A construction crew builds a tunnel for the Lao-Chinese high-speed railway in northern Laos' Luang Namtha province, July 12, 2017. (RFA)
Radio Free Asia
Compensation plans for Lao rail project finalized, under review
Financial compensation plans for Lao residents displaced by a high-speed railway linking the country with China have been finalized and are being reviewed by provincial authorities, with two provinces already approving their terms, Lao sources say.
The People’s Councils of Luang Namtha and Vientiane provinces have already approved the compensation packages, Rattanamany Khounnivong, deputy minister at the Lao Ministry of Public Works and Transport, told RFA’s Lao Service.
“Three other councils in Oudomxay and Luang Prabang provinces and in the capital Vientiane are now reviewing them for approval,” he said.
“And once everything is set, my ministry and the Finance Ministry will begin making payment to affected villagers right away,” Rattanamany said, while declining to provide details of the amounts offered to offset residents’ losses of homes, land and livelihoods.
Under Lao Decree 84 issued in April 2016, Lao citizens losing land to development projects must be compensated for lost income, property, crops, and plants. And project owners must guarantee that living conditions for those displaced will be as good as, or better than, they were before the project began.
More than 4,400 families, some of whom have already been moved from their land, are now waiting for compensation originally promised to them by November, sources said.
“It’s already the end of the year, and it’s still quiet,” one Luang Prabang resident still living on his land told RFA at the end of December. “We haven’t heard anything yet, and we need compensation to be paid as soon as possible.”
Concerns over transparency
Also speaking to RFA, other sources voiced concerns over lack of transparency in the payment process.
“Of course I worry about compensation,” a resident of Nong Vieng Kham Village in the capital, Vientiane, said.
“I don’t want there to be any leaks [of the funds], and I don’t want any ‘middle men’ to be involved,” RFA’s source said, speaking like the others interviewed on condition of anonymity.
“If the government pays us $500 per square meter, I want to receive $500–not $200 or $300,” he said.
Meanwhile, a resident of Vientiane’s Ban Nathom village expressed confidence in the payment process.
“I think the process will be transparent and the payments will be fair,” the source said, noting that compensation had been paid fairly in the past in projects building the Lao National Assembly Building and a road leading to an important Buddhist religious monument.
First scheduled for completion by 2015, plans now call for work on the railway to end in 2021, with Chinese companies promising completion by that date despite the challenges of boring tunnels in mountainous areas of the country’s north.
Landlocked Laos expects the planned railway to lower the cost of exports and consumer goods while boosting socioeconomic development in the impoverished nation of nearly 7 million people.
Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. This story originally appeared on rfa.org. (January 18, 2018)
The controversial Laos-China Railway
Work began on the controversial Laos-China railway as crews started clearing the right-of-way in the ancient Lao city of Luang Prabang late December 2016, but questions over who will get the bulk of the jobs building the U.S. $6 billion project and how much people displaced by the construction will get paid still linger.
CHINA
Boten
Vientiane
LAOS
THAILAND
The railway is expected to run 420-kilometer (261-mile) through the landlocked country.
The original construction plan called for work to begin in 2011 and be completed in 2015. However, due to political and financial setbacks, the plan now calls for the railway to be completed in 2021.
COSTS AND INVESTMENTS
The project was estimated to cost $6 billion
Private investors
60%
Laos and China
contributions
40%
The Chinese government’s contribution
70%
The Lao government’s contribution, amounting to $840 million.
30%
If the Lao government can’t provide its share, China has agreed to provide a low-interest loan of $500 million.
Revenue to be generated from a bauxite mine and three potash mines in Laos are to be used to secure the Chinese loan.
The 20-year loan period will carry an annual interest rate of 3% with an interest-only period, i.e. no repayment of the principle, for the first five years.
Project details
Chairman of Laos-China Railway Company: Huang Difu, general manager of China Railway International Co., Ltd
Six Chinese contractors are carrying out construction in the six segments along the entire track. More than 50,000 mostly Chinese workers will be hired to build the project.
The planned single-track, standard- gauge rail network would have 33 stations, of which 21 would be operational initially.
There will be 72 tunnels with a total length of 183.9 km, representing 43 percent of the project’s total length.
The line will also have 170 bridges with the total length of 69.2 km, accounting for 15.8 percent of the project’s total length.
The controversial Laos-China Railway
Work began on the controversial Laos-China railway as crews started clearing the right-of-way in the ancient Lao city of Luang Prabang late December 2016, but questions over who will get the bulk of the jobs building the U.S. $6 billion project and how much people displaced by the construction will get paid still linger.
CHINA
Four villas are being built to accommodate Chinese workers near the Xay district station.
Boten
Major stations
• Luang Namtha
• Xay district
• Luang Prabang
• Vang Vieng
• Phonhong
Vientiane
THAILAND
LAOS
The railway is expected to run 420-kilometer (261-mile) through the landlocked country.
The original construction plan called for work to begin in 2011 and be completed in 2015. However, due to political and financial setbacks, the plan now calls for the railway to be completed in 2021.
Cost
Investment
The project was estimated to cost $6 billion
Private
investors
60%
Laos and China
contributions
40%
70%
The Chinese government’s contribution
The Lao government’s contribution, amounting to $840 million.
30%
If the Lao government can’t provide its share, China has agreed to provide a low-interest loan of $500 million.
Revenue to be generated from a bauxite mine and three potash mines in Laos are to be used to secure the Chinese loan.
The 20-year loan period will carry an annual interest rate of 3% with an interest-only period, i.e. no repayment of the principle, for the first five years.
Project details
Chairman of Laos-China Railway Company: Huang Difu, general manager of China Railway International Co., Ltd
Six Chinese contractors are carrying out construction in the six segments along the entire track. More than 50,000 mostly Chinese workers will be hired to build the project.
The planned single-track, standard- gauge rail network would have 33 stations, of which 21 would be operational initially.
There will be 72 tunnels with a total length of 183.9 km, representing 43 percent of the project’s total length.
The line will also have 170 bridges with the total length of 69.2 km, accounting for 15.8 percent of the project’s total length.
The controversial Laos-China Railway
Work began on the controversial Laos-China railway as crews started clearing the right-of-way in the ancient Lao city of Luang Prabang late December 2016, but questions over who will get the bulk of the jobs building the U.S. $6 billion project and how much people displaced by the construction will get paid still linger.
CHINA
Four villas are being built to accommodate Chinese workers near the Xay district station.
Boten
Luang Namtha
Major stations
Xay district
Luang Prabang
Vang Vieng
Phonhong
Vientiane
LAOS
THAILAND
The railway is expected to run 420-kilometer (261-mile) through the landlocked country.
The original construction plan called for work to begin in 2011 and be completed in 2015. However, due to political and financial setbacks, the plan now calls for the railway to be completed in 2021.
Cost
Investment
Private
investors
60%
Laos and China
contributions
40%
70%
The Chinese government’s contribution
The Lao government’s contribution, amounting to $840 million.
30%
If the Lao government can’t provide its share, China has agreed to provide a low-interest loan of $500 million.
Revenue to be generated from a bauxite mine and three potash mines in Laos are to be used to secure the Chinese loan.
The 20-year loan period will carry an annual interest rate of 3% with an interest-only period, i.e. no repayment of the principle, for the first five years.
Project details
Chairman of Laos-China Railway Company: Huang Difu, general manager of China Railway International Co., Ltd
Six Chinese contractors are carrying out construction in the six segments along the entire track. More than 50,000 mostly Chinese workers will be hired to build the project.
The planned single-track, standard- gauge rail network would have 33 stations, of which 21 would be operational initially.
There will be 72 tunnels with a total length of 183.9 km, representing 43 percent of the project’s total length.
The line will also have 170 bridges with the total length of 69.2 km, accounting for 15.8 percent of the project’s total length.
Minh-Ha Le | RFA