Environmental activists yesterday renewed their calls for Angkor Beer maker Cambrew to clarify its director’s relationship with the controversial Don Sahong dam currently under construction in southern Laos.
At a press conference, Cambrew director Goh Nan Kioh was again accused of being a “key shareholder” in dam-builder Mega First Corporation by a coalition of civil society groups that includes World Wildlife Fund, 3S Rivers Protection Network and the Fisheries Action Coalition Team.
“The Angkor Beer company received benefit from the Cambodian people – Angkor Beer is very popular in Cambodia. The Angkor Beer company should not engage in [the dam project],” coalition representative Long Sochet said yesterday.
The coalition, which has held protests outside Cambrew offices in the past, sent the brewer a letter in February, asking it to distance itself from the dam, which conservationists say will wreak havoc on the surrounding ecosystem.
Cambrew responded that it and Mega First are distinct legal entities with no connection and told the activists to stop “disrupting business”.
Environmental activist Chum Hout said yesterday that Cambrew must prove its words.
“Show us that they don’t use money from Cambrew Ltd for this hydropower [project],” he said, adding that Kioh should resign as director. The groups plan on calling for a boycott of Cambrew if their demands aren’t met.
Representatives of Cambrew could not be reached.
