Lao villagers attend meeting held to promote Lao-Chinese railway project, Oct. 27, 2016. (Photo sent by an RFA listener)

Radio Free Asia

Lao villagers attending a meeting held to promote a controversial Lao-Chinese railway project were blocked from asking questions regarding compensation and where they will be moved when displaced from their land, sources in the Southeast Asian nation say.

The Oct. 27 meeting brought together more than a hundred residents of Nthom, Nongviengkham, Donenoun, and other villages in the Xaythany district of Laos’ capital Vientiane, and was convened by a district-level committee formed to boost the project, sources said.

Participants quickly came to feel that officials were ignoring their concerns, though, one woman who attended the meeting told RFA’s Lao Service.

“When the villagers wanted to ask questions, the authorities would not allow them to do so,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“So many of us became angry and left the meeting before it had really ended,” she said.

Among the concerns that villagers had hoped to raise were questions over how their homes and property would be affected by the planned construction, when they would be forced to move, and how they would be compensated, the source said.

“We know that we won’t get our money very soon, but we want to know the details of the plan,” she said. “If the government wants us to move from our homes before the project kicks off, the authorities really should say something to us.”

“Instead, they would only say that the details are ‘in the books,’” she said.

Call for cooperation

Reached for comment, a Xaythany district official told RFA on Oct. 28 that the meeting had been held only to inform villagers of the government’s plans and to call for their cooperation.

“The committee’s duty was only to disseminate documents related to the project so that people can understand what is going to happen,” the official said.

“We were afraid that if we had let villagers ask questions at the meeting, we could not have given them any answers.”

“The details of the compensation plan are still with the [government’s] central compensation committee, who will explain the plan later,” he said.

Worries continue to mount, though, as villagers fear they will be forced to relocate before their concerns are addressed and they are properly prepared to move, another Xaythany district villager told RFA.

“We have many questions, but we don’t know who to ask,” he said.

“Is there any office in which we can raise our concerns? The relevant departments should tell us how this project will affect our property.”

“All we can do now is wait and see.”

Insufficient funds

Speaking at a debate of the National Assembly on Oct. 26, Lao Minister of Public Works and Transport Bounchan Sinthavong said that not enough money may have been set aside yet to pay the owners of property used or demolished for the project.

“To ensure that the many people who will be affected by the railway will receive compensation, we have negotiated payments with the Laos-China Joint Venture Company,” Bounchan said, according to an Oct. 28 report in the Vientiane Times.

Construction on the 427 km (265 mile) project, which is 70 percent owned by China and 30 percent owned by Laos, is scheduled to begin in December and will be completed by 2021, the Times said.

Reported and translated by Lanxang for RFA’s Lao Service. This story originally appeared on rfa.org. (November 1, 2016)

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