{"id":15798,"date":"2021-01-29T23:38:51","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T23:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=156380"},"modified":"2021-01-29T23:38:51","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T23:38:51","slug":"lao-village-farmland-paddies-destroyed-by-work-on-lao-china-railway-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/29\/lao-village-farmland-paddies-destroyed-by-work-on-lao-china-railway-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Lao Village Farmland, Paddies Destroyed by Work on Lao-China Railway Line"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dozens of families in a village in Oudomoxay province in northwestern Laos have been left without use of their farmland after a Chinese company pushed soil from a railway construction site onto farm plots, gardens, and irrigation systems, sources in the village say.<\/p>\n

The company blamed for the damage, the China Railway Engineering Group, is subcontracted to clear land and build track along stretches of a high-speed rail line being built to connect China with Laos and other Southeast Asian countries as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping\u2019s massive Belt and Road Initiative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe company bulldozed and pushed soil onto our farmlands and gardens, though,\u201d one farmer from Koulong village in the province\u2019s Namo district told RFA\u2019s Lao Service this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd though they came to collect information about the damage, they haven\u2019t done anything yet to help us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe farmers have now filed a complaint with the China Railway Engineering Group, requesting compensation and a solution to the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Efforts to contact the Chinese construction firm for comment were unsuccessful, but an official of Oudomxay\u2019s Public Works and Transport Department confirmed that the section of railway being built passes through the affected farmland.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government will pay compensation for all damages,\u201d the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

The Lao-China railway link, on which work began in December 2016, is being touted as a boon for the landlocked nation of nearly 7 million people because it is expected to lower the cost of exports and consumer goods while boosting socioeconomic development.<\/p>\n

A total of 1,233 households in Oudomxay province have been affected so far by the Chinese-backed project, with 133 billion kip (U.S. $14 million) already paid out in compensation.<\/p>\n

‘A project we can’t oppose’<\/strong><\/p>\n

In southern Laos, 18 families in Junla village in Sekong province have meanwhile received what they call inadequate compensation for at least 10 hectares of farmland lost to the Houay Lamphanh Lower Dam Project in the province\u2019s Thateng district.<\/p>\n

The amounts paid were between 5 million kip ($536) and 10 million kip ($1,072) per hectare of land, depending on far the land was from the area\u2019s main road, one village landowner told RFA on Jan. 26.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t receive the amount we expected,\u201d the landowner said, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor land near the road, we had expected to receive an amount between 25 million kip ($2,680) and 30 million kip ($3,216) per hectare. And for land far away from the road, it should have been 15 million kip ($1,608),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Villagers had grown rice, coffee, cassava, and vegetables on the land that was taken from them, the landowner said, adding that without adequate compensation, they will be unable to pay land of the same size anywhere else.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not satisfied with the amount we were given [by provincial authorities],\u201d another local villager said, adding, \u201cBut we\u2019re not allowed to show our dissatisfaction. This is a government project that we can\u2019t oppose.\u201d<\/p>\n

The compensation paid was fair, though, because the affected families had no permanent title to their land, an official from Sekong province\u2019 Natural Resources and Environment Department told RFA, adding, \u201cThese 18 families have not been displaced.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey only lost the land for which they had no title, so we calculated their losses\u2014including the loss of crops and fruit trees\u2014based on [the government\u2019s] Decree 84 concerning appropriate levels of land compensation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

These amounts were too low, compared to market prices, and this is why the landowners are not happy,\u201d said a member of an NGO working with local residents on land issues. \u201cAlso, the landowners should have had an opportunity to negotiate the prices with the dam developer and the authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe compensation shouldn\u2019t be set by only one side,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Controversial dams<\/strong><\/p>\n

Construction of the 15-MW Houay Lamphanh Lower Dam, a joint venture between two Lao companies built by the China Gezhouba Group near Lavilamphanh village in Sekong\u2019s Lanam district, was completed in December, with the power now being generated sold for domestic use.<\/p>\n

Laos has built dozens of hydropower dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries, with ultimate plans for scores more, hoping to export most of the electricity they generate to other countries in the region.<\/p>\n

Though the Lao government sees power generation as a way to boost the country\u2019s economy, the projects are controversial because of their environmental impact, displacement of villagers without adequate compensation, and questionable financial and power-demand arrangements.<\/p>\n

Reported by RFA\u2019s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dozens of families in a village in Oudomoxay province in northwestern Laos have been left without use of their farmland after a Chinese company pushed soil from a\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15798"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15798"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15799,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15798\/revisions\/15799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}