{"id":74251,"date":"2020-05-13T15:01:13","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T07:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=74251"},"modified":"2020-05-13T15:01:51","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T07:01:51","slug":"laos-to-press-ahead-with-new-dam-its-third-on-mekong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=74251","title":{"rendered":"Laos to press ahead with new dam, its third on Mekong"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bssnews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Laos-to-press-ahead-with-destructive-new-dam-on-Mekong.jpg\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.bssnews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Laos-to-press-ahead-with-destructive-new-dam-on-Mekong.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>BANGKOK, May 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) &#8212; Environmentalists have criticised Laos for pressing ahead with plans for another dam on the Mekong River, a waterway already strangled by hydropower schemes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The flow of the Mekong, Southeast Asia\u2019s longest river, is interrupted by a cascade of dams in China \u2014 where it is called the Lancang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two downstream dams \u2014 the Xayaburi and Don Sahong \u2014 have been built in Laos, which wants to construct seven more as it strives to live up to its billing as the \u201cBattery of Asia\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Water levels have dropped to record lows over the last year, exposing rocks and killing fish, a phenomenon blamed by villagers in Thailand and Laos on the operations of dams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Villagers along the Mekong in Laos and Thailand say their fish catch has dwindled as the dams have come online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Monday, Laos\u2019 communist government submitted proposals for the Sanakham dam \u2014 close to the northeastern border with Thailand \u2014 to the Mekong River Commission (MRC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The MRC is a dam consultation body for Mekong nations, but has been accused of being toothless in stopping river projects sponsored by governments and big business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The consultation process is in fact a \u201crubber stamp\u201d to get work started on the Sanakham this year in time for a 2028 completion, according to International Rivers, a key campaign group against damming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat the Mekong needs immediately is the moratorium on large-scale hydropower dams\u2026 not more destructive dams that will benefit a few at the expense of communities in the Mekong basin,\u201d Paiporn Deetes of International Rivers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The MRC says the Sanakham dam consultation includes an environmental impact assessment on the waterway and its communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Landlocked Laos has turned to billion-dollar hydropower schemes for investment, hoping to sell the electricity for a profit to its neighbours as well as provide energy to its remote populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Mekong feeds around 60 million people. &#8212; NNN-AGENCIES<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BANGKOK, May 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) &#8212; Environmentalists have criticised Laos for pressing ahead with plans for another dam on the Mekong River, a waterway already strangled by hydropower schemes. The flow of the Mekong, Southeast Asia\u2019s longest river, is interrupted by a cascade of dams in China \u2014 where it is called the Lancang. Two downstream [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":74253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[215],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74251"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/74253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}