Hydropower is often said to be less potentially harmful than other energy sources such as coal and nuclear, but when the issue of resettlement is thrown into the equation the true costs of hydropower mount rapidly. This is something dam developers themselves admitted at a recent Mekong Forum held in Hanoi in Vietnam.
"Successful resettlement as a result of hydropower projects is probably the most difficult task we face, and the key to determining the success of a project. If we do a good job on this, we are half-way home on a project," said Huang Guanming, vice-president of Hydro Lancang, while presenting case studies of dams constructed by his company on the upper Mekong [Lancang] River in China, including the Jing Hong dam.
Mr Guanming's remarks were echoed by Prof Guoqing Shi, a consultant for the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), and director of China's National Research Centre for Resettlement.
Prof Guoqing said that his research showed that those resettled often end up being impoverished rather than better off, as is commonly promised, and in cases of involuntary resettlement construction is often delayed and in some cases scrapped.
In a presentation titled "Challenges and Good Practices in Resettlement caused by Hydropower", Prof Guoqing said that globally "development displacement" has touched an enormous number of people, especially during the past 10 years, when dams alone have resulted in the displacement of between 40 million and 80 million people. In India, from 1950 to 2005 dam projects caused 65 million people to leave their homes, and in China some 80 million people were displaced due to dams from 1950 to 2010. The most ambitious and largest hydropower project in China, the Three Gorges dam, displaced at least 1.3 million people from 1993 to 2009; the Jing Hong dam displaced more than 5,000 people.
The scale of the problem means the impact of displacement must be addressed more seriously by governments and state organisations. When coming up with up with measures to deal with the issue, said Prof Guoqing, policy makers and officials should realise that besides physical displacement, there are also economic displacement and social displacement to consider.
Prof Guoqing said that in the Mekong region each country handles resettlement in its own way. Some countries have systematic policies, compensation levels and planning in place, while the others may not. In China, Prof Guoqing said, national laws guide officials in deciding how to compensate people being resettled, but according to his understanding there are no such regulations in place yet in Myanmar to help officials accomplish the task.
As for Vietnam, although there are some laws formulated to provide compensation, there are gaps in implementation.
In Cambodia and Lao PDR, some international agencies including the ADB have assisted in policy and capacity development, but it remains unsettled how to put institutional arrangements into practice. The situation is similar in Thailand, where no one is certain who should be in charge of resettlement.
Despite the obvious shortcomings, Prof Guoqing tried to put a positive spin on the regional response to the resettlement issue, saying that at least it was gaining more attention. But he quickly added that a lot more needs to be done.
Governments of the countries investing in dam projects should step up their participation and funding of resettlement efforts, he said.
This includes projects which have transborder effects such as the Xayaburi dam in Laos, which is being funded by Thai investors to produce electricity for Thailand.
The Thai government should assume some responsibility for those affected by the dam, said Prof Guoqing.
Participants at the Hanoi forum agreed that one of the critical obstacles in developing and implementing resettlement polices is the lack of public participation and consultation at the ground level.
Socheath Sou, coordinator of the Cambodia Climate Change Network, said comprehensive analyses of the costs and benefits of resettlement caused by dam projects are needed in the region. This would lead to better identification of potential impacts and help determine appropriate compensation levels.
Socheath Sou said that even when compensation policies for dam projects are clearly set, they become vague when they reach affected locals due to communication problems. So what's needed, he said, are clear policies on how to implement compensation.
More importantly, he added, local concerns should be analysed and taken into account from the start. The voices of those affected should be heard, and to make themselves heard the locals themselves must have knowledge and a sense of ownership of their resources and a recognition of the value of their culture and sources of livelihood.
"To promote transparency of the projects, we must engage people from the beginning," said Socheath Sou. "Information sharing should be an established principle.We have to give people the chance to decide what they need."