The premier said society inevitably exacts a toll on the environment, making a bizarre allusion to proposed taxes on carbon emissions in other countries.
"Only the wind that we breathe comes without a fee, but in other countries, they have to pay," he said.
"Even with farts, there is a tax, and though they do not say the tax comes from farts, it is implied when they talk about the value of biodiversity."
Work begins on dam project in Koh Kong, Cambodia
Thursday, 13 January 2011
By :Cheang Sokha and Summer Walker, Phnom Penh Post
PRIME
Minister Hun Sen yesterday presided over the groundbreaking of the
Stung Tatay hydroelectric dam project in Koh Kong province, describing
Koh Kong as "a battery province" that could help sate the country's
rising energy needs.
In his speech, the premier appealed to the
private sector to invest in transmission lines to connect Stung Tatay
and other dams to the power grid in Koh Kong province, encouraging
involvement from both local and Chinese companies.
"We appeal
to Chinese companies to invest in electric transmission lines, so that
electricity can be connected to every place [nationwide]," Hun Sen
said.
"We have electricity, so we need transmission lines."
He said private investment was necessary because it is difficult for the government to secure loans from other countries.
The
246-megawatt Stung Tatay dam, which is being built by China National
Heavy Machinery Co Ltd at a cost of US$540 million, is the second of
four hydropower dams planned for the province to begin construction.
The natural flow of the river will be significantly disturbed.
On
December 28, Hun Sen presided over the groundbreaking of the
338-megawatt Stung Russey Chrum Krom project in Koh Kong, which is
being built by China Huadian Corporation.
The projects have
drawn criticism from environmentalists, who have raised concerns about
the impact the dams could have on Southern Cardamom's Protected Forest
and the livlihoods of local residents.
Ame Trandem, Mekong
Campaigner for the NGO International Rivers, said yesterday that the
dams pose a major risk to "more than 2,000 hectares of evergreen forest
and animal habitat which are expected to be inundated by the dam's
reservoir". She added that the "natural flow of the river will be
significantly disturbed".
Trandem said there has already been
disruption and water pollution from the influx of construction workers
to the area and called for construction to stop "until a proper
environmental mitigation plan is developed and carefully implemented".
Chhith
Sam Ath, executive director of the NGO Forum, yesterday called for a
committee of community leaders, local authorities, civil society,
company representatives, and relevant ministries to be formed in a bid
to increase transparency around dam projects and include local groups
in decision making.
Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony
for the Stung Russey Chrum Krom project, however, Hun Sen lashed out at
critics of the dams, saying environmental impacts were a natural
consequence of economic progress.
"Is there any development that
happens without an impact on the environment and natural resources?
Please give us a proper answer," Hun Sen said.
The premier said
society inevitably exacts a toll on the environment, making a bizarre
allusion to proposed taxes on carbon emissions in other countries.
"Only the wind that we breathe comes without a fee, but in other countries, they have to pay," he said.
"Even
with farts, there is a tax, and though they do not say the tax comes
from farts, it is implied when they talk about the value of
biodiversity."
3 comments:
Hun Sen is acting more like Sihanouk in his heyday believing that his power base can never be shaken. When he falls, it will be a terrible fall!
Transparency and discussion among all parties concerned to minimize the project's damaging effects on the environment are the best way to proceed with any economic development.
The whole area could be preserved and turned into a national park for visitors and the income generated used properly to buy electricity instead of rushing into a project without a proper environmental study which should be done by an independent group of experts and not by the Chinese or the government themselves due to the apparent conflict of interest.
This area should never be touched!
This is like selling your own ancestor's treasure for a quick drink in a bar.
Of course, the Chinese wants to build dams there; they will reap much more benefit than the Cambodians.
Hun Sen's decision advised by his small pack of self-promoting and self-enriching people like Sok An and the like will destroy for ever Cambodia's beautiful rivers, forests and mountains.
Your comparative examples are absurd and can only come from a mouth of a leader whose learning and knowledge are very low and that is why you can't listen to reason when reason goes opposite to your interest even though it is for the long-term wellbeing of Cambodia and her people.
Hun Sen, if you have a conscience, down the road you will live to regret your decision. It is too bad Cambodian people are not empowered, strong and knowledgeable enough to demand that you reconsider your decision or face the defeat in 2013 election.
You certainly shall be remembered in history among other bad acts as a big monster that destroys the environment in Cambodia for your fast-speed development policies.
In the same manner as Pol Pot is remembered for his policies that destroyed Cambodian human resources, you shall be remembered as a destroyer of Cambodian natural resources and environment.
Pissed off
Hun Sen is acting more like Sihanouk in his heyday believing that his power base can never be shaken. When he falls, it will be a terrible fall!
Transparency and discussion among all parties concerned to minimize the project's damaging effects on the environment are the best way to proceed with any economic development.
The whole area could be preserved and turned into a national park for visitors and the income generated used properly to buy electricity instead of rushing into a project without a proper environmental study which should be done by an independent group of experts and not by the Chinese or the government themselves due to the apparent conflict of interest.
This area should never be touched!
This is like selling your own ancestor's treasure for a quick drink in a bar.
Of course, the Chinese wants to build dams there; they will reap much more benefit than the Cambodians.
Hun Sen's decision advised by his small pack of self-promoting and self-enriching people like Sok An and the like will destroy for ever Cambodia's beautiful rivers, forests and mountains.
Your comparative examples are absurd and can only come from a mouth of a leader whose learning and knowledge are very low and that is why you can't listen to reason when reason goes opposite to your interest even though it is for the long-term wellbeing of Cambodia and her people.
Hun Sen, if you have a conscience, down the road you will live to regret your decision. It is too bad Cambodian people are not empowered, strong and knowledgeable enough to demand that you reconsider your decision or face the defeat in 2013 election.
You certainly shall be remembered in history among other bad acts as a big monster that destroys the environment in Cambodia for your fast-speed development policies.
In the same manner as Pol Pot is remembered for his policies that destroyed Cambodian human resources, you shall be remembered as a destroyer of Cambodian natural resources and environment.
Pissed off
cambodia needs electricity and lots of it. it's not like we're going to dam the whole cardamom mountains, if you look on cambodia map, it's just a small fraction of the mountains that cambodia is allowed to build dam, you know. so, stop exaggerating that the dam can destroy the beautiful cardamom mountains of cambodia, it won't, really!
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