Picture of the Week 22.9.14 – The Corridor of Opportunity
By Tessa Bunney on 22 September 2014
An Akha Nuquie woman spinning cotton as she returns to her village from the forest, Phongsaly province.
There are few villages that have resisted resettlement in Laos – a consequence of the Governments efforts to suppress both the cultivation of opium poppies and slash and burn agriculture.
For now, a small group of villages continues their traditional way of life high up in the mountains of Phongsaly, away from roads and markets and I have to admit I still feel a thrill of excitement to meet women wearing their traditional clothing every day.
When I visited the village last year, it was a 1 hour bus ride from Phongsaly to Hatsa, a 1 hour boat trip followed by a tough 5 hour uphill hike through the forest. Now though with the construction of the Nam Ou Cascade Hydropower Project well underway, the Nam Ou river has been blocked and it is no longer possible to navigate the river north from Hatsa. Instead any villagers must take the daily 1 hour bus ride through the dam site and pick up a boat the other side.
There is talk that these Akha villages will soon be relocated nearby the dam road changing their way of life forever.
Down in the river gallery, the first phase of construction on the Nam Ou Cascade Hydropower project by Chinese corporation Sinohydro has begun, the project will generate electricity, 90% of which will be exported to other countries in the region. The project will directly affect several districts in Phongsaly province through construction, reservoir impoundment and back flooding resulting in loss of land and assets and village relocation.