Two reports this month by the International Rivers Network (IRN) are strongly critical of developments in the construction of 2 dams in Lao PDR.

IRN on 11 April reported that with the sealing of the diversion tunnel, work will begin on filling the long-delayed Nam Thuen 2 dam, with the gates due to close in August.  However, mitigation measures promised by the project developers, including the World Bank who financed it, are well behind schedule.

Biomass from the reservoir has not been removed and so far, much has been burned rather than physically removed.  This will create water quality problems in the dam reservoir if not corrected.  Also, communities downstream from the dam are still waiting, after some 2 years, for replacement land.  Negotiations on downstream fishery losses are only just starting.

IRN deplores the determination of the Lao PDR government, World Bank and project developers to forge ahead with the construction schedule while ignoring delays in the environmental and social mitigation measures.  IRN’s Shannon Lawrence concludes “This two-track approach to such a risky project has left villagers unequipped to face the dam's impacts."

On 17 April, IRN released details of an independent review of the resettlement plan and environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Theun-Hinboun Expansion Project.  These, written by the Norwegian consultancy Norplan, do not meet Lao regulatory requirements or international standards.  Independent EIA reviewer David Blake is quoted as saying “Rarely does one see such a cynical attempt to blatantly distort or ignore empirical data to achieve a pre-determined outcome: namely, the building of this new dam.”  According to independent observers, the project will impoverish 50,000 Lao villagers.

One of the main developers of the project, which will divert water from the Nam Ngouan River and hence double the capacity of the Thuen-Hinboun power plant, is the Norwegian state-owned utility, Statkraft.