Thursday, December 8, 2011

Cambodia opens controversial mega-dam

Thursday December 8, 2011
Sky News

Energy-starved Cambodia has opened the country's largest hydropower dam to date, a multi-million dollar Chinese-funded project that has attracted criticism from environmental groups.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said the start of operations of the 194-megawatt hydroelectric dam, which cost more than $US280 million ($A274 million), in southern Kampot province was a 'historic event' in the development of the nation.

He brushed aside the concerns of local and foreign activists
, saying the environmental impact of the dam had been 'well studied' and it would help bring down electricity prices in areas including the capital Phnom Penh.

'There is no development that will not impact on the environment,'
he said in a speech broadcast on national radio, urging 'extreme environmentalists' to 'look at the whole forest rather than each single tree'.
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