Khmer Times —
Thailand has yet to start a stage of Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreements (PNPCA) for Lao’s newest run-of-river Sanakham Dam due to insufficient information from the Chinese project developer, the Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR) has revealed.
Although MRC requires the PNPCA, there is no need for country members including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam to have a consensus agreement. The project could be carried out by Laos even if an objection is made.
ONWR’s secretary-general Surasri Kidtimonton said Thailand has said that the project needs to supply sufficient and updated information so as to best evaluate its impact on nearby communities and on the water system’s ecology before a decision can be made to set up a public hearing process.
“We would like to make it clear to the public that a PNPCA process has yet to begin in Thailand. We will not organise it until we have more updated information on the project,” Mr Surasri said. “All the information we have currently is not enough. It lacks many key elements and cannot answer our concerns, especially regarding environmental impacts.”