The seminar jointly organised under the Mekong Academic Consortium program (MAC). Courtesy of MFU

Civil society can have more role in decision-making in Mekong development via TNMC: Mekong experts

Mekong development experts and policymakers have discussed the possibility at the Mekong seminar in Chiang Rai this week whereas representatives of communities likely affected by the Mekong dams, the Pak Beng dam included, have gathered in Chiang Khong once again to try to get their voices heard

The challenge was examined along with some other related issues including the false need for energy, transboundary impacts, and outdated and inefficient laws and agreements at the “Three Decades of Mekong Modernity Development: The Lesson of the People and Communities to Protect the River’s Rights” seminar, jointly organised by the SERC Research Center of Mae Fah Luang University and Mekong-U.S. Partnership and other partners.

The experts are concerned about the limited role of civil society and communities in times when the development of the Mekong River is progressing rapidly with new Mekong dam projects proposed and endorsed, including the Pak Beng dam project, of which the impacts could affect the country’s territory and boundary in border districts of Chiang Rai provinces.

In past projects, civil society and likely affected communities could participate at best through the MRC’s prior consultation, under which no vetos can be made against proposed projects. Under the MRC’s guideline, once the process is completed, dam developers can proceed with their planned projects.

Dr. Wijarn Simachaya, President of Thailand Environment Institute, and a newly appointed member of Thailand National Mekong Committee (TNMC), said at the seminar that the civil society can have a more active role in the decision-making of the development of the Mekong through the structure of the TNMC. At present, there are no seats for civil society representatives but it’s possible to include the seats by issuing a new PM Office’s regulation to adjust the committee’s composition.

The new batch of the TNMC was approved by the Cabinet on Oct 15. It is chaired by a minister supervising the Office of National Water Resources (ONWR). Deputy PM Prasert Chantararuangthong of the Pheu Thai party currently takes a post and leads 28 top state officials ranging from Permanent-Secretaries, Secretaries-General, Director-Generals, and Directors from concerned agencies in charge of the country’s prime policies and plans in economics, natural resources and environmental management, water management, energy, and security. Another two positions outside state agencies were designated as members by expertise, one of which is Dr. Wijarn in his capacity as a transboundary impact assessment expert.

The TNMC is a top decision-making body on the Mekong development, tasked to address the country’s role and position as well as related policies concerning the country’s commitment under the 1995 Mekong Agreement. No civil society representatives ever sit on the committee.

l Photos courtesy of MFU

Dr. Wijarn said the Mekong issue is complex as the impacts of the river development affect several countries. However, management of the Mekong at present is not balanced as it focuses primarily on utilisation, not preservation. Countries concerned all want to develop the river but their development is disintegrated whereas new challenges keep emerging including plastic pollution and climate change_all affect the river’s health and ecosystems, he added.

The management of the Mekong needs to be reviewed and it needs a new thinking, Dr. Wijarn said. Under the new perspectives proposed by Dr. Wijarn, public participation based on sufficient information sharing and protection of rights and access to natural resources were introduced along with other critical proposals including transboundary impact assessments.

Niwat Roykaew, Chairman of Rak Chiang Khong Conservation Group, said people are important in the decision-making process of the Mekong development, but their voices are generally unheard. The government should pay attention and give importance to their participation in the process and this should be addressed in the way that it can be enforceable, he said, stressing that they should be allowed to participate from the beginning.

Mr. Niwat remarked that the Thai government cannot keep up with the increasingly complicated challenges of the Mekong and their officials are often too negligent to the issues concerned. Through the more active role of the people, the government could be more at ease when dealing with other countries that vie for benefits from the Mekong, he said.

Throughout the three decades of the Mekong development, Mr. Niwat said the most critical challenge is international politics and power play among the countries. Since the so-called sustainable development was first introduced to guide the development of the Mekong, there have been only the states or governments and corporations dominating the work. They are concerned only about their benefits and there have been no people and their benefits included, he pointed out.

Mr. Niwat said the Mekong River in all those years has changed tremendously and it’s necessary for the parties concerned to get to talk to each other or the devastation of the Mekong would be unavoidable. He further said that people downstream felt about the change of the river around the late 1990s when China built the first dam upstream and more followed. The river became drier than usual and this was followed by the fluctuations of the water levels in the river when the dams were operational. Since then, people downstream have been facing uncertainty from the river and their livelihoods have been affected, he noted.

The flooding this year has just reminded them of the worsening situation from the Mekog dams, especially the Pak Beng dam, the first of the dam cascade on the Lower Mekong, which is planned only around 100 km away from the border district of Wiang Khan and can create backwater running back upstream. It’s time to review how the river is used and managed before the consequences are irreversible, Mr. Niwat pointed out.

“What to keep in mind is nature has no nationality,” said Mr. Niwat. “The states, however, have more power over cooperation and this is a weak point in working together (to fix the problem). If we leave things as they are now, the situation will become worsened and irreversible.”

Dr. Chaiyuth Suksri, another committee appointed by expertise said it’s necessary to look back into the history in order to see where the Mekong is now. The Mekong was developed based on the concept of poverty eradication after World War II, under which the countries had plunged into poverty. To revitalise the economy, food and energy were chosen and that’s the reason why the Mekong dams were planned and proposed as a key engine, he said.

This is the lesson learned so that people can take the right steps next, Dr. Chaiyuth said. The 1995 Mekong Agreement, he added, is another attempt to address the flaws in the past, being drafted and crafted with universal principles concerning rights and responsibilities. However, when it comes to implementation, it’s apparent that preservation and utilisation are not balanced, he remarked.

Dr. Chaiyuth noted that the agreement focused on people’s benefits in the first place. So, it needs to be rewritten in a way that it also embraces other “non-human” entities, he pointed out, suggesting the inclusion of the so-called river rights. 

“We need to change our perspectives, from human-centric to nature-centric to rebalance (the Mekong development and management),” said Dr. Chaiyuth.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Apisom, a lecturer at the MFU’s School of Management and a project lead of the Mekong Academic Consortium (MAC) agreed that the Mekong development in three decades needs to be reviewed, taking the lessons learned from the past projects. Asst. Prof. Apisom summed up the situation based on the villagers’ experiences and concerns that dam projects on the Mekong are not necessary, considering their projected excessive electricity, available alternative energy production sources, and a false claim about their cleanliness.

Asst. Prof. Apisom said developed countries have already learned their past lessons and attempted to change the course of action with success stories from the U.S. to Australia and New Zealand, which is the first country that gives rights to the river.

“Development in modern times for the Mekong should be advocated for nature preservation and restoration so that we can move forward,” said Asst. Prof. Apisom.

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