27 Apr 2003 01:44:32 GMT
FEATURE-Chinese reef blasts send waves down Mekong river
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By Dominic Whiting

CHIANG KHONG, Thailand, April 27 (Reuters) - For half a century Kamtan
Inkaew had never fallen from his thin wooden fishing boat into the
mighty Mekong river. Then he was tipped into its swirling currents
twice in one week.

"They saw me near the shore, but didn't even try to change direction,"
the 71-year-old Thai fisherman said.

"The Chinese ship passed so close, the waves were big enough to rock
my boat and sink it. The engine was very expensive to fix and then a
few days later the same thing happened again."

Kamtan's anger, and his fear that a dozen 500-tonne Chinese ships
could soon be forging down the Mekong river each day are shared by
many villagers in the "golden triangle" region where the borders of
Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet. They say a Chinese-funded project to
use explosives to smash rocky reefs and shoals on the Mekong river to
let ships navigate between the southern Chinese town of Simao and
Luang Prabang in northern Laos is destroying fish stocks and eroding
populated river banks. And local farmers complain markets are getting
flooded by cheap Chinese agricultural products.

A first phase of blasting on the upper Mekong since last April has
already allowed 150-tonne ships to ply between China and the Golden
Triangle town of Chiang Saen.

The project aims to open the whole 360 km (224 miles) stretch to Luang
Prabang to 500-tonne ships, but a schedule for the destruction of more
reefs in Laos and channel widening has not yet been set.

Reefs in the area, some as long as two kilometres, are the breeding
ground for many migratory fish, a vital source of protein for some 65
million people who live on the river.

The biggest freshwater fish in the world, the giant Mekong catfish,
which can grow to over three metres, hatches its eggs among rocks near
Chiang Khong, just south of the golden triangle.

CHEAP GOODS

As the river slips from the grip the rocks provided, villagers say
faster currents are chiselling away fertile sand banks where lettuce
and cabbages are grown in the dry season. The wake from bigger vessels
could make the problem worse.

But the cheap goods filling the hulls of the southbound ships, ranging
from plastic binoculars and razors to vegetables, are even more of a
worry for local shopkeepers and farmers.

The golden triangle region, famed for opium and heroin production, has
had close trade links with China for centuries. But China's accession
to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2000 helped turn the
700-year-old town of Chiang Saen into a bustling river port handling
100- and 150-tonne ships rather than traditional rice barges.

"They're bringing onions, garlic, dried chillies and ginger that are
five times cheaper than local products," said Jirasak Inthayot, an
activist for a community group in Chiang Kong, which is campaigning
against the reef blasting.

"People here are worried that in the future, even more agricultural
products will come from southern China and they won't be able to
compete."

The 4,500 km-long Mekong river is central to China's plans for the
economic development of its southern province of Yunnan.

Wary that envy of fast growing east coast cities in the rural interior
could spark social and political unrest, the Chinese government is
keen to direct Yunnan's trade links southwards to Thailand, Myanmar,
Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, and to improve sea access for the
province's goods.

Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, who signed up to the reef blasting project
in 2000, hope the trade will help pull them into the orbit of China's
rapid economic growth.

The United Nations says annual inward investment to Southeast Asia
fell by 56 percent to $13.2 billion between 1997 and 2001, while
foreign funds heading each year for China grew nearly six percent to
$46.8 billion.

"JUST SOME STONES"

Landlocked Laos says opening the Mekong to bigger boats will help lift
its 5.2 million population out of subsistence farming and poverty. The
communist government, now trying to move to a market economy, hopes to
spur trade in wood products, textiles and minerals.

"Right now we don't have transportation, so Laos gets nothing,"
Laotian Trade Minister Soulivong Daravong told Reuters. "But this link
will increase revenue. By having the possibility of transporting
goods, people can buy and sell. It's much better than being isolated."

He said the project would have a small effect on fisheries.

"We're not blowing up whole rapids, just some stones that could break
the boats when they come," Soulivong said. "Of course we're making
some harm to nature but that can be accepted because it is not big
harm."

But the author of a report for the Laotian government on the possible
effects of the navigation project, said Laos should halt the blasting
until a proper environmental impact study is done.

"What's happening there is non-reversible," Brian Finlayson, a
hydrologist at Melbourne University, said. "You can't say 'well that
didn't work out as we expected, let's put it back'."

Kamtan, sitting under a bamboo shade on a muddy bank of the Mekong,
said it was already too late.

"There are fewer fish now. Before I could catch 20 or 30 kg a week.
Now it's just small fish, enough for my family, but there's nothing
left to take to the market."

Chiang Khong residents suggest new roads or the continued use of small
Laotian barges would allow trade to grow without harming traditional
river life.

But villagers said the Thai government never consulted them before
giving the go-ahead for the project and accused a distant Thai
business elite of cosying up to China.

"This is affecting the poorest people, the people who depend on
farming and fishing," said Jirasak.

"The people profiting are the ones who own the companies that sell
cement, petrochemicals and rubber tyres to China, who are all sitting
in air conditioned offices in Bangkok."

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