Construction workers at a US$9-billion hotel and casino project in southern Laos said they haven’t received their full wages in months, and some workers believe that subcontractors overseeing the development have left.
Hong Kong-based Laos Mahanathy Siphandone Investment Co. Ltd. received a 99-year concession in 2018 to develop part of the Sithandone Special Economic Zone, or SEZ, in Champassak province’s Khong district.
The project, which is aimed at attracting tourists and will ultimately include several five-star hotels, a fish breeding pond and a 36-hole golf course, was delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Work on basic infrastructure – including electricity, water systems and a ring road – was completed last year.
But construction of several buildings has been stalled for three months, according to one worker, who like other sources in this report requested anonymity for security reasons.
The same is true for a nearby resettlement village, which developers agreed to build for people displaced by the 10,000-hectare project, the worker said.
“The workers won’t return to work until they get paid,” he said.
A local resident said that, earlier this year, she would see 300 or 400 people working whenever she walked past the site.
“Now I see only 40,” she said. “It’s been quiet.”
‘Our Chinese employer fled’
The project is located near some of the country’s most beautiful natural attractions, including Southeast Asia’s largest waterfall, Khone Phapheng, and the Four Thousand Islands, a riverine archipelago near the Cambodian border.
As one of the least developed Southeast Asian nations, Laos has become a target for massive foreign investment, especially from companies in China, Thailand, and Vietnam, which receive attractive investment incentives from the Lao government.
About a dozen active special and specific economic zones have been created throughout the country to attract foreign direct investment to boost development and job opportunities in rural areas since 2002 when the first SEZ was set up.
A Lao truck driver told Radio Free Asia that he’s received only 10 percent of his wages, and knows of many construction workers who haven’t been paid at all.
“Our Chinese employer fled and we don’t know what to do,” he said.
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A construction worker also told RFA that their employer hasn’t been seen in the area for several months.
“They must be having financial trouble and the construction is slow, possibly because of the rainy season,” he said.
RFA was unable to contact the Laos Mahanathy Siphandone Investment Co. Ltd. for comment on Monday.
An official from Champassak province’s Labor and Social Welfare Department told RFA that he couldn't give any details on the project’s current status.
But one of the subcontractors acknowledged that his company has been having financial woes.
“We’re having problems with money flow,” he said. “We’re waiting for money, too.”
Translated by Max Avary. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.