Work proceeds on the controversial Xayaburi dam as Thai contractor ignores agreement to suspend construction
A major Thai contractor has overstepped its bounds by going ahead with the construction of a controversial US$3.8-billion dam, defying an agreement to suspend the project pending further studies and approval by neighboring countries, an environmental group has said.
CH. Karnchang, one of Thailand’s largest contractors, has also reneged on its commitment to confine work on the Xayaburi dam project to the preparatory stage, International Rivers, a Berkeley-based NGO, said in a press release Wednesday (June 27).
“By proceeding with resettlement and construction on the Xayaburi dam, CH. Karnchang has blatantly defied the diplomatic process underway to decide on the future of the Mekong River,” Ame Trandem, Southeast Asia program director for International Rivers, said, citing findings of a recent investigation carried out by the group.
CH. Karnchang had already undertaken significant resettlement and construction activities at the Xayaburi dam site, International Rivers said after concluding a visit to the dam site last week.
“Recent activities include dredging to deepen and widen the riverbed at the dam site, the construction of a large concrete retaining wall, and an increase in the company’s local labor force,” the group said in its statement. “One village, Houay Souy, was already resettled from the dam’s planned spillway to near Xayaboury town in January 2012,” it said.
But Aswin Kongsiri, CH. Karnchang’s chairman, said earlier this month that the company had yet to start construction on the dam. “We have thus far focused on project preparation, mainly financing and the environmental impact report,” Kongsiri was quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying on June
