Stakeholders Question Farness of MRC’s Impact Assessment for Laos’ Luangprabang Dam
Stakeholders are concerned about the legitimacy of the multinational approval process for Laos’ Luangprabang hydropower project, after recommendations to lower the environmental impact were raised, but few were accepted during a meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) last week in Vientiane.
The meeting was held in the Lao capital Nov. 5 and 6, during which the commission issued reports on the six-month prior consultation process for the dam project.
“I think during the six-month environmental impact assessment, [the dam developer] won’t do it publicly, so we are not sure if they will even take our recommendations into consideration,” said Hannarong Yaowalert, president of Thailand’s Foundation for Integrated Water Management in an interview with RFA’s Lao Service.
