UPDATED at 11:00 am EST on 2/13/2019
Survivors of a July 2018 dam disaster described as Laos’ worst flooding in decades are still dealing with physical and mental hardship, according to a representative of a South Korean CSO group.
The disaster occurred when a saddle dam at the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy (PNPC) hydropower project collapsed, inundating 12 villages and killing at least 40 people in Champassak and Attapeu provinces, leaving many more missing.
PNPC was a consortium between formed by a local Lao company and South Korea’s SK Engineering & Construction. Korean involvement in the project has prompted Seoul to send its own relief teams to Laos to help mitigate the effects of the disaster.
The Korean CSO representative visited Attapeu’s Sanamxay district in January as part of a fact finding mission. She said in an interview with RFA’s Lao Service that the rehabilitation of victims is not happening fast enough. People still lack food and other necessities.
“[Supplying them with] food is the most difficult [issue],” said the representative.
“They are facing a most difficult situation because they only get rice from the government and just 5,000 kip per day [about $.70] to [cover the cost of] basic meal[s],” she said.
She also said that survivors are also suffering mentally as they are traumatized by their experiences during and after the disaster.
“Some of them are still having nightmares about the night of the disaster,” she said, adding, “They feel scared when they visit their houses.”
She said what the people need most right now is a speedy return to their normal lives, before they were made to live in temporary housing with no income and no land suitable for agriculture.
“The people are saying they have no way to participate in any reconstruction or rehabilitation efforts since the collapse,” she said.
“[Many] still have not gotten any explanation about the cause of the disaster,” she said.
“I think the stakeholders and actors of the [PNPC] project did not give enough of an opportunity to [the survivors] to [have access] to knowledge about the current situation, or what reconstruction plans are in place [to help them,]” she said.
Reported by Phouvong for RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report incorrectly identified the source as an official from a South Korean-led relief effort. She is a representative of a South Korean CSO group.