A brief report of the visit to Thmor Bang district in Koh Kong province from April 16 to 18, 2012

MP Son Chhay's team from left to right: SRP activist Mardi Seng; Hay, a local villager who helped arrange the trip to Areng River; Keo Phirum, a SRP provincial councilor; MP Son Chhay; acitivist Theary Seng, and Emily Keo who acted as the note taker.

A view of the Areng River

Fishing on the Areng River. The river has plenty of fish.

A civet caught at night time by local villagers

Close up look of the civet

A viper came out at night time

Bo the owner of a logging truck seen on the right. Bo is allegedly involved in illegal logging in the area

20 April 2012
By MP Son Chhay

After receiving complaints from local communities in a number of communes in Thmor Bang district concerning illegal logging activities in the area and the plan for the construction of a hydro-electric dam on the Chhay Areng River, I took the action of sending two complaint letters to the government: (1) first on October 10, 2011 regarding the illegal logging activities in the areas near Tatai Leu, and within the districts of Reusei Chrum , Thmor Daun, Chupnuap, Chamnar in Thmor Bang district, Koh Kong province, and (2) the second letter was sent on February 27, 2012 to ask the government to stop the hydro-electric Dam project which was given to the company by the name of “Guodian Corporation”, a Chinese state-owned energy company, which is licensed to build the dam. So far the government has not responded to any of the letters.

From April 16 to 18, a team of five people visited the area of Thmor Bang district to investigate the situation of illegal logging activities and also to assess the environmental impact on the area should the hydro-electric dam project go ahead.

During these three days, the team went right up to Chamnar village, located upstream of Chhay Areng River, to meet with people from different villages and to check the condition of the forest and wildlife which will be affected by the planned construction of the dam.

1- Reaction from the local people

The majority of the people affected are indigenous people known as the “Chaung” people who number around 1500 members and who still speak some of their own dialect mixed with the Khmer language. They live in harmony with nature by farming and fishing from the river.

When asked what they thought about the hydro-electric dam project, all of them – including the CPP village chief whom we spoke to – strongly displayed their anger and disapproval, but they are not willing to protest in public for fear of facing abuse from the authority. Local villagers along the Areng River told us that they have been forced out of their land once when the Vietnamese army occupied Cambodia in 1979. They were forced to resettle in Chiphat, Botum Sako district, but about 17 years ago, they have decided to return back to their ancestors’ villages.

River closure held for construction of Cambodian hydropower dam

Cambodia, Dec. 28, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) -- A river closure ceremony of the lower Russei Chrum river was held on Tuesday in Mondol Sima district of Koh Kong province for the construction of Cambodia's 338 megawatt Russei Chrum Krom hydroelectric dam which was invested and was building by China Huadian Corp.

The ceremony was attended by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Chinese ambassador to Cambodia Pan Guangxue, Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh, Industry, Mines and Energy Minister Suy Sem and other high-ranking government officials as well as more than 1,000 residents in the area.

Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Hun Sen highly valued the friendly relations between Cambodia and China, saying that " good cooperation between the governments of the two countries helped greatly to Cambodia's social and economic development and has brought great amount of investment capital to Cambodia."

"The hydropower dam is just one of the numerous achievements under the cooperation between Cambodia and China," Hun Sen said.

He cited the five hydropower dams being constructed by Chinese companies such as Kamchay Hydropower with the capacity of 193 megawatts, Kirirom 3 with the capacity of 18 megawatt, Tatay river hydropower dam with the capacity of 246 megawatt, Atay hydropower dam of 120 megawatt and the Russei Chrum Krom with the capacity of 338 megawatt.

State-owned China Huadian Corp., one of China's biggest power companies, will build the dam with an investment of about 500 million U.S. dollars.

Yun Gongmin, general manager of China Huadian Corporation ( Huadian Group), said that the hydropower dam is the biggest project in Cambodia at the moment.

"I believe that with the strong support from Prime Minister Hun Sen and relevant ministries, the construction of the hydropower dam will be built successfully and it will become another friendship and economic cooperation milestone between China and Cambodia," he added.

The project is a contract of a 35-year build-operate- transfer (BOT) with the local government. The total power generation is about 1.02 billion kwh per year.

The construction of the power plant began in April, 2010. So far 10 percent of the project has completed and it is scheduled to be entirely completed by 2014, said Minister Suy Sem at the ceremony.

Cambodia's electricity generation is underdeveloped, and most power plants use fossil fuels. Cambodia also buys electricity from neighboring Vietnam and Thailand. Many people rely on generators.

China's dams on the Brahmaputra

• India and China have no water-sharing agreements
• Pressure should be put on China to respect international regulations

May 25, 2010
Rediff News

For many months the fact that China was building a dam in Zangmu was known and photographs were circulating on the Internet. Why did India take up the matter with China so warily? Claude Arpi on the dangers of China's dams on the Brahmaputra in Tibet.

In October 2003, I wrote an article Diverting the Brahmaputra: a Declaration of War. At the time, I was told that it was a cheap journalistic gimmick; there was no 'scientific' proof!

My question then was: "What is the rationale for the project?" My answer was that the two most acute problems faced by China were food and water.

Seven years later, these issues are more acute than ever: Water is a rarer commodity in China and agriculture needs more water to sustain the increasing requirements of a wealthier population.

Twenty years ago, this led Chinese experts to look around for water. The answer was not far: Tibet is the water tower of Asia. About 90 per cent of the Tibetan rivers runoff flows downstream to China, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Thus the idea to use Tibet's waters for Northern China was born.

One of the possibilities was to divert waters from the Great Bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo, north of the McMahon Line, by building a mega structure. There are different versions of the project, but the Shuotian Canal is the most elaborated. It is the brainchild of an engineer, Guo Kai, whose life mission is to save China with Tibet's waters.

Guo not only worked closely with experts from the Chinese ministry of water resources and the academy of sciences, but he also made several on-the-spot investigations and surveys, before coming up with the details of his pharaonic scheme.

From the start the Chinese military have shown a lot of interest in Guo's Great Western Route scheme. In November 2005, the Great Western Route project got a boost with the publication of a book entitled Save China Through Water From Tibet, written by a Li Ling; the writer used Guo's theme and arguments.

In November 2006, Chinese Minister for Water Resources Wang Shucheng categorically stated that the proposal was 'unnecessary, unfeasible and unscientific.' He, however, admitted: 'There may be some retired officials that support the plan, but they are not the experts advising the government.' It was not a point blank denial as he admitted that the project existed. As we know, governments change, so do their advisors.

Work begins on Cambodian hydropower project

March 30, 2010
By SOPHENG CHEANG
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - A Chinese company has begun construction of one of several hydroelectric dam projects planned to reduce electricity shortages in Cambodia that environmentalists warn could do more harm than good, an official said Tuesday.

The China National Heavy Machinery Corp. will build the 246-megawatt plant in Koh Kong province, with an investment of $540 million. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday, and the project is due for completion by 2014, said Pich Siyun, chief of the province's Industry Department.

"We have a shortage of electricity now, and I hope that the dam would help reduce people's poverty as the price of electricity would be cheaper," he said.

On Thursday, a ceremony is expected to take place in the capital Phnom Penh for the inauguration of another Chinese-built hydroelectricity project in Koh Kong. Pich Siyun said China Huadian Corp. plans to build a $558 million hydropower plant that would generate up to 338 megawatts.

Koh Kong province is about 130 miles (210 kilometers) west of Phnom Penh.

Electricity generation in Cambodia remains largely underdeveloped, with most power plants using fossil fuels. The impoverished Southeast Asian nation also buys electricity from neighboring Vietnam and Thailand.

Power costs in Cambodia are among the highest in the world, and only about 12 percent of its 14 million people have access to electricity, according to the World Bank.

Electricity prices are also a major source of complaint from investors in Cambodia.

In a bid to meet future electricity demand, the government has identified 21 potential hydroelectric dam sites across the country.

But environmentalists have voiced concerns about the impact those projects will have.

In a 2008 report, the U.S.-based International Rivers Network said "poorly conceived hydropower development could irreparably damage" Cambodia's environment and also extract a social cost.

But Pich Siyun dismissed the concerns, saying the projects were studied thoroughly by all concerned ministries before they were approved by the government.

"Of course there is an impact from the dams once we build, but according to our studies, the income from electricity will really boost our economy," Pich Siyun said.

No specific plans have been announced to export power generated from the hydro schemes -- an approach embraced by Cambodia's cash-strapped neighbor, Laos -- but Prime Minister Hun Sen has previously said that if Cambodia's capacity was adequate it would consider selling electricity to Thailand.

Damned Chinese dam may have caused earthquake killing 80,000 people in China ... and more Chinese dams are planned in Cambodia!

Cars are buried in the debris of collapsed buildings in Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, after an earthquake occurred May 12, 2008 in this picture distributed by China's official Xinhua News Agency.

Dam may have caused deadly China earthquake

January 29, 2009
By Dan Vergano
USA Today Science Fair

China's deadly 2008 earthquake was triggered by rapid damming of a river, suggests a Science magazine report. The May earthquake killed about 80,000 people and, "the first researchers have gone public with evidence that stresses from water piled behind the new Zipingpu Dam may have triggered the failure of the nearby fault," reports the magazine.

Similar to a 1967 dam-triggered earthquake in India, several hundred million tons of water dammed behind the Zipingpu Dam pinpointed stresses on the nearby Beichuan fault, according to geophysical hazards researcher Christian Klose of Columbia University, tipping a waiting-to-happen quake into existence.

Further, a paper in last month’s issue of the Chinese journal Geology and Seismology concludes the damming “clearly affected local seismicity.” Lead author Lei Xinglin of the China Earthquake Administration in Beijing told Science that a firm conclusion is "premature", but he sees a reservoir decline between December 2007 and May 2008 as “major factors associated with the nucleation of the great Sichuan earthquake.”

China to build $540m hydro plant in Cambodia [-Cambodia will pay China in the next 37 years]

BEIJING, June 21 (Reuters) - A Chinese company will build a $540 million hydropower plant in Cambodia's Koh Kong province to help ease a power shortage in the poor southeast Asian nation, China's Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

The Stung Tatay project, to be built by China National Heavy Machinery Corporation, will take five years to complete. The company will operate the plant for 37 years and sell the power to the government, the report said.

After that, ownership of the plant will be transferred to the Cambodian government, it added.

China and Cambodia have close ties, and Beijing was a keen supporter of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime that was toppled by invading Vietnamese troops in 1979.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)