Joint Statement of the Sesan, Srepok, Sekong, Mekong, and Tonle Sap Communities

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Joint Statement of the Sesan, Srepok, Sekong, Mekong, and Tonle Sap Communities at the Fifth Annual 3S Rivers Celebration

RESPECT TO:

The Royal Government of Cambodia

We, 260 community representatives from the Sesan, Srepok, Sekong, Mekong, and Tonle Sap, who are facing difficulties caused by hydropower dam development and other development projects along the rivers, have gathered together in Lumpait District, Ratanakiri on June 15, 2007 and would like to raise the following problems and requests:

  • The rivers’ water regime fluctuates irregularly,
  • There has been a decline of fish species, riverbank vegetables, and other animals whose lives depend on the rivers,
  • Villagers have had to move their villages away from the riverbank due to fears of unpredictable flooding and riverbank erosion,
  • Rice yields, vegetables and the property of people has been seriously destroyed due to unnatural flooding,
  • Human and animal health has been affected by the water quality of the rivers,

We also continue to have the following concerns:

  • The above problems have negatively threatened the rivers’ biodiversity, fishery resources and the livelihoods of the people living along the rivers.
  • Without adequate study and policy, hydropower dam projects will continue to threaten the livelihoods of the communities living along the Sesan, Srepok, Sekong, and Mekong.

According to the problems and concerns mentioned above, we would like to request the following:

    1. We request the government and relevant stakeholders to solve the problems above,
    2. We request to the dam builder to guarantee the lives of the downstream villagers and provide compensation for all the past, present and future damages,
    3. We request that all development along the rivers must study the environmental and social impacts with full participation from the local people,
    4. We request to donor countries to consider to grant if without process of governance and accountability to environmental, social, and specially for the livelihood of the people along the rivers,
    5. We request that all Mekong governments effectively respect and implement the 1995 Mekong Agreement.

We hope that the Government of Cambodia and other relevant stakeholders will seriously take into account all the problems and concerns mentioned above and will find appropriate solutions for our communities.

Community Representatives of the Sesan, Srepok, Sekong, Mekong, and Tonle Sap

Note: There are 260 thumbprints of community representatives from the Sesan, Srepok, Sekong, Mekong and Tonle Sap attached to the statement.

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