Unclear Dam Contracts Hurt Locals

Flimsy contracts between the Cambodian government and foreign hydropower firms may be to blame for hurting the local environment and population, says The Phnom Penh Post.

A case study of the Kamchay Dam in the Kampot province by a London based school showed that the damming of the local river resulted in significant decreases in local bamboo and tourism industries. The flooded river made the usual sources of bamboo unreachable and forced many collectors into other, less profitable occupations.

Guiseppina Siciliano, the leader of the study, maintains that contracts may be to blame because of the ambiguity about who is responsible for keeping the dams’ impact to a minimum. Local Cambodian governments often make these contracts because they lack the expertise to run a dam, and as a result the dams go unregulated. Siciliano proposes that Cambodia follows an example set by Ghana and hires foreign companies to maintain the dam.

Another issue with the current system is that locals are almost always kept out of the loop. Assessments aren’t open for the communities to read, and the government and companies ignore the voices of the locals.

While the dams undeniably do some good in providing power to people inside of and far away from the local community, I think there should be some thought about how locals are affected. What’s the point of providing a luxury to a person if by doing so you take away his or her ability to eat? On the other hand, it seemed to me that the creation of the dam would have created jobs other than as a construction worker.