ABC Radio Australia
In an unprecedented move more than 15-thousand people from countries along the Mekong River system have signed a petition urging governments to abandon plans for hydropower along the river's mainstream.
There are 11 dams proposed along the lower Mekong, 7 in Laos, 2 at the Laos Thailand border and another 2 in Cambodia. The dilemma facing the region is that while the 11 dams will create hydropower energy that'll increase the countries economic potential, the dams could also destroy the fisheries and other aquatic wildlife, ruining the lives of the thousands of people who depend on the Mekong for their day to day existence and income.
Presenter: Claudette Werden
Speaker: Premrudee Daoroung, co founder Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance
DAOROUNG : We spent about 30 minutes to discuss the issues, the Prime Minister recognised the issues of the Mekong and also the dam and he said that the Thai government and he himself had been monitoring the situation but he didn't really have the opinion towards the hydropower dam yet but he has the opinion on the other projects, for example the water diversion from the Mekong to north-eastern Thailand which he believes there should be a better way to find water for south-eastern Thailand.
WERDEN: So were you happy with his response?
DAOROUNG: I do agree with the Prime Minister that the government needs to have more information, in general I think we're grateful the government and the Prime Minister spent more than 30 minutes with us to discuss the issues in a bit more detail but we think we should have more chance to monitor or follow up what we talked to him.
WERDEN: Now tell me how were you able to gather the 15-thousand signatures?
DAOROUNG: Yes it's been 3 months and we have printed postcards in three languages, Thai, Cambodian and English, so for us, even though the 16-thousand 380 signatures that we have got now might not look too big compared to the population of the Mekong but looking at the process it's a very big work and this was the very first time this news has reached the people, even the people along the Mekong and also the city people who never heard about this dam issue before.
WERDEN: So you're saying basically that a lot of people when you were approaching them to sign the petition had no idea the dams were being built?
DAOROUNG: Most of the people don't know about the 11 proposed dams but the impressive thing is that 95per cent of the people have listened to us, they were willing to sign, willing to support, so for us it's a good, good response and that as I mentioned before is a process because we all need to understand what's going on before we can support.
There are 11 dams proposed along the lower Mekong, 7 in Laos, 2 at the Laos Thailand border and another 2 in Cambodia. The dilemma facing the region is that while the 11 dams will create hydropower energy that'll increase the countries economic potential, the dams could also destroy the fisheries and other aquatic wildlife, ruining the lives of the thousands of people who depend on the Mekong for their day to day existence and income.
Presenter: Claudette Werden
Speaker: Premrudee Daoroung, co founder Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance
DAOROUNG : We spent about 30 minutes to discuss the issues, the Prime Minister recognised the issues of the Mekong and also the dam and he said that the Thai government and he himself had been monitoring the situation but he didn't really have the opinion towards the hydropower dam yet but he has the opinion on the other projects, for example the water diversion from the Mekong to north-eastern Thailand which he believes there should be a better way to find water for south-eastern Thailand.
WERDEN: So were you happy with his response?
DAOROUNG: I do agree with the Prime Minister that the government needs to have more information, in general I think we're grateful the government and the Prime Minister spent more than 30 minutes with us to discuss the issues in a bit more detail but we think we should have more chance to monitor or follow up what we talked to him.
WERDEN: Now tell me how were you able to gather the 15-thousand signatures?
DAOROUNG: Yes it's been 3 months and we have printed postcards in three languages, Thai, Cambodian and English, so for us, even though the 16-thousand 380 signatures that we have got now might not look too big compared to the population of the Mekong but looking at the process it's a very big work and this was the very first time this news has reached the people, even the people along the Mekong and also the city people who never heard about this dam issue before.
WERDEN: So you're saying basically that a lot of people when you were approaching them to sign the petition had no idea the dams were being built?
DAOROUNG: Most of the people don't know about the 11 proposed dams but the impressive thing is that 95per cent of the people have listened to us, they were willing to sign, willing to support, so for us it's a good, good response and that as I mentioned before is a process because we all need to understand what's going on before we can support.
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