Bokeo families relocate to make way for dam
Resettlement of communities from areas of the Nam Tha 1 hydropower project is 87 percent complete, with displaced families in Bokeo province having been moved to a new location. Assistant Managing Director of Electricite du Laos Mr Vilaphone Visounnarath, who is Head of the Resettlement Management Office, told Vientiane Times about the progress of the programme during a media visit to the project on September 15. The 168MW dam on the Nam Tha River extends into Luang Namtha province’s Nalae district and Bokeo province’s Pha-odom district. The dam will create a reservoir of 64 square kilometres to store about 17.55 billion cubic metres of water, and will flood 37 villages in the two districts. Mr Vilaphone said 10 villages of more than 3,100 inhabitants in Pha-odom district have moved to new accommodation in Hadmuak village in the same district, which has infrastructure such as roads, water, electricity, schools, a temple and a health facility in place.
