"Lao Villagers Not Yet Paid For Land Lost to China-Backed High-Speed Rail Project", 5 October 2021

Lao villagers who lost land for a high-speed railway connecting their country with China are still waiting for compensation to be paid, with operations on the China-backed line set to begin later this year, sources said.

Nearly 100 families living in Dong Phosy and Dong Phonhae villages in the Hatxayphong district of the capital Vientiane were promised two years ago they would be paid for their land, one affected villager told RFA on Oct. 1.

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A top district official told villagers they would be paid in September, but now it is October, and still no money has come in, the villager said, adding that the 105,000 kip (U.S.$10.59) per square meter promised to villagers for the land taken from them is below the land’s real value.

“The villagers need 207,000 kip [U.S.$20.88] per square meter, because the land taken for the railway line was so economically productive,” she said.

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