PRIME MINISTER HUN SEN AND THE WORST ECOLOGICAL DISASTER WHEN “THE HEART OF THE TONLE SAP”...

8/7/2019 PRIME MINISTER HUN SEN AND THE WORST ECOLOGICAL DISASTER WHEN THE HEART OF THE TONLE SAP CEASE

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PRIME MINISTER HUN SEN AND THE WORST ECOLOGICAL

DISASTER WHEN THE HEART OF THE TONLE SAP CEASES

TO BEATA condensed English version from www.vietecology.org by NGO THE VINH, M.D.

PM HUN SEN AND MEKONG DAMS

After the Ayeyawady-Chao Praya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS)Summit on 11/17/2010 in Phnom Penh, Prime Minister Hun Sen again dismissed allconcerns about the impacts of the hydroelectric dams located upstream the Mekong.

He asserted that the cycle of floods and droughts was the result of climate changeand carbon emissions that had nothing to do with the series of hydroelectric dams inChina. (1)

That statement from one of the four powerful national leaders in the Lower Mekong,

could not fail but astound the activists and ecological organizations that, for all thoseyears, have shown their commitment to save the fragile and gradually degradingecology of the Mekong. This article offers an overall view of the situation along with

his analysis of Prime Minister Hun Sens recent statement.

MAINLAND CHINA AS DOMINANT FACTOR

In the aftermath of the cold war, China swung open her door to the outside world.

With the American predominance receding from Southeast Asia, China becomes the

de facto active new player with farreaching influence over the whole of the GreaterMekong Subregion.

Though the regions major actor, China consistently refuses to join the Mekong Rive r

Commission. This country is facing a set of difficult challenges: 1) a dwindling globaloil supply, 2) an insatiable thirst for energy source, 3) an immediate need to

increase the annual output of electricity from 5 to 6% in order to meet its demand of

economic development. Consequently, China is set on its course to develop the

abundant potential for hydro -electricity derived from her rivers including theMekong.

In addition to the construction of the series of 14 dams of the Yunnan Cascades on

the Mekong, China is actively building dams in Asia like:

On the Irrawaddy River: Since the end of 2007, Beijing has started the construction

of the largest hydroelectric dam, Myitsone, in Myanmar. As reported by the stateowned newspaper, The New Light of Myan mar, since May of 2007, the Burmese

Government has approved a project to build seven hydroelectric dams on the

Irrawaddy River with a combined total estimated output of 13,360 MW. This is ajoint venture between the China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) and Burmas


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Ministry of Electric Power No. 1.

On the Tibetan High Plateau: All the major rivers in Asia originate from the Tibetan

High Plateau. In the East, besides the Yellow and the Yangtze Rivers that flow withinthe national boundaries of China, on e must mention three others: the Mekong,

Irrawaddy, and Salween. To the West and Southwest, there are the: Indus, Sutlej

and YarlungZangpo.

Beijing has confirmed that it will build the first dam on the YarlungZangpo orBrahmaputra, also known as the the highest river in the world, in the Himalayas.

This river brings life sustaining water to millions of Indians. The Chinese experts also

disclosed a plan to build 4 more dams in the valley lying between the Sangro andJiacha districts.

India has expressed its reservations that the planned construction of the Chinese

dams will directly impact the flow of the Brahmaputra. This River provides IndiasNortheast provinces with the water needed for their agriculture and industries. A

senior diplomat of India, Mr. Ananth Krishnan, believes that even though this

unchecked building of dams is confined to within the Chinese borders, it wouldunavoidably cast a dark cloud over Chinas relationship with the countries

downstream. He went on to make this comparison: India is just as alarmed aboutdams on the YarlungZangbo as Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia are about

Chinas dams on the Mekong River in Yunnan.

On his part, the Dalai Lama expressed on many occasions his deep concern aboutChinas energy policy. He maintains that the political solution for Tibet can be

relegated to the backburner for 5 to 10 years. Not the ecology issues. He appeals to

the international community, including the United States, to focus its attention onthe pressing ecological issues that threaten the Tibet High Plateau stemming from

Chinas programs of deforestation, dam construction, mine exploitation Some of

those issues include: pollution and degradation of the environment. (2)Commenting on the Chinese plans to exploit the Mek ong, Tyson Roberts of the

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (USA) remarked: The construction ofhydroelectric dams, use of the river as as a navigation channel, and heavy

commercial shipping will eventually asphyxiate the Mekong River. The exploitat ion

steps China undertook will result in the degradation of the ecology and catastrophicpollution causing the Mekong to die a gradual death as it is the case with the

Yangtze and other big rivers of China

The Chinese claimed that the water coming from the Lancang Jiang only amounts to13.5% of the average annual discharge of the Mekong into the East Sea. Therefore,

the dams in Yunnan only bear minimal impacts on the rivers downstream. However,according to Milton Osborne who is a respected expert on Sou theast Asia and authorof many books on the Mekong River: The Mekong: Turbulent Past, Uncertain

Future and River Road to China, the current flow of the Lancang Jiang during the

Dry Season at certain sections contributes up to 40% of the Mekongs water capacity about three times the figures of 13.5% cited by China.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has more than once simply echoes and reinforces theChinese pro-dam position to mislead the public, that the detrimental impacts of the

series of dams in the Yunnan Cascades are non-existent.


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THE THIRD POLE AND GLOBAL WARMING

The ice cap in the Himalayas ranks third in size after the North and South Poles. For

that reason, people sometimes refer to it as the Third Pole. Lonnie Thompson,glaciologist at Ohio State University, calls this ice cap: Asias freshwater bank

account because it is a lockbox of snow and glacial ice that supplies fresh water to

nearly a third of worlds people. (3)

The World Wide Fund warns that, due to global warming, the ice cap on theHimalayas may shrink at the rapid rate of 10 to 15 meters per year. Consequently,

hundreds of millions of people that depend on the water coming from rivers that

receive their water from this ice cap may experience water shortage.

In the immediate short term, the river flow will sharply increase on account of the

fast melting down of the ice cap. But as explained by Jennifer Morgan, Director ofNatures Global Climate Change Programme, the situation will reverse itself in the

following few decades. The i ce cap that feeds water to the seven major rivers in

Asia, including the Mekong, will eventually be exhausted resulting in dangerously lowwater levels in all those rivers.

The Mekong receives its water from upstream. When a water shortage occurs, it is

reasonable to expect that any water coming from the Tibetan High Plateau will be

retained in the series of dams of the Yunnan Cascades. In such an event, a waterpenury afflicting the river sections downstream would appear all but unavoidable.

GREAT LAKE AS A BEATING HEART OF CAMBODIA

It is common knowledge that the Heart of the Tonle Sap Lake can only beat when

the Mekong River reverses its course during the Rainy Season. This phenomenon isa natural wonder peculiar to Cambodia. During the Dry Seaso n the lake dries up and

measures only 2,500 km2. However, with the start of the Rainy Season, lasting fromMay to September, the water level of the Mekong rises forcing the Tonle Sap River

to reverse its course and flow into the Tonle Sap Lake causing its water level to swell

from 8 to 10 meters and overflow its banks. Consequently, the lakes area expandsto almost five times its size or to 12,000 km2.

The flooded forests of the Tonle Sap Lake se rve as the breeding grounds that

supply Cambodia with an enormous quantity of food. It consists mainly of fish thataccounts for 60% of the fish consumed in the country. The Mekong River and Tonle

Sap Lake are the birthplace of the ancient as well as modern Khmer civilization.Regrettably, the survival of the Tonle Sap Lake itself is in doubt when nefariousimpacts began to be felt with the construction of the dams in Yunnan.

Nevertheless, in PM Hun Sens opinion, there is no reason for people to be alarmed.In June, 2005, during an address at a ceremony to release breeding fish into a lake

in the eastern part of the country, Mr. Hun Sen expressed his satisfaction with theexisting way the Mekong was being exploited. He declared: There is no cause for

concern. Before boarding the plane to attend the Summit Meeting in Kunming, Mr.


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Hun Sen publicly voiced his almost unconditional support for Chinas exploitationplan of the Mekong River in spite of desperate warnings from alarmed expert

environmentalists. Outdoing himself, Mr. Hun Sen added: Critics raised th ese issues

merely to show they pay attention to the environment. At times, they use theirobjections to impede the cooperation the six countries should offer each other.

(Phnom Penh, AFP, 6/29/05)

Prince Sihanouk shows that he holds a more informed vie w. In November, 1993, he

issued a royal decree classifying the Tonle Sap Lake as Multiple Use ProtectedAreas. Thanks to his relentless efforts, the Lake was recognized by UNESCO as a

Biosphere Reserve of the World in October of 1997.

Just recently, at the close of the Summit Meeting of the ACMECS held on

11/17/2010 in Phnom Penh with the attendance of the five countries of Cambodia,

Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, PM Hun Sen again disregarded the concernsabout the impacts of the hydroelectric d ams on the Mekong. He asserted that the

recent spate of floods or droughts stemmed from climate change that had nothing to

do with the hydroelectric dams in China.

When talking with reporters, PM Hun Sen mocked them for claiming that the damsupstream the Mekong had caused its water levels to drop to its historically low

marks. The rising of water and the lowering of the water along the Mekong is the

result of hydroelectricity? He said: I would like to show you some figures. Thepremier said that in 1998 the Mekong hit a record low of 7.5 meters, but in 2000

rose to nearly 12 meters Hun Sen blamed the variance of Mekongs water levels

on climate change and carbon emissions. Its related to the emissions that changedthe pattern of the rains, Hun Sen said. So dont be too extreme of an

environmentalist, and dont say that because of the hydroelectricity there is no water

in the lower part of the Mekong. That would be a mistake, he warned. Last year,Hun Sen said, China faced a shortage of wate r. So how could you blame China when

there is no water? (1)

This writer would like to draw the readers attention to the two years referred to by

Mr. Hun Sen:

The year 1998: completed in 1993, Manwan is the first hydroelectric dam to straddle

the main current of the Mekong. It operated at full capacity generating 1,500MW in

1995. Water is still being diverted to its reservoir to run its turbines. The seconddam, Dachaosan with a reported output of 1,350 MW is under construction. A lack of

rain combined with water impound had resulted in the water level downstream theMekong to dip to a mere 7.5 meters.

The year 2000: in the two months of August and September of that year, a

combination of heavy and abnormally long monsoon rains coupled with high tidespreventing the water from flowing into the East Sea caused the water level

downstream the Mekong to rise to 12 meters. A most devastating flood in severaldecades ensued claiming heavy physical damages and considerable human tolls in

Cambodia and Vietnam.


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The first months of the current year (2010) saw the water levels in northern Laos

and Thailand drop to their record marks in 50 years creating much uneasiness about

the safety of food, drinking water, and travel on the waterways. This is also theperiod when water was being drawn into the reservoir of the fourth dam Xiaowan

(4,200 MW) to start its operation. Xiaowan also known as the mother dam has a

reservoir capacity reported at 15 billion cubic meters equaling the combined capacityof all the reservoirs in Yunnan Province.

It is irrefutable that climate change is a major factor but it is not the only one. The

abnormal weather patterns in no way absolve the long term roles of the big dams on

the Mekong.

China is embarking on a vigorous program to, among other things, [a] build gigantic

hydroelectric dams on the main current of the Mekong; [b] carry out reef blastingand channeling on the Mekong to open a waterway to the south that can

accommodate 700 ton vessels regardless of the impacts on the r ivers current; [c]

turn the Mekong into an oil shipping route from the riverport of Chiang Rai toYunnan. In doing so, China disregards the warnings offered by the Chinese

environmental scholars and experts that the south -west of China is a geologicallyunstable region.

To fully evaluate the cumulative and chain -reaction effects the hydroelectric damsupstream the Mekong brought to bear on the pollution and sources of fish, alluvia,

rice, food ... downstream, we need to take an overall look at the comple x picture. To

blame everything, like Mr. Hun Sen, on a set of two numbers and the popular phraseclimate change is not acceptable.

While Beijing is struggling to ward off the protests of public opinion and soothe theopposition of the inhabitants in no rthern Laos and Thailand, the very victims of the

dams in Yunnan; PM Hun Sen volunteers to be Chinas public defender. One who iseager but uninformed.

Mr. Hun Sen is the leader of Cambodia, a country that runs the risk of having theentire ecosystem of the Mekong River and Tonle Sap Lake being degraded in an

evident and noticeable manner. He should have asked China to adopt a

transparent policy and make public hydrological data concerning the dams

upstream the Mekong. However, Mr. Hun Sen decided to dismiss the legitimate andinformed concerns raised over the past decades by environmental experts and

NGOs like Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance (TERRA), InternationalRiver Network (IRN).

By blaming everything on nature, climate cha nge, Mr. Hun Sen wishes to walk

away from the situation. He shows complete disregard for the efforts to save theTonle Sap Lake that is the food source in fish and rice to almost 15 million

Cambodians. To a larger extent, it is also to save the fragile re sources of the Mekongaffecting the livelihood of almost 70 million people living in the seven nations along

the riverbanks.


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More than ever, the Greater Mekong Subregion is in dire need of a competent and

credible think tank to advocate adeptly for its wellbeing and put to rest

irresponsible voices and actions that may harm it.

According to Fred Pearces prediction, by the start of the next decade, the series of

dams in the Yunnan Cascades will have the capacity to retain more than half theflow of the Mekong before this river leaves the Chinese borders. As far as Beijing is

concerned The Mekong is destined to become Chinas new water tower and electrictower house. (4)

In order to have enough water to run the turbines of the dams in the series of theYunnan Cascades, China regularly closes the dams floodgates forcing the water level

downstream to dip to its lowest marks. In Laos, in the single month of March, 2004,

ten tourist tours had to be cancelled due to low water levels.

ChainarongSretthachau, director of the Southeast Asian Rivers Network, remarked:

China really has the power to control the current of the Mekong.

LACK OF LEADERSHIP WITH A VISION

It is unfortunate that the developing countries of the Greater MekongSubregion do

not have statesmen with visions in leadership positions. Their natural resources areallowed to be exploited to the utmost while future generations are left to hold the

bags.

The dams on the Mekong have and continue to generate disquieting news not only

in the Delta regions but also worldwide. The fact that PM Hun Sen, a national leader

who commands power and popular appeals, does not see any merits in them offersground for alarm because he does so with complete disregard for reason or public

opinion.

What would be the best positioned authority to counter such a negative attitude?

Certainly, it cannot be private individuals but an institution that attracts graymatter committed to uphold the Spirit of the Mekong. That way, rationality will

prevail over or at least neutralize the commands of emotion.

THE WATER FESTIVAL WILL BECOME A THING OF THE PAST

From ages past, at the close of the Rainy Season, the water level in the MekongRiver stabilizes and the Tonle Sap River reverts to its normal flow c arrying tons offish and shrimps from the Tonle Sap Lake to the Mekongs tributaries and as fas as

the Mekong Delta. This is also the time for the celebration of the Water Festival Bon

Om Tuk. It is customarily held in November in front of the Royal Palace at QuatreBras, the French name for Chatomuk, where the four tributaries of the Mekong

congregate. On this occasion, the king and queen traditionally join their subjects inthe celebration to usher in a new fishing and farming season.


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This year 2010, Bon Om Tuk takes place in a day with full moon. Next year, BonOm Tuk will be held again. How much longer will this Water Festival still be

celebrated in its traditional sense is the question that comes to mind. As long as the

Tonle Sap River has enough water to reverse its course then the heart of the TonleSap Lake will keep on beating. It is irrefutable that we have now a Tonle Sap Lake

that is not so healthy. The fishermen and farmers of Cambodia know it well from the

reduced income they get from their catches or harvests.

From the stand point of an environmentalist, a day of reckoning for the ecology ofCambodia will come if the heart of the Tonle Sap Lake ceases to beat. If that slow

but certain death ever comes, then Mr. Hun Sen cannot claim comple te innocence in

its happening.

In the book titled When the Rivers Run Dry, Water The Defining Crisis of the

Twenty-First Century and published in 2006, its author Fred Pearce wrote in thechapter about the Mekong:

... But at the end of 2003 and ea rly 2004 was a deperate time on the Tonle Sap.The summer flood had been poor. The reversal of the river into the Great Lake

started late and finished early. A five-month reversal had become a three-monthreversal. Less forest was flooded, and the fish had less time to mature. The bag nets

caught a mere 6,600 tons less than half the usual haul and the worst on record

Out on the river, most of the fishermen said their catches had never been so poor.Most blame low flows. One, heading back to his floating village across the lake with

empty nest, told me simply, When the water is shallow in front of the royal palace,

there are no fish in the river. (5)

A recent report Damming the Mekong: Major Blow to an Epic River by Yale

Environment 360 rang this alarm bell:In late May 2009, a report from the United Nations Environment Programme

warned that these dams are the single greatest threat to the future of the river andits fecundity. The new regime will largely eliminate the rivers annual flood puls e,

one of the natural wonders of the world, and wreck the ecosystems that depend on

it.

Aviva Imhof, campaigns director at the International Rivers Network, said the dams

will cause incalculable damage downstream. China is acting at the height of

irresponsibility, said Imhof. Its dams will wreak havoc with the Mekong ecosystemas far downstream as the Tonle Sap. They could sound the death knell for fisheries

which provide food for over 60 million people. (4)

To be fair, in 2007 Mr. Hun Sen did pa y attention to a serious envinronmental

disaster resulting from local factors: cutting down of the flooded forests which is the

feeding grounds of wild animals, over -exploitation of natural resources, andincreased pollution. However, Mr. Hun Sen has persi stently omitted to mention

another factor: the hydroelectric dams upstream. On the other hand, Cambodianexperts like Dr. Neou Bonheur, director of the Tonle Sap Environment Management

Project (TSEMP), always stress the impacts the dams bring to bear on th e seasonal


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influx of water, the Tonle Sap Lake, and the fish catches that supply 2/3 of theprotein intake of the Cambodian people. (6)

In his recent article On the Mekong A Better Way published in the English editionof the weekly Chinese newspaper The Economic Observer, Dr. Qin Hui, a respected

scholar in mainland China and a professor at the Tsinghua University in Beijing, has

openly criticized Beijings response to the concerns raised by the people livingdownstream the Mekong. He wrote: It is impossible for a large reservoir to have no

impact downstream. The right question is: what kind of impact? (7)

It is impossible to believe that PM Hun Sen is not informed about the serious impacts

emanating from the series of dams in the Yunnan Cascade s. They are like deathknells marking the demise of the Mekong and its ecosystem. For short term political

considerations Mr Hun Sen chose to ignore them. But in the end, it is the future of

the Cambodian people and the civilization of Angkor which are on the balance.

NGO THE VINH, M.D.California, 01/01/2011

References:

1/ Hun Sen denies China Dam impacts Thomas Miller &CheangSokha; The PhnomPenh Post, Nov 17, 2010

2/ Dalai Lama says prioritise climate change over politics in Tibet; Guardian .co.uk_

The US Embassy cables 10 August 20093/ The Big Melt: The Third pole; National Geographic, April 2010, Vol.217, No.4

4/ The Damming of The Mekong: Major Blow to An Epic River,

Fred Pearce, Yale Environment 360, Jun 17, 20095/ When The Rivers Run Dry, Water The Defining Crisis of The Twenty First

Century. Fred Pearce, Beacon Press, Boston, Massachusetts 20066/ Saving Cambodias Great Lake, Philippa Fogarty_ BBC News , 29 May 2008

7/ Qin Hui, On the Mekong, a better way;

chinadialoguehttp://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/4016 -On-the-Mekong-a-better-way-1-

PRIME MINISTER HUN SEN AND THE WORST ECOLOGICAL DISASTER WHEN “THE HEART OF THE TONLE SAP”...

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