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Mekong ministers want more studies on criticized Lao dam
Dec 8, 2011, 11:52 GMT
Bangkok - Ministers from the Mekong River region on Thursday postponed a decision on a criticized dam project in Laos, concluding that further studies were needed on it and other projects on the river.
The council - made up of water and environment ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam - agreed to approach Japan and other international development partners to conduct further studies.
The call for further research on the sustainable development of the Mekong, South-East Asia's longest waterway, was made at the council's annual meeting in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
The meeting was originally expected to decide the fate of a 3.8-billion-dollar hydroelectric plant on the Mekong in northern Laos' Xayaburi province, which environmentalists have warned could adversely affect the livelihoods of 2 million people dependent on the river for fishing and growing crops.
'Further study will provide a more complete picture for the four countries to be able to further discuss the development and management of their shared resources,' council chairman Lim Kean Hor said.
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