"Nearly 500 Families to be Displaced This Month for Laos' Fifth Mekong River Dam", 12 July 2019

A new Mekong river dam in Laos' Luang Prabang province will displace up to 465 families...the latest in the continuing trend of hydropower projects forcing villagers to relocate all over the country.

...According to the official, plans for compensation are not complete. Authorities are still collecting information about losses each family will incur because of the displacement. There has been no official statement on when compensation payments would be ready.

An official of Chomphet district, who requested anonymity, said the entire dam project will affect a total of 1,077 families. Including the 465 families in Chomphet, 72 families in Luang Prabang's Pak Ou district, 520 families in Oudomxay province's Nga district, and 20 families in Xayaburi province's Hongsa district also stand to be displaced as the project continues.

When complete, the dam will have displaced approximately 4,600 people.

..."The Secretariat has until today not received any official notification or information from the Lao government of its intention to undertake the prior consultation process for the said project yet," said a spokesperson for the Secretariat of the Mekong River Commission (MRC)....