“Loss of faith along the Ou river”, 27 March 2020

… The Nam Ou 1 hydropower dam was inaugurated in November 2019. It flooded the section of the Ou river – known locally as the Nam Ou – that flows past the ethnic Lue and Khmu villages of Lat Tha Hae, Pak Jaek and Huay Lo, about 40km upstream from the city of Luang Prabang. With a total capacity of 180 megawatts, Nam Ou 1 is the last in a seven-dam cascade being built on the Ou by China’s Sinohydro Corporation. The project is a joint venture with the Lao state electricity corporation, Électricité du Laos (EDL), which holds a 15% stake in the project. All electricity generated by the Nam Ou dams will be sold to EDL.

As a key part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Laos, the Lao government has granted the Chinese enterprise planning and development rights over the entire Ou river basin. The dams will permanently alter the ecosystem of the country’s longest Mekong tributary, but limited information is publicly available, and few Lao citizens know the details of the project…

 “When they closed the dam gates on 21 November, many families brought fishing nets here with high hopes, but only a few caught anything. Today, we can only find small fish,” said Muansy quietly. “When the fish disappeared, the local ferry was abandoned and we began to experience the opposite of the prosperity we had been promised.”…

… “Since the dam was built, we’ve lost our riverbank gardens. We used to plant enough vegetables for our family to eat and to share with our brothers and sisters. Now we have to buy them, and the vegetable seller only comes every few days.” Chansi [a Lue woman] spoke…

… “When we heard news of the dam, I thought we’d get a better life, but it’s been the opposite. Before we didn’t need much money, but now we have to buy everything. I don’t like the new resettlement homes that were built here by the company. The quality is not good, and the wood is soft. I miss my old home. It was built solidly from good wood. Some of our neighbours took compensation money to build their own homes, but the expense was more than the money received. Whose responsibility is it to take care of this – the company’s or the government’s?” [residents of Huay Lo village said]…