Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui

HANOI — Vietnam has apparently dropped its objections to a dam that Laos is constructing on the Mekong River, saying Thursday that the neighboring country has made changes in the design to mitigate any negative downstream impact.

HCM CITY — Vietnamese experts have reiterated their call for a moratorium on dam building on the Mekong River, saying the lives of as many as 60 million people would be adversely impacted by those dams.

HANOI - Vietnam's energy authorities are fixing a leak at the biggest dam in the country's central region, which could, if the problem were to get out of control, endanger thousands of people downstream, officials and state media reported on Wednesday.

Southeast Asia's largest hydroelectric power station has begun operating to help ease an electricity shortage in fast-growing Vietnam, an official said on December 19.

Energy-starved Laos failed to win approval from Southeast Asian neighbours on Thursday for a proposed hydropower dam on the Mekong River that faces fierce opposition from conservationists.

The government of Laos is showing increasing determination to build the controversial Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River despite persistent objections and warnings of disastrous consequences from neighbouring countries, international donors and environmental groups.

Mekong River Delta may turn into a desert sea if 12 dams for hydropower plants are built on the river upstream, according to Nguyen Huu Thien, MA, an independent researcher about the possible impacts on the ecosystem of Mekong Delta. Rivers would die, sea would swallow Mekong River Delta

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Saturday praised the Lao government for its decision to suspend the Xayaburi Dam project on the Mekong River.

Thunderstorms brought slight relief to parts of northern Vietnam in recent days but not to the Hoa Binh hydropower plant, where water levels hover just above the "dead point" when electricity output is severely restricted.

Hanoi - Vietnam's efforts to resettle villagers displaced by the massive Son La hydroelectric project have been slow and inadequate, government officials said Thursday. Most of the villagers displaced by the dam in the mountainous northern province of Son La belong to ethnic minorities.