A petition signed by 260 villagers living along the Se San River in Ratanakkiri province

has been sent to Prime Minister Hun Sen asking for his help against the construction

of further hydroelectric dams in the Mekong tributary.

Thirty Cambodian villages were deluged after the 1996 construction of the 720 megawatt

Yali Falls Dam located upstream on the Sesan River in Vietnam. The villagers had

received no prior warning of its possible consequences.

According to an NGO Forum report Rethinking Poverty Reduction, the Yali Falls Dam

has caused deaths from flooding, destroyed homes and farmland and washed away people's

possessions such as boats, nets and livestock.