Dam in Laos 'too big a risk'

Dam in Laos 'too big a risk'

BANGKOK (AFP): The construction of a US$1.5-billion dam in Laos would threaten the livelihood of the country's people and their government, an environmental research group warned here yesterday.

Within weeks the World Bank is expected to decide whether to give outline approval to the Nam Theun 2 dam project, which would lead to the flooding of 450 square kilometers of depleted forests and flatlands to generate up to 900 megawatts of electricity.

The group Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance, which has long been critical of the project, called on the World Bank yesterday not to go ahead with the deal. It believes the financial burden placed on Laos would cripple the tiny country.

The dam would stand on the Nam Theun river in central Laos, on the remote Nakai plateau once crossed by the Ho Chi Minh trail.