 m above the sea level. By mid- 1996 the main dam was closed, and the reservoir was filled in 1998. The closing of the dam and irregular releases of large amounts of water have changed the hydrological regime and the water quality of the Sesan River downstream. This has resulted in adverse impacts on downstream villages. Unusual and dramatic fluctuations in the Sesan River levels have changed the environment and affected the life of the indigenous people who live along the river. The first floods occurred in 1999. The local people, especially women and girls, are now fearful of floods. Some local people interviewed said that when they first saw the flood, they thought it was a natural disaster, which they had never seen before. This has affected local people's livelihoods downstream.
The entire power house, which includes the tunnels and turbines, is located in Chu Pah District, Gia Lai Province, while the reservoir with a total area of 6450 ha is located in Kon Tum town and Sa Thay District, Kon Tum Province. Flooding of the reservoir resulted in forced relocation of the majority of the local people from Kon Tum town and Sa Thay District, in Kon Tum Province. 900 out of 1500 ha of inundated cultivated agricultural land are seasonally flooded (see Picture 1). The 900 ha are situated at the height ranging from 510- 518m and can be cultivated in the dry season from April through October. The downstream villages are situated along the Sesan River in Picture 1 Chu Pah and Ia Grai Districts in Gia Lai Province.
1.2. RESETTLEMENT SITES
Gia Lai Province has only three resettlement sites: Kenh, Yut and Tut, in Ya Mong Commune, Chu Pah District. The other resettlement sites are now located in Vinh Quang, Ya Chiem, and Ngoc Bay, in Kon Tum town, while Kroong, Sa Binh and Yali Communes are situated in Sa Thay District. According to the Yali Project's Board of Management, the resettlement process was divided into 5 stages due to the rising water levels in the reservoir.
6 · Stage I. In 1994-1995, 5 villages were relocated when the water levels reached the height of 482m. · Stage II. In 1996-1997, another 8 villages were moved when the water levels reached the height of 500m. · Stage III. In 1998, another 5 villages of Sa Binh, Sa Thay District were moved when the water reached the level of 515 m. · Stage IV. In 1999, 6 villages of Ngoc Bay and Vinh Quang villages of Kon Tum Town were moved. · Stage V. In 2000, people in seasonally inundated areas were moved when the water levels reached the height of 515-518m. According to VNESDC 20001, the number of those relocated were 5384 included within 1149 households. However, the number increased to 6782 people (1375 households) at the end of 1998. This is partly due to the fact that a number of households were separated from the main households and partly because the height of inundated water levels was not identified accurately on the map. In January 2001, when this study was conducted, there were still a small number of households which wanted to be relocated but were not offered assistance by the government. These people said that they were not offered assistance because according to the maps, their land should not have been affected by the reservoir. However, in reality they have lost land to the reservoir.
The Kinh (Vietnamese) people account for 40% of the resettled community. These Kinh people were moved in 1975 to the economic zones from the lowland areas and owned the majority of rice paddies. The rest are ethnic minorities, including the Gia Rai constituting about 35%, Ro Ngao 19% and Bana 6%. These groups of people were mainly engaged in swidden agriculture. However, during the collectivization period, as they lived with the Kinh people, they learned how to grow wet rice in accordance with the food self-sufficiency and resettlement policy of the government. Thus, moving them away from their old villages means moving them away from the farming systems that they have become accustomed to. Support from the government is needed to help them become acquainted with the new environment in the new village. However, the needs of each group varies depending on their culture. These are also the challenges facing the government when constructing resettlement sites.
Villages located in the reservoir area were those which had houses, gardens and agricultural land flooded. There were also villages which were situated in both fully inundated and seasonally inundated areas. In these villages, there were households which lost their agricultural land and crops, but not their houses. In this case, they were not moved. However, households whose house was flooded but agricultural land was not affected were moved. This created resentment among those were moved and those who were not moved. It should be noted that everybody wanted to be moved, as they would have a new house and would receive some other types of compensation. For example, those who grew banana and sugar cane on inundated land would receive compensation. This policy is applied to everybody, including
1 The Vietnam Environment and Sustainable Development Center carried out a study on Public Participation in Resettlement Plan related to the Yali Hydropower Project i n July 2000. 7 both those who were moved and those who were not moved. However, there is no compensation for lost rice and nobody has received any compensation for land.
The complex situation has made it difficult for the Yali Project's Board of Management to relocate and compensate people sufficiently in such a short period of time. Therefore, there still remains disputes over compensation. Although the resettlement project has basically been completed, solving problems and improving people's living standards at the resettlement site is of great urgency.
The study of resettled villages aims to
v Identify types of compensation and how the compensation program has been carried out.
v Investigate people's life and their living standards at resettlement sites, such as housing, food production, access to fresh water, sources of income, health care, and education, among others.
v Identify people's worries and fears and how to improve their living standards
1.3. DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES
It is about 50 km by airplane from the Yali Falls dam to the border between Vietnam and Cambodia. However, it is estimated to be 70 km by foot along the Sesan River. The river runs from Northeast to Southwest. From the dam to the border, the southeast side belongs to Chu Pah and Ia Grai Districts, Gia Lai Province. This area is relative ly flat and is located between the northwest of the Pleiku highland and the lowland Kon Tum. The soil is basalt and therefore fertile. The upper area already grows cash crops, such as rubber, coffee, cashew, and pepper, among others. Thus, there is very little land left for the indigenous people to practice swidden agriculture. Downstream villages are situated in southeast side. The residents of these villages are the Gia Rai people.
The northwest side of the Sesan River is south of the Chu Mom Ray mountain range, located in Moray Commune of Sa Thay District, Kon Tum Province. On this side, there are no residents, but natural forest and swidden fields, which are cultivated by those who come from Gia Lai. Further down to the border between Vietnam and Cambodia, there is the Sesan Border Station and the Sesan Ranger Station of Kon Tum Province situated in Moray Commune. In summary, downstream villages are located on the southeast of the Sesan River, in Gia Lai Province, and cultivate swidden fields on the northwest of the Sesan River in Sathay District, Kon Tum Province. The Sesan River serves as their important daily means of transportation.
Downstream villages which have access to the river and depend on the river for their livelihoods can be divided into two groups. Group I are those villages which are located adjacent to the river, such as the Dip village in Ia Mnong Commune, Chu Pah District, the Nu village in Ia Krai Commune, and the Bi village in B12 Commune, Ia Grai District, Gia Lai Province. The Sesan River provides local people drinking and cooking water, and wild
8 vegetables. It also serves as a bathing, washing, fishing, gold panning place and a means of transportation for people to cross the river where their fields are located.
Almost all people in these villages rarely go to the commune or district markets, partly because they live in remote areas and the road is very bad, especially in the rainy season, and partly because they don't have any means to go. They trade goods with the Kinh traders, who have shops in the village. These Kinh traders have come to the village since the liberation of the country in 1975. Before they mainly sold forest products, such as wood, Dipterocar’s oleoresin, resin, rattan, Sterculia lychophora, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and wild animals to traders. However, as the forests have been depleted recently, they now sell only agricultural produce to traders, such as sticky rice, cassava, maize, sesame and beans, indigenous pigs and chickens. In return, the indigenous people buy food and goods that are essential for their daily life, such as salt, kerosene, MSG, instant noodles, sweets and candies, books, notebooks and pens for children, clothes, flashlights, cast-nets and fishing nets, among others.
Since the Yali Falls dam was constructed, the Sesan River's water levels have changed dramatically, thus affecting the life of these people.
Group II includes villages which are located about 2-3 km from the Sesan River. Many of these households cultivate swidden fields on the other side of the river and are engaged in fishing and collecting wild vegetables. Thus, they cross the river everyday. Although they do not worry that their houses would be flooded, they are fearful that their livelihoods would be affected by changes in the Sesan River's water levels. These consist of Dom village in Ia Krai Commune, Doch 1, Doch 2 villages in Ia Mnong Commune, Chu Pah District, Ech, Ia Krai and some other villages which are adjacent to the border and further downstream from the dam.
The objectives of the study on downstream villages are as follows:
v To assess impacts of the Yali Falls Dam on downstream villages v To identify what, if any, compensation villagers have received for impacts from Yali Falls dam. v To find out what solutions the local pe ople have worked out to survive or mitigate the impacts in terms of livelihood changes and their recommendations.
This report presents the results of a study into the impact of Yali Falls Dam on resettled and downstream communities in Gia Lai and Kon Tum Provinces in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The introduction of the report gives an overview of the Yali Falls Dam, resettled and downstream villages that have been affected by changes in the Sesan River's hydrological regime after the dam is constructed. Section 2 outlines the itinerary and the methodology. Section 3 presents the results and the analysis of the study. Sections 4 contains the conclusion and recommendations.
9 II. ITINERARY, STUDY SITES AND METHODOLOGY 2.1. ITINERARY Time Location Contents of work Dec. 2000 Hanoi Communicating with IRN and OA. Jan. 1-9, Hanoi Design questionnaires and group discussion. 2001 Jan. 10, Morning: Leave Hanoi for Pleiku - Kontum Meeting with Deputy Director of Kontum 2001 Afternoon: At the Kontum DOSTE DOSTE. Jan. 11, Morning: visit Mang La village, Ngoc Bay Meeting with Chairman of the commune and 2001 Commune headman of village. Interview households. Afternoon: visit Ka Bay village, Sa Binh Interview resettled households. Commune Meeting with leaders of Sa Binh and headman of Ka Bay village. Interview resettled households. Jan. 12, Morning: visit Binh Son village, Sa Binh Meeting with headman of the village. 2001 Commune Interview households. Afternoon: visit village 4, village 3, Meeting with Chairman of the commune. Kroong Commune Interview headman of the village and resettled households. Jan. 13, Morning: visit Konkngo Klah village, Vinh Meeting with leaders of the commune. 2001 Quang Commune Interview resettled households in Konkngo Afternoon: visit Phuong Quy village, Vinh Klah. Quang Commune Interview households in Phuong Quy village. Jan. 14, Morning: At the Kontum DOSTE. Discuss about research results of resettlement 2001 Afternoon: Leave Kontum Province for Gia villages in Kontum wit h leaders of the Lai Province Kontum DOSTE Jan. 15, Morning: visit the Gia Lai DOSTE. Meeting with Director of the Gia Lai DOSTE. 2001 Visit People’s Committee of Chu Pah Meeting with leaders of Chu Pah District’s District. People’s Committee. Afternoon: visit People’s Committee of Meeting with leaders of Iagrai District people Chu Pah and Iagrai Districts. committee.
Jan. 16-17, Visit People’s Committee of Ia Mnong Meeting with headman of the commune 2001 Commune. Visit Dip village and stay overnight Interview downstream households. Jan. 18, Morning: visit Nu village, Iagrai Commune Meeting with leaders of the commune 2001 Afternoon: visit Dom and Ech villages Interview downstream households Jan. 19, Morning: visit Gia Lai DOSTE, Pleiku Discuss about research results of the 2001 town downstream communities with Director of Gia Lai DOSTE. Afternoon: Leave Pleiku for Da Nang Province Jan 20, Leave Da Nang for Hanoi 2001
10 2.2. STUDY SITES
Categories Study sites Ethnicity Number of households interviewed Resettled · Mang La village, Ngoc Bay Commune Bana 8 villages · KonKngo Klah, Ngoc Bay Commune Ro Ngao 5 · Kroong Klah, Kroong Ktu villages, Bana, Ro Ngao 7 Kroong Communes (villages 3 & 4)
· Ka Bay village, Sa Binh Commune Bana 9 · Binh Son village, Sa Binh Commune Kinh 10 · Phuong Qui village, Vinh Quang Kinh 6 Commune Downstream · Dip village, Ya Mnong Commune Gia Rai 11 villages · Doch 2 village Gia Rai 1 · Nu village Gia Rai 6 · Dom village Gia Rai 3
2.3. M ETHODOLOGY
The methodology used to conduct the study was Rapid Rur al Appraisal (RRA). The study team facilitated the participation of local authorities at the provincial, district and village level and also the villagers in all aspects of the study. As there were 4 groups of ethnic minority people in the sites the study team visited and all the members of the team were Vietnamese, 3 local translators were hired to help with the translation and facilitate the interviews. Other methodologies employed were to survey the situation of the agro- ecosystems of the household and community, and to assess impacts on the environment and on the ethnic people's livelihoods with their participation. Direct observation was used during the study.
In preparation for the research, two draft questionnaires were designed and approved by the International Rivers Network. An investigation into issues related to the Yali Falls Dam and Sesan III was conducted before the study team left Hanoi for the field.
The study team of 4 people, including one woman from CRES, local translators and one person from the Provincial Department of Science, Technology and Environment (DOSTE) traveled together to the field. In the field the group of 8 people were divided into three groups to conduct interviews using the questionnaires. A sample of 66 households was interviewed. In each interview, the team made sure that there was enough opportunity for villagers to talk freely, to ensure that we did not miss out on important information that was not covered in the questionnaire. There was an equal sample of men and wome n. This was important because the members of the team understood that women sometimes gave different answers from men, and often remembered more details about what happened in the village. One of the three
11 groups was assigned to visit and interview the headman of each village, as he was often the one who had a lot of information about what had happened to all the people in the village.
At the end of the day the team worked together and tried to draw lessons for the next day so that improvements could be made. After the fieldwork was completed, the team worked together again and reviewed the results of the study. The Vietnamese and English language version of the report were prepared.
12 III. RESULTS OF THE STUDY 3.1. RESETTLED VILLAGES
3.1.1. Types of Compens ation
According to the local leaders at the commune and hamlet level, and villagers the team interviewed in resettled villages, types of compensation included housing, cash for lost crops, fish-ponds, moving the house and ancestors' tombs. Furthermore, financial support for production activities and rice is provided for households which have just moved. Housing :
Those households which were located under the level of 515 m and were flooded when the reservoir was filled received housing. In each village, houses are designed the same and the total area of the house is the same (See Picture 2). It doesn't depend on the size of the family. In the Kinh villages, houses are built on the ground with brick walls, tile roof and cement floor. Each house has 3 compartments. One Picture 2 compartment is about 15 m2 and is constructed in an L shape. This compartment is separated from the other two compartments, which are about 12 m2 each. The compartment in the middle is used as the living room and the other one is the bed-room or used to store stuff. There is also a veranda and the door is constructed in the middle compartment.
The ethnic villages have both types of house, the house built on the ground and stilt house. Ka Bay, Kroong Ktu and Kroong Klah villages have the Kinh style houses, which have only two compartments. Mang La and Konkngo Klah villages have their ethnic style house, which is constructed on stilts (see Picture 3). The stilts are made of cement and about 2.5m high. There is no Picture 3 wall on the ground floor.
Everybody reports that the house they received from the government is smaller than their old ones. All households would like to construct a wall around the ground floor to build more rooms for the family, as there is not enough room at the moment. However, very few households could afford to do this. The majority of households leave the ground floor open to keep the pigs, chickens or to store firewood.
The stairs are put in the middle of the house, where the veranda is constructed (See Picture 2 and 3). The veranda is about 6m2, which is used as the living room where everybody, including the guests, could sit and talk, and also to place shoes before entering the house. The stairs are made of wood and are not stable. The floor is made of wood.
13 Six out of 45 households interviewed reported that they are satisfied with the new house, as it is a nice design and clean. They thought that they would never be able to construct a house like that, and they are happy that they have electricity. It should be noted that the majority of these households are ethnic Bana and Ro Ngao people. A number of people said that if there had not been the government's compensation, they would have never been able to construct a house like that. However, they are not happy with the shortcomings of the house.
Twenty-eight out of 45 households reported that the total area of the house is not sufficient and suitable for all members of the family by rural standards. The house is even smaller for those households which have more adults, since there is not enough room for them to sleep and rest after a hard working day.
Thirty-one out of 45 households said they were not satisfied with the quality of the house, as the construction is poor, and the house is leaking. Some of the beams were missing when they first moved in. There are cracks on the wall and the door does not fit. The floor wood is shrinking and curved, as they constructed the floor when the wood was still fresh. It is ridden with wood worms. 24% of the ethnic people wanted to build the house on the ground like the Kinh people. One woman interviewed in Konkngo Klah village said:
"I have received the house, but I am not happy with the house. I like the house on the ground better, because it is very easy for small children and old people to fall off the stairs. There was a baby girl and an old woman who fell off the stairs and the baby girl broke her leg."
The new houses do not contain a kitchen. Therefore, in the back of the new house many villagers have built a wooden house on stilts by themselves, which is used as the kitchen and bedroom (see Picture 4). They brought these houses from their former village. Those households which could not construct the stilt house because the house was too old do all the cooking on the ground Picture 4 or inside the new house, resulting in very bad hygienic conditions. (see Picture 5) 17 out of 45 households complained that because there is no kitchen it is very inconvenient for them to prepare meals for the family. It should be noted that neither the Kinh nor the ethnic minorities received a kitchen but only the Kinh group complained about this.
Fifteen out of 45 households (6 ethnic and 9 Kinh) wanted to receive money from the Yali Project's Board of Management to design and construct the house themselves in their own way. The majority of these households are Kinh. However, they were not allowed to do that, as the government was afraid that the villagers would not Picture 5 14 build the house, but spend the money on alcohol and food. All villagers believed that it would have be en much better if they had had a voice in the decision-making process, since the house plays a very important role in their daily life. Two households reported that they are satisfied with the quality of the house, because they bought food for construction workers while they were constructing their house so the Picture 6 workers built the house more carefully and in the way that the host suggested. The Vice Chairman of Kroong Commune was allowed to construct his own house. Hi was given 19 million Vietnam Dong (VND) 2, although the house cost 21.5 million VND (see Picture 6). Cash compensation:
Resettled people were most interested in cash compensation. However, cash compensation can result in comparison and resentment among villagers. They receive cash compensation for moving the house and ancestors' tombs, constructing latrines and wells, crops lost and fish ponds, and agricultural extension support. It seems that compensation payments were made at different times. As a result of this, villagers and especially ethnic people do not fully understand what types of compensation and how much in cash they have received and should expect to receive. This has resulted in confusion and suspicion. Even the headman of the village did not know what to expect. It was reported that villagers in Konkngo Klah village obtained a list of people Picture 7 who were going to receive money. Villagers were told that they would get the money after they signed for it. They all then signed their names, but no money has arrived yet (see Picture 7). There were cases where the parents were in the field and children were therefore asked to sign on behalf of their parents.
All types of cash compensation will be described in turn. Moving
The amount of money that households received varies greatly. Some households received only 200,000 VND (US$13), but some received 800,000 VND (US$55). The amount of money compensated depends on the size of the house and the furniture of the household. Those households which had more furniture would receive more money than those which had less furniture as Mr. A Buc in Konkngo Ktu village, Kroong Commune reported:
My family is poor. We did not have much furniture so we received less money than the others. We have become poorer and poorer. We don't have money to buy new rice paddies.
2 The exchange rate used for the purposes of this study was US$1 equals 14,500 Vietnamese Dong. 15 Construction of latrines and wells
There were three Kinh households in Binh Son village, Sa Binh Commune which received 900,000 VND (US$62) each for construction of latrines and wells. In Phuong Qui village, Vinh Quang Commune, one household received one million VND (US$69) and one received 2.17 million VND (US$150). The former household reported that the money was sufficient for her to construct the latrine, but not sufficient to finish the well, which is still under construction. The other household said that the money was sufficient for him to construct both the latrine and well. People wonder why the amount of money varied greatly among households within the same village. It should be noted that the head of the latter household works at the People's Committee of the commune. Only five households in the sample received money for latrines and wells. Lost crops and fish ponds
TABLE 1. CASH COMPENSATION FOR LOST CROPS AND FISH PONDS Village Ethnicity % households Leas t cash Most cash received received/household received/household money/households (VND) (VND) interviewed Mangla Bana 25 (2/8) 4,250,000 14,000,000 Ka Bay Bana 0 (0/9) 0 0 Binh Son Kinh 100 (10/10) 1,200,000 120,000,000 Kroong Klah/Ktu Bana, Ro Ngao 43 (3/7) 600,000 11,700,000 KonKngo Klah Ro Ngao 0 (0/5) 0 0 Phuong Qui Kinh, Bana 83 (5/6) 172,000 10,500,000 This type of compensation is paid to households for their lost perennial fruit trees, coffee plants, sugar cane and fishponds. All of the Kinh households in Binh Son and Phuong Qui villages received this cash. The money compensated for fishponds was the biggest. Some households received 40 million VND (US$2760) for fishponds. The cash compensated for sugar cane and fruit trees comes second. There were very few ethnic households which received this type of compensation and if they did, the amount of money was usually very small (See Table 1).
The table shows that no ethnic households obtained cash compensation for fishponds. Their fruit trees, coffee plants, and sugar cane were not well-developed. The headman of Ka Bay village reported that in 1996 the Yali Project's Board of Management informed villagers they were allowed to grow temporary crops but not perennial trees on the land situated in the potential reservoir. However, a number of the Kinh people still grew sugar cane, maintained and grew new crops. Therefore they were compensated for the crops that were lost. They converted rice paddies into fishponds. And as a result of this, they received compensation for fishponds that they had just constructed a night before the Yali Project's Board of Management came. Many people have become rich from the fishpond business.
The ethnic minority people are honest. They did not grow any crops on the land that the government asked them not to. Therefore, they received a very small amount of money. The
16 majority of ethnic households didn't receive any compensation for crops lost. A number of the Kinh households leased the ethnic people's land, so the compensation was paid to the owner of the crops, meaning the Kinh people, but not to the owner of the land. The Vice-Chairman of Kroong Commune mentioned:
On average, each (Bana and Ro Ngao) household in Kroong received 60-70,000 VND for crops lost and fishponds, while in Sa Binh each Kinh household received up to 20 million VND. This depends on compensation cadres, who are considered "little fairies". Those who knew how to please the cadres would receive more money.
All villagers believe that the evaluation of lost crops and the types of compensation received were not transparent, fair or satisfactory. Moving ancestors' tombs
There are 11 out of 45 households interviewed which received cash for moving their ancestors' tombs. No household in Mangla village received this type of compensation, because the village's cemetery was not flooded. This amount of cash varies from village to village. In Kroong Klah and Kroong Ktu villages, each household received 300,000 VND for each tomb, while in Binh Son and Konkngo Klah only 200,000 VND/tomb. People do not understand why there is a difference in cash compensation for moving tombs in different villages. Agricultural extension support
According to the headmen of Mangla, Binh Son and Ka Bay villages, the Compensation Committee informed them that on average each household would receive 3 million VND (US$206) after they were moved to the resettlement site. This included seedlings, fertilizers and one million VND for animal husbandry. Nevertheless, only 11 out of 45 households received 1 million VND. These 11 households consist of 3 households in Ka Bay, 5 in Binh Son and 4 in Kroong Klah. No households in Mangla, Phuong Qui, and Konkngo Klah villages received any agricultural extension support.
Only 8 households were provided seedlings, such as longan, Litsea, and mango, and fertilizers, including nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium. The quality of seedlings was very poor and because many people were busy looking for food each day, they could not afford to invest in and take care of their garden. Moreover, ethnic people do not know much about gardening and planting fruit trees. Thus, they just planted those trees that they received, and the majority of trees died. There were a number of households which sold their fertilizer to the Kinh trader's shops or traded for ric e. One million VND was also spent on rice or other consumer goods, such as radios, and beds.
All resettled people reported that they did not know how many seedlings, how many kilograms of each kind of fertilizer and how much in cash they would receive. Some households received both seedlings and cash, but some received only seedlings, but no cash or only cash, but no seedlings or fertilizers. This was really confusing. Those resettled in general and especially ethnic people do not know what they are going to receive, how many, what the
17 quality and the value would be. As the compensation program is almost completed, villagers do not know whether to expect further assistance or not. Rice
Those who were provided rice could be divided into two groups. Group I includes households which were resettled. These households were promised 6 months supply of rice, 20 kg of unhusked rice/person/month. However, each person at the resettlement site received only 13 kg of rice/person/month. This amount of rice could meet only 75% of people's demands. So it lasted only 4 months. As a result of this, ethnic people in resettled villages never knew exactly how much rice they would receive. "We take what they give us" a Gui person in Mang La village said.
Group II consists of households which did not have their houses flooded, but whose cultivated land was inundated. These households were promised a certain amount of rice based on the total area of cultivated land that each household lost, the production of each type of land minus the costs invested in. For example, 1 ha of rice paddy would produce 10 tons of rice. The costs invested in 1 ha would be equivalent to 7 tons. So the household would receive 3 tons of rice. This is a one-off payment. This is very complex. Thus, an objective investigation and fair, transparent and detailed calculation is needed. As a result of this, compensation for households in Group II has not been paid yet. The process is underway at the moment. These people are urgently in need of compensation. They believe that they have suffered more losses than those households which lost little cultivated land, were moved and still cultivate on the pieces of land which are not flooded. Compensation for inundated crop land
The Board of Management planned to clear and then convert the area of land which is seasonally inundated into rice paddies to allocate to resettled households but would not pay cash directly to those who lost crop land. A number of households reported that they had been informed before they were moved that each household would be offered 2 ha of cultivatable land after they were relocated to the resettlement site. However, all households which were interviewed said that they haven't received any land. One of the interviewees said that:
We like the new house, although it is small. However, we are all hungry because there is no land left here for us to cultivate to feed the family. The government promised to give us land and we have been waiting and waiting, but nothing happened. We could not survive without land.
The Vice-Chairman of Kroong Commune said:
In general the new house is better for ethnic people. They would never dream of a house with the tile roof like this. But they are all hungry because they don't have land. Ethnic people did not know what wage labor was. They now have to work for the Kinh people for 15000 VND/day. However, the Kinh people don't have work for ethnic people to do everyday. How could they survive without land?
18 Local leaders at the village and commune level report that there is no cultivatable land left at the resettlement site to give villagers. Most of the land available right now is barren land covered with imperata grass, which is not suitable for cultivating any crops, including cassava. The seasonally inundated land has not been converted to rice paddies. A number of villagers say they are planning to sell the new house and buy a cheaper house somewhere else. The difference would be used to purchase land or food to feed the family. When asked where they planned to move to, they said "We don't know yet."
Lack of land is an urgent problem, which needs to be solved as soon as possible in all resettled villages. In order to have land to cultivate, resettled people have worked out several solutions to survive:-
Purchase of land
Those households who received cash compensation for lost crops have been able to buy land, such as Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tam in Binh Son Commune who spent 17.5 million VND (US$1206) to buy 5 saos of rice paddies.3 Mr. Nguyen Van Ky in Binh Son spent 2 million VND (US$138) to purchase 5 saos of land to grow cassava. It should be noted that only a very small number of households could afford to buy land. Of those interviewed, only 4 out of 45 households purchased land for cultivation.
Leasing cultivated land
Those who can afford it lease land. One ha of midland is leased for 1 million VND per year. Formerly, one ha of midland produced 8-10 tons of cassava. One ha of midland now produces only 3-6 tons of cassava, because the land is not fertile anymore. Therefore, those who lease land to grow cassava can not make any profit. The challenge facing the tenants is that they do not know the quality of the land so they usually end up leasing infertile land, which is not good for cassava. Moreover, the land is far away from the village so this makes it more difficult for tenants to take care of the crop. More importantly, tenants do not invest in soil conservation as they do not know whether they will be able to lease the same land next year.
Looking for new land
The ma jority of ethnic people who do not have money to purchase or rent cultivated land are looking for new land. These people are accustomed to clearing forested land for swidden fields. They go to the forest, which might take them several days by foot to get there, to look for patches of land. Usually, the whole family go and work on the swidden fields together. They come home on Saturdays to go to Church and then go back to the field on Sunday afternoons. It has been said that ethnic people lease their land to the Kinh and are then willing to be hired by the Kinh people to clear natural forest for swidden fields, as ethnic people know where to go to find new land. This places additional pressure on natural and
3 One sao is equivalent to 1000 m2. 19 regenerated forests which are already under threat from poaching, logging and resource competition.
Wage labor
Many households in Ka Bay and Konkngo Klah villages did not obtain cultivated land. Thus, they are willing to be hired by the Kinh people. They are hired to do simple work, such as cutting sugar-cane, removing weeds in coffee and rubber plantations, breaking up the soil in gardens, and dredging wells, among others. For adults, each person earns 10-15,000 VND/day (less than one US dollar) and children earn 7-10,000 VND/day. At times, the whole famil y works. However, this is only seasonal and even when work is available, it is not available for everybody. In Konkngo Klah, many women have become scavengers. A woman in Konkngo Klah village said:
I go to the dump site everyday, which is not far from the resettlement site, to look for plastics and clothes. I then sell the plastics to traders in town and keep the clothes for my family. On average, I earn 5000 VND/day, which is enough for me to buy some rice and a bag of salt for my children. Meat is something which is really luxurious for us. We haven't eaten meat for a long time.
3.1.2. Life at the Resettlement Site
Villagers' feedback on their life at the resettlement site is focused on sources of income to sustain life, housing and living conditions, access to health care, education, cultural life and religious practices. Food security Since villagers were moved to the resettlement site, households' main sources of income, including rice, maize and cassava, have almost gone, as they do not have access to land. When asked about food security, only 4 out of 42 households reported that they had sufficient rice. The rest of the households lacked food. This is presented in table 2 below:
TABLE 2. FOOD SECURITY OF 42 HOUSEHOLDS IN 2000 Months in shortage Number of households Percentage No shortage 4 9.5 From 1 to 3 months 9 21.4 From 4 to 6 months 8 19.1 From 7 to 9 months 14 33.3 From 10 to 12 months 7 16.7 Total 42 100
Those households which have sufficient rice for the whole year or lack from 1-3 months are the Kinh households. They also had extra rice brought to the resettlement site from the former village. Other ethnic households lack not only rice, but also cassava or corn. They all said that if the government does not provide them with cultivatable land, the government 20 should supply them with rice. They are willing to be hired to earn money to buy rice daily to eat. In Konkngo Klah village, Ngoc Bay Commune, there were a few households which had dry cassava harvested from a rented field. However, they did not dare to eat it, but were waiting to sell the cassava to pay back the rent. Mr. A Siuh, for example, had a wedding ceremony for his son on January 13, 2000. He invited everybody in the village to the wedding ceremony. The only food he could serve was 3 kg of cooked rice, 1 kg of pig grease, 2 ducks brought in by his neighbors, 1 vase of wine, and boiled cassava leaves for vegetables. He said:
I had 3-4 ha of land in the old village. There is no land here. Usually, I have cassava leaves and some other wild plants as vegetables. Relatives and friends don't have anything else to help.
Poor households usually leave the garden empty, as they do not have money to buy seedlings. They have to work for somebody else to earn money to buy rice for the family. Therefore, they are not able to invest in animal husbandry to generate income. Moreover, they live far away from the forest so they can not go and collect non-timber forest products, which might help alleviate hunger. Housing and other living conditions at the resettlement site
On average, each person has too little space by rural standards. The house itself is solid, but it does not have a lean-to, corridor, latrine, well or pig house. The garden is barren, and trees will not grow. There are only few animals and poultry. As a result, the resettlement site looks depressing, not as cozy as the old village.
Clean water is also the village leaders’ and villagers' concern (see Picture 8). On average, 6-8 households share a common well, which is constructed by the Yali Project. However, villagers still lack water, because the well is shallow and it is located at high elevation. Water is especially scarce during the period toward the end of the dry season (February through April). Picture 8
In Mang La village 6 out of 9 wells were observed to be almost dry and the water was reddish. Two of the 6 wells were completely dry. The headman of the village reported that as they used the well together, they had to get up early to collect the water. If they got up at 3 or 4 a.m. they could collect clean water. If they got up late they could only collect muddy water. Sharing the well together also results in bad Picture 9 hygienic conditions in that waste-water and trash is discharged and thrown into the well. A number of new wells are in ba d shape already (see Picture 9).
A number of streams which provided natural water were flooded, thus leading to loss of clean water sources. Therefore, if local people planted trees in their garden, there would not
21 be sufficient water for them during the dry season. Local authorities at the village and commune level said that the issue of water supply for drinking and cooking, for trees, and animals is urgent at the resettlement site. The villagers' solution is to dig deeper wells to reach the underground water. Drainage systems and common bathhouses should be constructed as well. According to the Vice-Chairman of Kroong Commune, a further investigation into villagers' needs should be carried out so that their voices are heard, thus helping them stabilize their life at the resettlement site. Firewood
Firewood is another issue that concerns local people. Table 3 presents the results of the study on 45 households.
TABLE 3. FIREWOOD SITUATION OF 45 HOUSEHOLDS Types of household No of household Percentage of household interviewed Sufficient firewood 13 28.9% Sufficient at the moment, but 8 17.8% shortage in future Not sufficient at the moment 20 44.4% No response 4 8.9% Total 45 100 Firewood is mainly collected from natural forest and from the clearing of forested land for swidden fields. Almost half of the households lack firewood during the rainy season. Resettlement sites are located far away from natural forest, so collecting firewood is very time - and labor-consuming. Only women and girls are engaged in this activity. Less than a third of households have sufficient firewood and these are Kinh households, which have carts and spare time. They go to the forest to collect firewood when they have spare time and save it for the rainy season. In summary, local people's source of firewood is not stable and could not meet their long-term demands. Access to health care and education
All resettlement villages have primary schools and health clinics, which are well- staffed. The road is good. People have no complaints about the quality of the schools and clinics, but the problem is that many people cannot afford to use these services. Most local people - both Kinh and ethnic – have shortages of food. Thus, children have to drop out of school to help their parents earn a living. Villagers cannot afford to send their children to school or to pay for medical bills either. Although it costs a child only 5000 VND (35 cents) to pay for school fees at the beginning of the school year, many households can not afford it.
Health care standards are declining. Many women interviewed believed that water shortages have resulted in sore irritations and itchiness. Women and children suffer the most. Traditional medicinal plants are now very difficult to find because natural forest is shrinking and regenerated forest is replaced with swidden fields, sugar-cane and coffee plantations. Although western medicine is more effective, very few can afford it. Compared with the
22 former village, the modern health care, education system and other commercial services are more accessible. Nevertheless, local people cannot afford such services, while they no longer have access to traditional methods and medicinal plants. A Thang in Konkngo Klah said:
When people in my family are sick we want to go to the clinic, but we do not have money. It is not easy to find medicinal plants anymore. So we have to suffer, although western medicine is available in Kinh people's shops. Cultural and Religious Practices at the Resettlement Site
Two main activities of ethnic people at the resettlement site are going to Protestant Church and gathering at the Common House, where young boys and girls usually meet.
The Mang La Church was renovated beautifully (See Picture 10). The Protestants from resettlement sites in Kontum town and Sa Thay District go to church on Sundays. Resettled people report that as there is no land for them to farm, they have to go as far away to look for new land. Thus, coming home on Sundays to go to church and then going back to the field the next day is inconvenient and time-consuming for them. Picture 10
A new big Common House with wood pillars, metal roof and large yards was constructed in each resettlement village (see Picture 11). The house serves as the meeting place of people when needed. However, resettled people do not practice what they did before in the former village, partly because they do not have sufficient foodstuffs to eat. This year Konkngo village could not have its Common House's ceremony as usual, since they did not have the new fall crop rice. A number of households sold the Common House's gongs (Cong and Chieng) to buy rice to eat. Mr. A Siu said: "No cooked rice, no gongs, no fire, so no festival". Picture 11
Those resettled report that the Common House's activities and other cultural and religious practices are not as interesting and exciting as before. Mass organizations' activities have not been organized yet. Everybody is so busy earning a living. In resettled villages of the Kinh people, radios, televisions, and video cassette recorders are ve ry common, because every household received compensation for lost crops, such as sugar-cane and fish-ponds. Many households could afford to purchase motorbikes, invest in coffee gardens, open shops and own rice mills. Nevertheless, no ethnic household could afford to purchase any of these, except for the headman of the village and some other people who work for the People's Committee of the commune.
23 CONCLUSION
In summary, local people have been facing the following challenges in the resettlement site:
1. Many families are suffering severe shortages of food. Most of those resettled have not been given cultivatable land or rice paddies as promised. Agricultural extension projects, which were aimed to support those resettled, have not been implemented comprehensiv ely. Promised supplies of rice and seedlings, fertilizers and money for animal husbandry have not been given. As a result, many households do not have sufficient food to feed their families. 2. Although they have a new house and electricity, people's life ha s become much more difficult, especially the ethnic people who are no longer able to earn income from sale of crops, forest products and animal husbandry. 3. As those resettled do not have sufficient income and need to go outside the village to work, their access to health care and education is low. Moreover, the ethnic people no longer have access to traditional forms of medicine. 4. Although their living conditions have improved due to better means of transportation and communication, ethnic groups lost forest products and cultivated land, which play a very important role in their daily life, due to depleted natural forest. Meanwhile, they do not have the capital resources or knowledge to produce cash crops to sell on the market. 5. Compensation has not been distributed fairly and fully, and many people have not received what was promised to them. There is a lot of confusion about the kinds of compensation awarded, and many people do not even know how much they were entitled to. This has resulted in suspicion amongst the resettled communities and competition for scarce resources. 6. Local authorities at the commune level and those resettled state that the Yali Project's Board of Management never investigated local people's needs with regard to housing, land, and sources of drinking and cooking water, which play an essential role in their daily life. They say that the compensation process was not open and fair. Local authorities at the commune and village level and those resettled would like the Board of Management of the Yali Project and other relevant governmental organizations to work out solutions to help them stabilize their livelihoods, such as: · Provide them rice and land, and design suitable farming systems for local people in each village, thus creating jobs and generating sources of income for them. · All the compensation promised to households should be distributed immediately. The type of compensation payable should be transparent and open so all households have the opportunity to claim their just dues. · Rural de velopment programs, such as agricultural extension, credit, health care, education, and culture, should be designed and carried out at the same time in order to help local people improve their living standards.
24 3.2. DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES
3.2.1. Population distribution of downstream villages
The Chu Prong mountain range is located adjacent to the Sesan River. It separates a number of villages of the Gia Rai people who live along the river, and the highland of fertile basalt soil, which occupies the majority of the total area of Chu Pah and Ia Grai Districts, Gia Lai Province. The majority of the highland's residents grow rubber, coffee and pepper. And villagers who live on the mountain range and along the river are engaged in swidden agriculture. They cross the river everyday to work on swidden fields and to collect forest products on the Chu Mom Ray mountain range located in Sa Thay District, Kon Tum Province.
The Yali Falls Dam has affected villages located along the river and those situated further inland. These people's livelihoods depend on the Sesan River. There are three villages located along the Sesan River, being Dip, Nu and Bi. Two out of these three villages were visited and investigated by the study team (See Table 4). There are several villages situated further inland, about 1-3 km from the river. These villages include Dom, Doch 2, Doch 1 and Ech, of which Dom and Doch 2 were surveyed. The Gia Rai people reside in these villages. They have been living here for thousands of years. The Ech and Dom villages were located along the Sesan River before 1980. After 1980, they were relocated further inland in accordance with the government development program on fixed cultivation and sendentarization, which aimed at encouraging ethnic minorities to join the rubber and coffee co-operatives or the Chu Pah rubber and coffee enterprises. It has been said that ethnic people did not join these enterprises because they were not accustomed to growing cash crops and that they preferred to live adjacent to the river and engage in fishing and swiddening. In reality, they were not offered jobs by the enterprises and co-operatives mentioned above. They are now cultivating on small patches of land located adjacent to small streams.
TABLE 4. SURVEYED DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES Village name Location No of Ethnicity household
s Dip village, Adjacent to the river. 126 Gia Rai Ya Mnong Commune, About 15 km from Yali Dam Kinh: 4 households Chu Pah District Nu village, Adjacent to the river. 43 Gia Rai Ia Krai Commune, 25 km from Yali Dam Ia Grai District Dom village, 2 km from the river. 79 Gia Rai Ia Krai Commune, 30 km from Yali Dam Ia Grai District Doch 2 village, 1.2-2 km from the river. 58 Gia Rai Ia Mnong Commune, 10 km from Yali Dam Chu Pah District
25 These village s are not far away from each other by boat. However, it is difficult to get there either by boat or by road. There are so many waterfalls on the river that boats can not pass. There is a path along the river, but there are many cliffs. The only way to reach these villages is by highway 14 and then off -highway lanes, which go through the Chu Prong mountain range. In the rainy season, these villages are not accessible. Usually it takes two days to get there by foot. The study team had to stay overnight in the Dip village. It is about 10 km from the Dip to the Nu village by boat, but it takes one day by car to get there. As a result, it is very difficult for these villages to get information, especially during the rainy season.
The Sesan River has played an important role in the livelihoods of these villagers. The Sesan River provides villagers drinking and cooking water, fish, wild vegetables and means of transportation. It also serves as a bathing and washing place. Dip village is the only village which has an alternative supply of water, installed by UNICEF two years ago. However, they take the water from the tap for drinking and cooking only. Children like bathing and swimming in the river. Adults cross the river everyday so they usually bathe and wash their clothes in the river on the way home.
Before the 1990s, gold panning activities were lively on the Krong Po Ko River. After a while these activities expanded to the Sesan River area. The Kinh people started first and then hired the Gia Rai people to work for them. Later on the Gia Rai people did their own gold panning and sold the gold to the Kinh people. Nobody has engaged in this activity since 1997. According to the headman of the Doch 2 village, people stopped digging for gold in 1997 due to dust and sand carried down by the water from the construction site of the dam, making gold panning more difficult. To pan for gold now, one would have to dig deep into the soil. This is very dangerous because if a large amount of water is released from the dam, it would be impossible to escape.
3.2.2. Impacts of the Yali Falls Dam
Construction of the Yali Falls Dam has changed the hydrological regime of the Sesan River downstream. Villagers have noticed changes in the river's water levels since 1996. Mr Siu Vi from Dip village reported that the water was unusually turbid in the rainy season in 1996. He was the headman of the village at the time. He went to the Ia Mong People's Committee and asked about the color of the water. They it was due to construction of the Yali Falls Dam. In the dry season of the same year, the water levels were lower than in previous years.
In the rainy season in 1998, the water levels increased gradually and there were no high floods as in the previous years. In the dry season in 1998 the water levels were lower, and rock banks on the both sides of the river were seen. Villagers whispered into each other's ears that "God in Yali has changed the river. God wants the river to run somewhere else." When they asked the commune and the district, the answer was that the dam was closed and the reservoir was being filled. In the same year, the government constructed the water supply system for the Dip.
26 In 1999, there was not much water in the river in the rainy season. The water was flowing slowly. When water levels increased, they increased slowly. However, the water was more turbid than usual. Around July - August according to the Lunar Calendar or in September - October according to the Western Calendar, 1999 the village was hit twice by huge floods. The water levels were from 25 to 30 metres high and rising very quickly. The river was roaring. The 7 lowest households and the cemetery were flooded. The flood occurred at about 9:00 in the morning and the water levels went down after a day. The primary school was flooded and children could not go to school for a day. The village was then hit by floods several more times, but the water levels were not as high as the first two times. Floods hit the village once more in 2000. The first two times, floods oc curred so suddenly that villagers did not know what happened to them, so they were very fearful. Later on whenever they heard the roaring of the water they would run home as soon as possible.
3.2.3. Impacts of first large releases of water in 1999
The flo ods occurred unexpectedly, so villagers had no time to prepare for them. The floods occurred in Dip village at around 9-10:00 in the morning, and in Nu and Dom villages at 2-3:00 in the afternoon. The water levels stayed high for half of the day and then went down. When the floods occurred villagers were working in the fields on the other side of the river. Their wood boats, which were tied to small bushes adjacent to the river, were swept away. The Dip lost 7 boats, the Nu 11 and the Dom 6. The value of each boat ranges from 1- 1.5 million VND ($70-$105) depending on the size of the boat. Other possessions, such as pigs, chickens, unhusked rice from the swidden fields, salt, cast-nets and fishing nets, were also swept away (See Table 6). The total monetary value for the boats was 11,325,000 VND ($780) just for Dip village. The monetary value for other losses were impossible to calculate. One man in Dip village reported:
Before the first floods occurred in 1999 I bought a 30 kg sack of salt for 45,000 VND. When the floods occurred I could not take the sack of salt with me. When the water went down I came home and did not see the salt although the empty sack was there. I thought somebody had stolen my salt. Later on my neighbors told me that the salt melted when my house was flooded.
Table 5 below presents damage caused by water releases from the Yali Falls Dam reported by local people.
27 TABLE 5. DAMAGE CAUSED BY WATER RELEASES FROM THE YALI RESERVOIR
Village name Damage
Dip village · 7 ha of swidden rice intercropped with papaya and vegetables were flooded and badly damaged. · 2 ha of cassava and 1 ha of bean and sesame was flooded. · 60 m2 of wet rice were flooded. · Home gardens were flooded, mango and guava trees died. · Loss of 7 boats (1-1.5 million VND each). · 7 households lost salt and possessions. · 3 pigs and 50 chickens died, unknown number of dogs and cats lost. · 4 sheds of rice on swidden fields were swept away by waters. · Loss of cast-nets and fishing-nets set on the river. · Oleoresine and Hopea dealbata (trees) along the riverbank fell down and were swept away. · Some cemeteries were flooded and collapsed. · Fry died in the river. Nu village · Loss of 10 boats. · 4 households lost 5 ha of swidden rice and cassava. · 7 people were almost killed by a boat overturn, of whom one was injured. · 3 households lost belongings and production tools. · 2 sheds of rice on swidden fields were swept away. · Unknown number of pigs, chickens, dogs and cats lost. · 2 cows were swept away by waters. · Fishing rods, cast-nets and fishing-nets were lost · Loss of boat station and riverbank erosion. · It is said that somebody in Bi village drowned. Dom village · Loss of 6 boats · This hamlet is situated in a high location; therefore, damage was only observed in swidden fields. · 3 households’ swidden rice, cassava, maize, sesame, and chili were flooded (total area nearly 1 ha). · Some households lost fishing-nets. · It is said that two people in Bi village drowned. Doch 2 · Only bamboo rafts were lost (because local people use bamboo rafts for village fishing and as a means of transportation on the river). · Few cast-nets and fishing-nets were lost. · No damage at all to cash crops and swidden fields. · Riverbank is severely eroded and water is turbid and dirty.
28 As mentioned earlier, when the floods occurred many people from these downstream villages were working on their swidden fields on the other side of the river. They could not come home, because the water levels were too high and more importantly, all of their boats were swept away by surges of water. They had to stay there for more than a day, until people from the other side could get a boat and pick them up. They did not have anything to eat for the whole time. Children were crying all night, as they were afraid of tigers. Many people from the Doch 2 village had to walk through Kon Tum Province on empty stomachs to get home. It took them a day to walk home.
Rice, cassava, peanuts, beans and vegetables grown on fields which were adjacent to the river were either swept away or became rotten after the water levels went down. All damage was listed and sent to the People's Committee of the commune, but nobody has received compensation yet. No mitigation measures have been taken yet to help villagers. Mr. Siu Vi said " Those who are attacked by natural disasters, such as floods and drought are usually provided support from the government. We were hit by the Yali Dam's floods, but have received no help. We are not complaining about the government. However, the Board of Management of the Yali Falls Dam should have said something to us".
Nobody died in the surveyed villages. However, it is reported that two people died in the Bi village and one person was injured in the Nu village. Villagers, especially women and children are presently very fearful of floods caused by irregular water releases from the Yali Dam. Local people report that when the water is released, water levels are usually 5 to 10 m high.
Commune staff explained that they were not able to inform villagers about the first releases of water so villagers had no way of preparing for them. The dam has now been in use for a while and waters are released gradually. The Yali Project's Board of Management report that they usually inform villagers 5 days in advance before releasing of waters. However, they admit that they are unable to inform villages located in remote areas due to inaccessibility of the villages. The Dip villagers report that they have been recently informed about releases of water, but the rest of the villages said that they have never been informed. Villagers are frightened that the dam will break one day and they will all die.
Villagers also reported that in dry season when the dam is closed, the river is so shallow that they can walk across the river, an event which had never happened before. In the rainy season they can no longer cross the river to go and work on their fields because their boats were lost during the first floods. Since then they have not been able to afford another boat. One million VND is a great amount of money to them.
It is hoped that damages caused by flooding will be recovered and floods will be under control after turbines are commissioned normally. However, further studies are needed on the impacts of the dam on the livelihoods of villagers who have been dependent on the river for thousands of years, and solutions need to be worked out to help them cope with these changes and stabilize their life.
29 3.2.4 Impacts of the Dam on Fisheries and Other Aquatic Life
Fish from the Sesan is not a source of income for the village rs, but it is their most important source of protein. Before the dam, all villagers ate fish caught from the river. There were so many fish and they were very easy to catch. One person who went fishing could catch enough fish to feed the whole village. Mr. Ro Cham Lo, Headman of Dip village mentioned that in 1996 and 1997 a haul could yield 3-4 baskets of fish. Now if he goes fishing for the whole day, he could catch only a few fish. Consequently, they have to buy marine fish from Kinh traders who bring fish to the village everyday and sell them for 2000 VND/kg (see Picture 12). When asked if locals like marine fish, they all said that they prefer the river fish because they taste better. Picture 12
When waters are not released, water levels are very low, especially in the dry season. The river flows slowly and as a result of this, leaves, bark and branches of trees become rotten in the water. The water smells so bad that fish are unable to survive. Many species of fish have gone, especially big fish which taste delicious, such as ca lang (Hemibagrus elongatus), ca anh vu (Semilabeo notabilis), ca chuoi (Ophiocephalus maculatus), ca co ke (Carassius auratis), and ca bong lau (Ophiocephalus sp.). The habitat of these species is located in the watershed of the Mekong River, where the hydrological regime is suitable for them. Changes in the upper part of the Sesan might result in changes in the habitat of these fish species. They may no longer migrate up the Sesan. Locals also report that there are a lot of fry which die in the river when waters are released. They often go and collect these fish and bring them home to eat. Many species of these fish are new to them. It has been said that fish have been raised in the reservoir. Nobody knows the reason why fish die. When asked if they were fearful of eating the fish, they said "Yes, but we don't have any other choice". Aquatic animals such as soft shelled turtles, which were seen and caught before, have also disappeared.
In the same vein, shallow water leads to loss of habitats of a number of fish, shrimp and crustacean species. These species feed on bethos, zooplankton and organic debris semi- decomposed in the water. They also feed on larvae and mosquito larvae that transmit malaria and typhoid fever. A reduction in these species results in an increase in larvae, thereby increasing the incidence of malaria. Loss of and decreases in number of species of fauna and flora contributes to degrading biodiversity of this area and that of the Chu Mom Ray Nature Reserve in Sa Thay Distric t as well. Further studies on these issues are needed.
When asked if they were fearful of sleeping along the river to fish, they all report that they don't dare to sleep on the boat or raft any more. They make a hut about 10-15 m from the riverbank. Otherwise, they would not be able to run away quickly enough in case waters are released while they are sleeping.
Impacts on water birds along the river have not been noticed yet. However, many villagers report that there were more water birds before, especially egrets. There have been a decrease in numbers of egrets due to loss of fish. 30 Local people mentioned that riverbank erosion has occurred due to releases of water. Large water surges swept huge woody trees away, which grew on the riverbank (see Picture 13 and 14).
3.2.5 Changes in Water Quality
The river waters play a very important role in Picture 13 villagers' daily life. Therefore, shallow and contaminated water will definitely affect villagers' health. It is unfortunate that due to limited time and budget, we were not able to study the water quality of the Sesan River. All villagers in villages we visited report that they have noticed changes in water levels and water quality. The water levels are shallow. The river doesn't flow rapidly enough. Consequently, tree leaves, branches and dead animals decompose in the stagnant water, thus contaminating the water.
Villagers complain that the water temperatures have gone up, especially on the surface of the water in the dry season, leading to death of a number of species of fish and wild vegetables, which were suitable with the flowing water, which is cool, clean and pure. Wild vegetables, which have local names such as bong tang, la ngoi, dam boong, and ra phi, no longer grow along the riverbanks . Ra phi means bitter. La ngoi is a sweet vegetable. These wild vegetables were very common and were used by villagers. Headman of the Doch 2 said:
Before construction of the dam, it was really refreshing to see young girls and boys who went to pick La ngoi together when La ngoi sprouts were seen. Picking La ngoi became part of our culture. Loss of these wild vegetables also means loss of our culture.
Fertilizers and pesticides from the nearby coffee, rubber, tea and sugar-cane plantations flow into the stagnant or shallow waters, causing pollution. However, we are not able to provide data on chemical composition of the water within the framework of this study.
The decomposition of organic matter in the reservoir is another factor contributing to contaminated waters downstream. Bamboo, bushes, grass, sugar-cane, coffee, and other crops decompose gradually in still waters, resulting in changes to the composition of the water quality. This toxic water is then discharged downstream from the reservoir when releasing waters, thus affecting local people's health.
When waters are released, sediment of construction materials, such as rock, soil, concrete, and dead animals, such as small fish, snakes, turtles and frogs passed through turbines are factors which have long-lasting effects on local people's life downstream. All interviewees complain about the quality of the water. They report that the water looks like cement. That’s why the water is called "cement water". They also said that fish caught now are not as fat as before. "There is also cement in the fish's intestine, something which we never saw before" reported a local man. Villagers also report that they often experience itchiness, eye irritation, bumps, respiratory infections and coughs, diarrhea, fever, malaria, and colds or flu. Their body usually becomes itchy an hour after bathing and swimming in the river. They say that is because of the "cement water."
31 In summary, impacts of construction of the Yali Falls Dam on locals who live downstream have been noticed. These include damages caused by the releasing of waters twice in 1999, before closing of the dam, in preparation for turbines to be commissioned to produce electricity. Longer-lasting impacts are caused by changes in the hydrological regime, in water levels and water quality. These impacts will affect the life and livelihood of locals who have been dependent on the river for thousands of years. Environmental impacts are also long-lasting, many of which are not identified at the moment. The impacts which have been noticed so far are described in the following Table 6.
Picture 14
TABLE 6. IMPACTS OF THE YALI FALLS DAM ON DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES Village Damage name
Dip village · Changes in water levels and the river’s current. In the rainy season, water levels are high (6-7 m). In the dry season water levels are low. In the rainy season, waters are released from the dam. In the dry season, waters are impounded behind the dam. This has changed the hydrological regime of the river. Irregular large amount of water is released, causing floods , which results in considerable damage to local people. This threatens them. They do not know how high the water levels will rise and for how long. · Waters are now shallow and turbid, and are called “cement” waters by locals. The river doesn't flow rapidly. Consequently, dirty waters stay in deep places in the river. This contributes to water contamination. · Since 1998, many people have experienced itchiness due to bathing, washing clothes in, and walking across the river. · Many species of fish have been los t due to the changed hydrological regime. All big fish disappeared because there is no breeding area for them. Fry, amphibians, tortoises and snakes are also seen dead in the river. · Many kinds of common vegetables were lost, such as rau bong tang, rau don (local names), among others. · Low water levels with many rocks make it difficult to cross the river by boat to cultivate on swidden fields on the other side. · In the rainy season, people are fearful of losing boats when waters are released.
32 Village Damage name
Nu village · Fish have disappeared since water levels are shallow and the water becomes hard in the dry season. · In the rainy season, the water levels are not stable, therefore people are always afraid that their boats would be overturned when crossing the river. · Loc als noticed irregular water levels since 1997 and 1998. · The water is more turbid and smells like fish and cement as well. Locals get itchy after bathing in the water. Local people like bathing in running waters. · Diarrhea, itchy and sore eye diseases have increased. · Water is stagnant. When people wash their clothes they don’t see it float. · Almost all species of fish and wild vegetables have disappeared. Locals don’t have fish to eat as before. Many fries die, and tortoises and snakes are almost gone in the river. Dom village · Water levels have been irregular since 1997-1998. · Presently, water levels are shallow and the river flows slowly in the dry season. In the rainy season, waters are released from the dam, causing floods. It is more difficult to cross the river than before. · Water is more turbid and dirty; many people become itchy after contact with the water. · Fry and amphibians die. There are also new species of fish, which are dead in the river. These include African carp, mud carp, carp. It is said that these species were raised in the reservoir. Now people living upstream have fish to eat, while people living downstream don’t have any fish. · Wild vegetables such as rau dang, rau bong tang, rau ma have disappeared. Doch 2 · Water levels have changed since 1997. In the dry season, water levels decline rapidly. In rainy season, water levels increase. In the dry season, water levels are so shallow that people can walk across the river. · The river water is turbid. When waters are released, waters are reddish. Water quality is even worse in the rainy season. It is easy to get itchy and bumps after bathing in the river. · Fish and amphibian catches have declined. · Wild vegetables have disappeared. Dirty and hard waters do not allow them grow. · The village is located adjacent to the reservoir, so is hit by strong winds caused by the huge reservoir. Winds damage crops and trees. · Locals don’t dare to sleep on the boat like before, as they are fearful of not being able to run away quickly enough when waters are releas ed.
Locals report that in 1996 there was an accident in which a construction workers' boat carrying cement was swept away by large size of the water surges. There was no impact downstream, however.
33 Local people in Dip, Nu and Dom villages report that they have heard of the planned Sesan 3 project. The Vice-Chairman of Ia Grai District said that the Sesan 3 project has been surveyed and designed by the Power Investigation and Design Company No. 1. It is planned to implement the project as soon as possible . If the dam is constructed, villages located along the river, such as Dip, Nu, Ech and Dom will be moved to a higher location, about 5-7 km away from the riverbank. The most challenging issue is to find cultivatable land for local people. There is very li ttle land left. The majority of the land has become rubber, coffee, pepper and cashew plantations, which are already owned by somebody. These include the rubber and coffee plantations of Chu Pah and Ia Grai Districts. Local people report that they are fearful of being moved, of changing their livelihoods and of having no cultivated land like those resettled to make way for the Yali Falls Dam. Locals living along the Sesan River love their own way of life, in which they have swidden rice, cassava, fishing boats and fish caught from the river, and wild vegetables, such as Bong tang. They have been living peacefully with the river, on which they have been dependent for centuries.
It should be noted that if projects are to bring local people a better life, they need to actively participate in decisions that affect their life. In order to implement projects successfully, local people should have their voice in the planning process and then take part in project implementation. They know best what they want and they are able to more effectively manage natural resources through local or “traditional” forms of access than the state or distant corporate managers.
34 IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMENDATIONS 4.1 CONCLUSIONS
4.1.1 Resettled Villages
1. Those resettled have some compe nsation, such as housing, seedlings, and fertilizers, cash for moving the old house, furniture, ancestors' tombs, cash for lost crops and 1 million VND for agricultural extension, and supply of 6 months of rice right after they were moved in. However, compensation has not been paid to all households in different villages. Many households are not satisfied with the compensation, quantity and quality of compensation. The compensation regime is not transparent and open to everybody. 2. Housing has been provided for households. Nevertheless, the total area of the house is the same for all households. Therefore, it is not suitable for households which have more people than those which have less people. The house doesn't have a kitchen, bathroom, latrine, and pig pen. Many households complain about the quality of the house.
3. Those resettled have not received any cultivatable land. Presently, almost all households, of which the majority are ethnic people, lack foodstuffs. They are suffering hunger and worry about their future. 4. They suffer shortages of clean drinking and cooking water and firewood, and these are also many local people's main concern. 5. Local people's life in resettled villages is not stable yet. They do not have any source of income. There are presently no programs which help them develop their farming systems in order to improve their living standards and generate income. Downstream Villages
6. Those who live in downstream villages are the Gia Rai people. Locals' livelihoods have been dependent on the Sesan River for thousands of years. Construction of the Yali Falls Dam has changed water levels and the water quality of the river, thus resulting in shallow, contaminated water and loss of fish and wild vegetables, and contributing to degrading biodiversity in the area. Locals are no longer able to catch fish in the river and instead have to buy fish from local Kinh traders. 7. Floods, which occurred in 1999, caused local people living along the river considerable damage both materially and mentally. However, they ha ve not received any support or any type of compensation from the government. 8. Poor water quality downstream has had many impacts on local people. Many people suffer from rashes, skin bumps and diarrhea after coming in contact with the water. 9. There was no villager killed in the surveyed villages by the dam associated floods downstream as reported informal sources. However, two people reportedly died in Bi village. 10. Locals have heard about the planned Sesan III project, which is called post-Yali Falls Dam. They all worry about their relocation and their future.
35 4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
· More comprehensive and quantitative studies into impacts on natural resources and the environment of the Yali Falls Dam should be carried out. These studies should focus on water and biological resources, biodiversity, and farming systems downstream and upstream.
· It is recommended that the government take action right away to ensure that those resettled have rice and cultivatable land, fresh water and firewood supplies and longer term income generation programs.
· Downstream villages should be compensated for their losses as a result of floods and fisheries and other losses as a result of the dam.
· There should be local people's participation in any resettlement projects and they should have a voice in the decision-making process. Decisions about essential issues, such as housing and cultivatable land, among others, should not be made by a group of people who are outsiders and do not know or do not want to know about local people's cult ure. It is hoped that local people's voice would be heard and these lessons should be drawn for other projects.
36 V. REFERENCES
1. Le, Can Thac, 2000. Study on Public Participation in Resettlement Plan related to the Yali Hydropower Project. The Vietnam Environment and Sustainable Development Center, Hanoi, Vietnam.
2. Study on the Downstream Impacts of the Yali Falls Dam in the Sesan River Basin in Ratanakiri Province, Northeast Cambodia, the Fisheries Office Ratanakiri 2000.
3. Poverty Reduction and Environmental Management in Remote GMS Watersheds, ADB RETA 5771, NGO Consultation Workshop, AIT, Bangkok, October 2000.
4. A Proposal for Project Interventions: Sesan - Vietnam. Draft Final Report, Vol. V of VI, ADB RETA 5771, December 2000.
5. The Lao Dong (Labor) Newspaper from July through November, 2000.
6. A Study of the Downstream Impacts of the Yali Falls Dam in the Sesan River Basin in Ratanakiri Province, Northeast Cambodia, prepared by the Fisheries Office, Ratanakiti Province, 2000.
37 VI. APPENDIX 6.1. APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDY OF RESETTLED VILLAGES I. General questions: 1. Province: ______District ______Commune ______Village 2. Population of village: ______Male: ______Female: ______Ethnic group: ______; number of household: ______3. Village history: Instruction to interviewer: interview head of household or wife of head of household only Location of interview:______Name of interviewer: ______Date of interview:______Interviewer comment:
II. Information on respondent Name of respondent: ______Is the respondent the head of household? ____yes ____no Sex of respondent: _____male ______female Age of respondent: ______Ethnicity:______Place of birth: ______Years of education: ______Number of children: boy _____ girl _____ Ages: III. Detailed Household Questions 1. When did you move here? Since which month and year?______What differences are there between the old place and the resettlement village? ______
2. What type of compensation have you received? Cash? ______Housing? ______Land? ______Other? 3. How much cash have you received? ______Have you received all the promised cash? If not, how much more are you expecting? What steps have you taken to get your remaining cash? What has been the response of the government? Is the cash that the government has provided you sufficient and fair?
4. If you have been provided housing, are you happy with the house? ______yes ______no If NO, why? (Photographs of the house will be taken and included) Did you desire the government to give you the money so that you could build the house yourself? ______Yes ______No If yes, what was the government's response? 5. If you received land, have you received all land promised to you? ______Yes ______No If no, how much more are you waiting for? What steps have you taken to get your remaining land? What has been the response of the government?
38 Do you have sufficient agricultural land to support your household? _____ Yes _____ No
If No, how much more land would you need? ______m2 (sao) 6. For how many months each year does your household have sufficient rice to eat? _____ months How does this compare with before you were moved?
7. How many months supply of rice do you currently have in storage? ______months
8. Has your household suffered from hunger since you moved here (including other foodstuffs mixed with rice, not just replacement of rice with cassava or corn)? _____ Yes _____ No If yes, why?
9. Do you have rights to gather firewood and other forest produce in any communal or state-owned forest? _____yes; _____no? If yes, what products: ______Bamboo shoots ______Mushrooms ______Wild vegetables ______Medicinal plants ______River fish (in the forest?) ______Wild animals How does this compare with before you moved?
10. What are the main sources of your household's cash income? _____sale of crops (describe): ______Amount:______dong _____sale of cash crops (coffee, litsea, cashew, rubber, sugar cane, pepper, fruit trees) _____sale of livestock (describe): ______Amount: ______dong _____sale of timber from forest. ______dong _____sale of firewood from forest. ______dong _____sale of non-timber forest products: ______Amount: ______dong _____gold panning _____ other: ______Amount: ______dong
11. Lighting in the house ______electricity from grid how much do you pay per month? ______electricity from family's own mini-hydropower generator ______kerosene lamp ______cooking fire ______other (describe)______
12. What is the most commonly used cooking fuel for your household? ______wood ______Straw, leaves ______other (describe)
Does your household have sufficient cooking fuel compared to the former place? ____yes ____no; why?
39 13. Where does your household get water for drinking and cooking in rainy and dry seasons? ______Cement well ______Open earth well ______Stream or other natural resource ______Other (describe)
14. Do you ever suffer shortages of water? ______no ______yes. If yes, for how many months each year? ____ months
Do you have more water today than in the former place? _____ yes ______no
Do you think the water quality today is better than in your former village? ___yes ____no, why?
15. Schooling Have schools been built for children at the resettlement site? _____yes ______no If yes, are there sufficient rooms? ____ yes; _____no and teachers? _____yes; _____no Are schools reachable in the rainy season? ______Yes; ______no
16. Is there any health clinic in the village? _____yes; _____no If yes, is it well-equipped? _____yes; ______no Is it better than the former place? _____yes; why
______no; why
17. During the past 12 months have members of your household suffered from any of the following ______malaria ______colds or flu ______respiratory infections and coughs ______diarrhea ______fever ______goiter ______sore irritation ______itchiness ______other (describe): ______death (cause)
How does this compare with before you moved? Has there been an increase in any illnesses since before you moved? 18. Do you still practice your cultural activities that you had before? ______yes ______no If not, why not?
19. Has the common house been built in the new village? _____yes; _____no If yes, has it been built in the traditional style?
Are you happy with that?
40 20 . Have you been able to bring your ancestors' tombs to the resettlement site yet? _____yes _____no, if no; why?
Do you desire to bring the tombs to the resettlement site? _____yes; why?
_____no, why?
21. Market and transportation What is the distance from your house to t he nearest auto road? _____m or ____km What is the distance from your house to the nearest road on which a motorcycle can pass? _____m or _____km
By what means do you usually travel to the nearest market? _____on foot _____bicycle _____motorbike _____bus or truck _____boat _____other (describe)
How long does it take you to travel to the nearest market? ____hours
How many times each month does your household eat meat or fish? ___less than one time every two weeks ___times every two weeks
22. Have there been any income-generation projects in your community? _____yes _____no
If yes, have you been encouraged to participate in? ____yes; _____no; why
How are the projects successful?
23. Is your life at the resettlement site better or worse off compared with the former life?
____better; why
____worse; why
24. What are your wishes and hopes for the future?
25. What are your fears and worries about the future? 26. According to you what should be done in order to improve people's living standard at the resettlement site?
All people interviewed are given an opportunity to add their own information, tell more about their stories. At the end of each questionnaire a sentence, which says: is there anything else you would like to tell us about how your life has changed since you moved? is included.
41 6.2. APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDY OF DOWNSTREAM VILLAGES
I. General questions 1. Province: ______District ______Commune ______Village 2. Population of village: ______Male: ______Female: ______Ethnic group: ______; number of households: ______3. What is main occupation? ______paddy ______swidden ______cash crops (coffee, litsea, cashew, sugar canes, rubber, pepper and fruit trees) ______livestock ______timber from forest. ______firewood from forest. ______non-timber forest products: ______gold panning ______sand exploitation for construction _____ other: ______
4. Village history:
Instruction to interviewer: interview head of household or wife of head of household only Location of interview: Name of interviewer: ______Date of interview:______Interviewer comment:
II. Information on respondent Name of respondent: ______Is the respondent the head of household? ____yes ____no Sex of respondent: _____male ______female Age of respondent: ______Ethnicity:______Place of birth: ______Years of education: ______Number of children: boy _____ girl _____ Ages:
III. Detailed Questions 1. How long have you lived here for? ______years 2. Do you have access to the river? ______yes; ______no If yes, how important is the river for your household? ______providing drinking and cooking water ______bathing place ______irrigation water ______fishing and aquaculture ______gold panning ______sand for construction ______means of transportation
3. Have you heard of the Yali dam? If so, where have you heard from and when?
Since when have you noticed irregular water fluctuations? Since which month and Year?______What differences are there between the rainy season and the dry season?
42 ______What about the water fluctuations at the present? ______How many times per year? ______and duration? ______height? ______speed? ______4. Are most of the floods at night or during the day? ______When the water rises, are there warnings provided in advance?______5. Is there any change in water quality? How is it different from usual? ______When did the difference start to be noticed? ______Related to the change in water quality, what have been the impacts? For human and animal health? ______6. Do you know what is the cause of the irregular fluctuations? ______7. When did you know about the cause of the problems? ______8. Does this cause any difficulties in crossing the river when these irregular water fluctuations happen? ______Have there been any accidents with boats crossing the river? ______Are there any fears associated with sleeping along the river to do fishing? Ha ve there ever been any accidents? Have there been any deaths? Who? When? ______9. In the last rainy season, were the floods normal? Last 5 years?______How many floods were there and when did they take place? ______Was the village flooded? ______How many days? ______Height of the flood? ______Was agriculture land flooded? (wet season paddy, swidden, crop land) ______How much agriculture land was flooded? ______What kind of crops were flooded? ______10. Was rice land flooded? ______How much rice and other crops were lost? ______How many households suffered loss ______What monetary value? ______11. In the dry season have there been any floods? If so, how many times? ______Was agricultural land flooded? ______Such as gardens along the riverbank ______What was lost and how much? ______How many households suffered loss? ______What monetary value? ______12. After loss of rice due to flooding of paddy and swidden, how many months do you experience rice food shortage? Compare with last 5 years ______13. Has there been any loss of domestic animals or various gears/equipment? ______Cattle ______Buffalo ______Chickens ______Ducks ______Pigs ______What was the monetary value? ______Other things lost? ______Value? ______What else has been lost ______14. Has there been any impact on the solidarity between villages? ______15. Regarding collection of wild vegetables along the riverbank, are they still plentiful? ______Or has there been some change – now more difficult to find? ______What other kinds of vegetables and trees have experienced problems?______
43 16. What about riverbank erosion?______17. Is fishing easier or more difficult than before? Why? ______Comparing the past 5 years, when was the fish more plentiful? ______When the irregular water fluctuations take place, what impacts are there on your fishing activity along the river?______Have there been any fishing gears lost? ______How many per kind of gear?______What value ? ______How many motorised and non-motorised boats have been lost?______Value? ______Were they lost in the rainy or dry season? ______What is the most plentiful kind of fish? What kinds of fish are nearly extinct due to the irregular water fluctuations? ______After the irregular water fluctuations started, what kinds of fish have changed in catches occurred compared with previous years? ______Have you noticed any fish dying along the river? When? How much? ______When especially low water levels take place, what takes place in the deep water areas? ______Can you catch enough fish to eat? Is there some surplus for selling, compared with previous years? ______18. Has there been any change in other kinds of aquatic animals, such soft shelled turtles, iguanas, water monitor lizard, shellfish, etc______19. Regarding water birds along the river, has there been any loss/decrease? ______20. There have been reports of the dam breaking in 1996 and people dying due to a sudden surge of water. Have you heard about this? Did you notice a sudden surge of water in 1996? If so, when? What were the impacts in your village? Did anyone from your village die as a result of this flooding? Did you hear of people from other villages dying as a result of this flooding? If so, how many and where were they from?
21. During the past 12 months have members of your household suffered from any of the following ______malaria ______colds or flu ______respiratory infections and coughs ______diarrhea ______fever ______goiter ______sore irritation ______bumps ______itchiness ______other (describe): ______death (cause)
What are the causes? Have you noticed an increase in any of the above illnesses over the past 12 months?
44 22. Other impacts that have occurred? ______Have these impacts been experienced more by men or women? Who has been most affected? How are people impacted? ______After this problem started to occur along the Sesan River, what solutions have you found to survive or mitigate the impacts in terms of livelihood changes? ______Do you Have any plan to change the location of your village? ______What are your fears for the future? ______What should be done to solve the problems? ______
When the villagers suffer loss and damage, have you received compensation? ____yes; _____no if yes, how much?
And what type of compensation? ______
Additional question:
Have you heard of plans to build another dam in this area? If so, what have you been told?
After completing the questionnaire, show photos of the Yali Falls dam, tell them about the project, the impacts in Cambodia, and about the planned Sesan 3 project.
45