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Civil society organizations and communities urged relevant parties, especially Royal Group of Companies, to conduct further environmental and social impact assessment studies relating to a planned hydropower dam project on the Srepok River in northeastern Cambodia.
NGO Forum on Cambodia and Secretariat of the River Coalition of Cambodia (RCC), including multi-stakeholders, held dialogue on February 6 in Phnom Penh to review the environmental impact assessment report on Lower Srepok 3 hydropower dam in Mondulkiri province.
The consultant found major gaps, such as inconsistent baseline and final studies, unclear impact assessments, no clear estimate of affected or relocated households, weak legal processes for cultural and religious sites, and undefined long-term institutional responsibilities.
The build-operate-transfer project has an unclear impact on waterways and transportation routes. The previous EIA studied the impact of a 300 megawatt dam. However, the capacity of the latest project has been increased to 376 megawatts with no clear explanation provided. Hence, the groups’ call for additional studies.
“We don’t know how many red-dirt roads will be flooded and navigation routes will be obstructed. We need to study whether there are economic impacts on what has been built and impact on the future of waterways,” said Soeung Saroeun, executive director of the NGO Forum.
Cambodia is developing rapidly, as well as the expansion of waterway transportation connecting the Techo Funan channel.
“There would be negative impacts [communities] if the company has failed to study additional EIA,” Saroeun said.
CG Sustainable, which conducted the EIA, Royal Group, as well as the Environment, and Mine and Energy ministries did not attend the dialogue despite being invited, he added.
The 376-megawatt hydropower project, which now costs $900.2 million, over 10 times more than the previous $83 million price tag, would be the 21st dam in the 3S Basin (Sesan, Srepok, and Sekong rivers)—key Mekong tributaries that contribute roughly 20% of the river’s annual flow and supports millions through fishery and farming activities.
Almost 4,270 families facing displacement in Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri from the dam’s nearly 70,000-hectare planned reservoir are being pushed – some say even intimidated – to accept what they call an unjust resettlement deal.
The project is led by Royal Group Power, which has teamed up with Chinese technical partners Huaneng Hydrolancang International Energy Co. and PowerChina Huadong Engineering Co., and is moving forward after years of delay. The same Royal Group–Huaneng partnership built the controversial Lower Sesan 2 dam, which conservationists say displaced hundreds of families and disrupted the Mekong’s natural flow.
A resident of Nang Bour village, Seang Sokheng, who attended the dialogue, said the discussion about compensation is unclear.
“We were asked to share our opinions, but we still don’t clearly understand the compensation. They only said compensation would be provided, but we don’t know who will handle the settlement,” she said.
She said that the housing arrangements at the relocation site have not been officially disclosed. Some people said the plots would measure 25-by-50 meters, along with five hectares of farmland. However, she noted that many residents currently own more than 10 hectares of farmland and are not satisfied with receiving smaller plots.
“Residents in my village don’t want to relocate because moving to the new site would make them poorer,” Sokheng said.
Leang Bunleap, director of 3S Rivers Protection Network, who attended the meeting, opined that the consultations were incomplete because feedback from stakeholders, including civil society groups which were submitted to relevant ministries, was not addressed or incorporated.
“The compensation policy is not clearly defined, creating a situation where some affected people may receive compensation while others may not, particularly those who own 30 to 40 hectares of land. It is also unclear how much compensation they will receive,” Bunleap said.
He noticed that this approach could set a bad precedent for future large-scale development projects, such as mining, land concessions, or other hydropower dams. It leaves villagers feeling discouraged and fearful, believing that even if consultations are conducted, the compensation will likely be inadequate.
Deputy Secretary General of the Cambodia National Mekong Committee (MRC) Botkosal Watt, who attended the meeting, could not be reached for comment. The same with Environment Ministry spokesperson Kvay Atitya.
A CG Sustainable representative declined to comment as he was in a meeting.
