A crocodile skull beside a river bank in Koh Kong province’s Thma Bang district in December. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Dam critics outline litany of risks
As villagers in Koh Kong province’s Areng Valley continue to
block Sinohydro Corp employees from entering the area where the Stung
Cheay Areng dam is planned, conservationists and rights workers have
spoken of the havoc it will wreak if it goes ahead.
In terms of the impact on wildlife, forests and the livelihoods and
traditions of the local communities, Toby Eastoe of Conservation
International (CI) said that it would create a litany of problems.
“I have not seen the relocation plan, but it could wipe out a large
amount of forest and [this] is my main concern if the dam does go
ahead,” he said.
“As investment companies coming to Cambodia, their responsibility is
to make sure that environmental offsets get to the right people and in a
transparent way, as advised to them by all of the EIAs,” he said.
Sinohydro took over the project when China Guodian backed out after assessing the costs late last year.
But some of the conservation groups’ projects in the area have put
them at odds with affected communities. The relocation of endangered
Siamese crocodiles by Flora and Fauna International (FFI) has also drawn
criticism from locals and rights groups.
Villagers wrote to FFI in December, accusing the NGO of complicity in
forcing “the Siamese crocodiles, a rare species, into extinction”,
after finding a dead crocodile and witnessing FFI staff removing another
from the area, according to the letter.
“Be kindly reminded,” the letter read, “that the Siamese crocodiles
are regarded by our communities as sacred, and as such have been
venerated since ancient times”.
Sam Han, Cambodian Crocodile Conservation Project manager at FFI, could not be reached yesterday.
“That’s a very sensitive population. There might only be one or two
breeding females there . . . if you build a dam and flood it, it’s going
to flood all of their nesting areas and they won’t breed for a period,”
Eastoe said.
He added that “a huge flood of migrants [would come] looking for new
land around the areas being cleared, and they’re going to be hunting.
So, whatever happens with the dam, it will have a huge impact on that
population – it could wipe them out.”
“Sure, it’s an important valley, but it’s a globally recognised
species, and we’ve got to look at conserving it globally. Unfortunately,
there could be just as much risk in relocating them so we need to do
more research before anyone makes a decision that can impact the Areng
population.”
But Alex Gonzalez-Davidson of Mother Nature Cambodia said that the
NGOs cooperating with government agencies to carry out their work were
acting against the interests of the local people and the environment.
“FFI went back in March, secretly. They thought that the dam would be
imminent,” he said. “The community got really angry one day when they
saw a group of FFI people take a crocodile out of area . . . so they
chased the FFI team out.”
Of the conservation groups, he said “they’re working essentially with the mafia”, referring to officials and the company.
Yesterday, Vana Savoeurn, 26, a villager who is taking part in the
blockade, said they were prepared to fell trees to block the road and
stop the company transporting machinery to the site.
“We will use tractors, motorbikes and fell . . . trees on the road to
block them,” she said. “[If the dam is built] endangered crocodiles,
giant fish and other species will be inundated and die. We’ll lose our
home forever.”
Provincial Governor Bun Leut yesterday called on the community to end
the blockade and allow Sinohydro to complete its assessments at the
site.
“What we need is the final study of the effects and to send the
report to the government, which makes the final decision on the
project,” he said.
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