For Co Me Ethnic Minority People, Hydropower Means “New Businesses and a Road to Hanoi”
Trung Son Hydropower Plant Project
Villagers at a Consultation Session
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At the heart of big development projects like the TSHPP are the people, usually poor and underprivileged, whose lives are going to be changed forever. National development objectives mean little to those who are being resettled or losing their ancestral land. What they want to know is: “Will the project improve my life?"
While proper compensation can help it’s not adequate by itself when improving the lives of those who have little or no education, few assets, a lower life expectancy , language and cultural differences with the majority of their compatriots. And when it comes to ethnic minorities living in remote forest areas, the solution has to be much more comprehensive, as reflected in TSHPP’s Ethnic Minorities Development Plan (Read more).
For the team working on the Trung Son project, addressing these human challenges is as important as the construction and operation of the hydropower plant and dam itself. So it was that over three weeks from January 27, 2010, three teams of professionals from the PMB, the World Bank, NGOs and a communications agency fanned out across 54 villages in the project affected area and downstream (see map) to listen to the people and respond to their needs. While the results of this third round of consultations will be compiled formally later, here is how one man, the Head of Co Me village, summed up his views on the change that lay ahead for him and his community. It’s insightful because development means different things to people at different levels.
“We are all just waiting for the day when our village will be connected by road to the rest of the country,” said Pham Manh Hung, 34, who has been head of his village for the last 11 years. “We have been waiting since we heard of the project five years ago when a geological investigation team first came to our village. We know the dam will produce electricity but we need the road more!”
Indeed, the villagers have ingeniously set up a raft of mini hydropower units on the feisty Ma river – little water propelled devices feeding electricity directly into wires looped across trees– to power their electric bulbs, TVs and refrigerators. So while electricity from the grid will give them a cheaper, safer and more reliable supply, what they value most is the connectivity to the rest of the country.
In an age of global connectivity where businesses thrive on networks, it’s easy to understand Pham’s enthusiasm and those of the younger people in the village. While the road will bring physical connectivity, electricity will power communications through TV, phones, mobile and internet connections which are intrinsic to any development in the modern world. In fact, the mobile phone is cited by some as the most significant recent invention for development in countries with large rural populations like China and India.
The audiences at the consultations were overwhelmingly young people, reflecting the country’s high youth demographic. With their futures before them, these people want a better life -and are willing to give up something to get it. Indeed, two days of torrential rains during the consultations had made the village tracks impassable for any form of transportation, effectively isolating the villagers from sources of medical help, food and other necessities, including information.
Co Me is a Thai ethnic minority village, like the majority in the project area. It has 120 households of which 48 families live below the poverty line, the rest hover close to it. “We have about 7.5 hectares of bamboo plantation which is the main source of income for the village, apart from 5 cows, 20 pigs and some poultry," says Pham listing the villagers meager assets. “There are 12 shops and two karaoke bars where we sometimes get together in the evenings," he says, no doubt to sample some of the strong local rice wine.
The villagers know about the Ethnic Minorities Development Plan and are currently discussing their livelihood options which include training, micro credit and grants to encourage each village to choose one economic activity. There is special support for women while those living below the poverty line will continue to benefit from the government’s poverty reduction plan. Pham has read both the resettlement and the environment protection plans: “They are good but what is important is the implementation and coordination for a sustainable improvement,” says the seasoned administrator – his father was the village headman in 1977 - alluding to his experience of other development plans for the village.
“Many of us are farmers and we just grow enough for our own consumption, still we always discuss ways of reaching our products to a better market outside," says Pham. The village has been given a plot of land for collective farming by the government and their concern now is that the land given in lieu should be as fertile. “Because of the Government’s forest protection policy we are all aware that we can’t encroach on new forest land and we have handed over all our hunting equipment to the authorities to protect the wildlife here. We hope that those who come to build the dam will observe the same restraints.” He knows about the plans for protecting the environment and mitigating any damage caused by the construction but he believes strict punishment for offenders is the best deterrent.
While several villagers expressed concern about security and the impact on food prices when a temporary camp for 4000 construction workers comes up, they are also excited about the potential market these workers represent and are already planning a restaurant and other leisure facilities. “We are thinking of setting up more businesses,” he says, “even before the dam, some foreign tourists and visitors have started coming to our villages. Now we will have some support for our plans”.
Pham is very aware of his pivotal role in the resettlement process. “My job is to keep the community informed of all economic, social and security issues. So even before Trung Son, I used to have monthly meetings to discuss these issues,” he says. “Now I have the resettlement plans and other information displayed on posters which are up in the village hall. I have a tape which explains the project’s compensation and environment protection policies but I still think we need to keep getting project updates. If two months go by and we don’t hear anything, we begin to worry that the project might be cancelled. These consultations are very important and you should do more.”
Leaving the village by boat after a morning full of questions and suggestions from local villagers, the team heads to its next stop for the day at the village of Chieng. This one lies across the river on the opposite bank and their concerns include the rising market value of their land now that the project is coming to town. Building a hydropower project presents myriad social challenges which will be addressed during the course of the consultations but the Bank’s experience in other countries shows they can be addressed in a way that builds grass roots support for the project. For the team at TSHPP the goal is to demonstrate how well this can be done in Vietnam.
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