Fears linger for livelihoods as new villages being built for Lao victims may not be suitable for agriculture THE VICTIMS of the Xi Pian-Xe Namnoi Dam collapse may not be able to return to their normal lives any time soon because the locations of their new villages and farmlands are unsuitable for living and farming.
Some of the people affected by the deadly hydropower-dam disaster in Attapeu province of southern Laos were recently compensated for the loss of family members.
So they are finding new land for us on higher ground to rebuild and to farm and the dam companies are building the houses for us,” Wan said.
“Even though the village construction is slower than planned, we can now see where our village will be and where we can farm because the site has already been cleared and construction is now progressing.” Sanamxay district chief Bounhome Phommasane told ABC Laos News report in October that every displaced resident would be able to move into five newly built villages the following month.
If we move into the new village, we will have to live in an unfamiliar arid environment where we cannot grow rice and will find it very difficult to find clean water,” he said.
The authorities will dig groundwater wells to provide clean water for the villagers, Wan was told.
Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said the main priority for the government was to assist the affected people in every way so they could get back to their normal lives.
The Prime Minister’s Office last Friday issued an order directing SK Engineering and Construction, the South Korean dam construction company, and Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Power Co, the dam operator, to pay US$10,000 (Bt320,000) for each of the 71 people officially accounted for as deceased or missing to their families.
Many said $10,000 was a large sum, but for the disaster victims who had lost family members and all their possessions, the amount was far from enough to rebuild their lives.
The affected people will have to wait until the government and dam companies can agree on the amount, the source said.