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DAM-L world bank, pak mun commentary (fwd)
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 17:29:51 -0700 (PDT)
Message-Id: <200010260029.e9Q0Tps04224@DaVinci.NetVista.net>
subject: LS: PR: Arrogance blinds World Bank to true impacts of Pak Mun
Sender: owner-irn-mekong@netvista.net
Precedence: bulk
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley CA 94703
USA
PRESS RELEASE
Thursday, October 26, 2000
On Planet World Bank, Thailand's Pak Mun Dam is a Success
Arrogance blinds Bank to true impacts of disastrous dam
In a recently leaked memorandum, the World Bank continues to deny the
impacts of the Pak Mun Dam despite the findings of the independent World
Commission on Dams and the affected communities' 10 year struggle.
In an unauthored set of comments submitted to the WCD in June 2000, the
World Bank maintains that the lack of baseline data collected prior to
project construction has "resulted in exaggerated and ever-increasing
claims for compensation. This lacuna has also resulted in current (in our
view unsubstantiated) claims that the Pak Mun project has been directly
responsible for a permanent and substantial loss of fish species and fish
catches." The memorandum goes on to claim that the project "may have been
beneficial" for fish, and that the dam's impact on aquatic diversity "may
be relatively low".
The World Commission on Dams released its final study on the Pak Mun Dam
project in August 2000. The WCD found that the dam has failed to meet its
projected benefits and has had substantial impacts on fisheries.
Researchers found that the dam, which is supposed to generate 136 megawatts
of electricity, barely generates 20 megawatts in high-demand months. The
WCD estimated that the actual fish catch in the reservoir and upstream is
60-80 percent less than in the pre-dam era, resulting in an economic loss
to villagers of about US$1.4 million per annum. The WCD concluded, "if all
the benefits and costs were adequately assessed, it is unlikely that the
project would have been built in the current context."
Before the WCD's Pak Mun Dam Study was released, the World Bank had stated
to IRN that the "results of the WCD study should provide the basis for our
discussions with the Government on what the appropriate steps should be to
address adverse residual impacts if the resulting findings point to such
results."*
Ms. Aviva Imhof, South-East Asia Campaigner with International Rivers
Network, says:
"The Bank's comments demonstrate the continuing arrogance of World Bank
staff, who seem incapable of admitting that they were wrong. The Bank said
that it would accept the findings of the WCD study, and now that the study
is contrary to their beliefs, they are attempting to discredit it. The
World Bank owes a debt to the villagers affected by Pak Mun Dam, and they
should own up to it."
Mr. Chainarong Sretthachau, Director of the Thai NGO SEARIN, says:
"For the first time ever a truly independent study has been completed
investigating the actual impacts of Pak Mun Dam on fisheries and on local
communities' livelihoods. The study vindicates what the villagers have been
saying all along the Pak Mun Dam has destroyed their lives. The World Bank
should work with the Thai government to decommission the dam and restore
the river."
Villagers have been protesting the project since it was first proposed.
They are demanding that the dam's gates be permanently opened and the river
restored. In March 1999, more than 5,000 villagers occupied the area
adjacent to the dam and remain there today. In July 2000, thousands of
villagers camped outside the Government House in Bangkok, refusing to leave
until the government complied with their demands. After huge demonstrations
and a mass hunger strike, the government decided to open the dam's gates
for four months. Villagers argue that this measure was inadequate and that
the only way to recover their lost livelihoods is through restoring the Mun
River, thereby restoring the fisheries that are essential for their survival.
The Pak Mun Dam was completed in 1994 with $23 million in financing from
the World Bank. From the outset, the project was highly controversial due
to the predicted impacts on the rich and productive fisheries of the Mun
River, the largest tributary of the Mekong River. As a direct result of the
dam, more than 20,000 people have been affected by drastic reductions in
fish populations upstream of the dam site and other changes to their
livelihoods.
The World Commission on Dams' final report is due to be released on
November 16 in London, with special guests Nelson Mandela, Mary Robinson
(UN Commissioner for Human Rights) and James Wolfensohn (President of the
World Bank).
* Letter from Messrs. Julian Schweitzer, Tom Tsui and Maninder Gill to Ms.
Aviva Imhof and Ms. Nurina Widagdo, BIC, July 13, 1999.
The World Bank's comments on the WCD's Pak Mun Basin Study are available on
the web at www.irn.org
For further information, please contact:
Aviva Imhof, International Rivers Network, aviva@irn.org, 510.848.1155 (w),
510.666.0622 (h), www.irn.org
Chainarong Sretthachau, SEARIN, searin@loxinfo.co.th, Chiang Mai 053
221157(h), 053 278 334 (w), 01 999 5451 (cell), www.searin.org
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