22 December 2021

Lao villagers displaced by the country’s worst-ever dam collapse more than three years ago are still waiting for permanent homes promised by the end of this year, with setbacks blamed on poor planning and inadequate numbers of workers, Lao sources say.

The building of 700 new homes for survivors of the July 23, 2018 disaster at the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy dam is still not complete, said an official of Attapeu province, where flooding from the dam’s collapse wiped out all or part of 19 villages, leaving 71 people dead and displacing 14,400 others.

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Flood survivors still housed in temporary shelters face difficult living conditions as they wait for their promised homes to be built, some said.

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Water shortages are now another problem for the villagers housed in temporary shelters [...].

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Also speaking to RFA, a member of a civil society organization working with authorities on behalf of the survivors said that living conditions have not improved for those still waiting for new homes to be built.

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