"More Southeast Asian Dam Disasters Likely Unless Funders Ensure Higher Standards", 13 November 2018

...[O]bservers of the hydropower boom have expressed concern over whether project funders and donor countries...could be doing more to ensure that dam builders and governments adhere to construction and technical standards in order to avert disasters from shoddy or questionable work.

Observers have also raised questions about whether funders and donors could be doing more to ensure that communities affected by dam projects receive enough money and assistance to compensate them for property and livelihoods lost when they are forced to relocate for dam projects.

...[F]oreign development partners and funders, such as regional export-import banks and other loan institutions, can only do so much as stakeholders in the dam-building process.

...But ultimately, dam developers and governments must monitor construction activities...experts say.

...One major obstacle is a lack of strong mechanisms or laws that can ensure accountability for how projects are planned and developed and hold a company accountable for human rights commitments when projects detrimentally affect people and communities.

“That includes accountability not only from governments, but also from project developers and investors,” Maureen Harris of International Rivers....

She noted that dam investors are usually not from the countries that are building the projects, but from others inside or outside Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, Vietnam, China, and Europe.