No authority to prevent new Mekong River projects: MRC

The Mekong River Commission does not have the authority to stop projects even if they have trans-boundary effects, delegates to the fourth Green Mekong Forum said on 13 June, while the Thai Irrigation Department presented a water diversion project to fight poverty. If the MRC member states – Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam – plan to construct a development project that will affect the Mekong directly, they are supposed to conduct prior consultation with other member states under the Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement.