Laos has suspended a $3.5 billion dam project on the lower Mekong River while Japan leads a study into the environmental impact, after activists and some neighbouring states said it would harm the livelihoods of millions of people. The decision was announced by a Cambodian official on Thursday after a meeting of water and environment ministers from Mekong River Commission states in the Cambodian town of Siem Reap.
"When the four member countries agreed to conduct a further study, this meant the construction would not start until we have a clear result," Te Navuth, secretary general of the Cambodian National Mekong Committee, told reporters. The four countries that share the lower stretches of the 4,900 km (3,044 mile) Mekong - Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia - had failed at a meeting in April to reach an agreement on construction of the 1,260 megawatt Xayaburi dam. The project, which would bring the first dam across the lower Mekong, is being led by Thai builders, power firms and banks and Thailand would take about 95 percent of the electricity generated.
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