ENVIRONMENT-LAOS: RUBBER PLANTATIONS SPAWN SOCIAL STRIFE.

By E-Souk/Newsmekong *

ATTAPEU, Laos, Jul. 6, 2009 (IPS/GIN) - For decades, rubber plantations in the country's Mekong region reaped huge profits for local businessmen. But this industry, long regarded a blessing, is now increasingly a source of social strife.

"[Earlier], villagers used land for agriculture and collecting forest products to support their livelihood," complained Loun, the chief of Viengsai village in Attapeu province in the country's deep south. "Now, not only have we lost our land, but we have got no compensation."

Residents of this village complain that a Vietnamese-run rubber plantation usurped 60 hectares of their land last year. They were offered no compensation.

In 2008, Vietnamese workers first encroached on their lands with tractors and chainsaws, forcibly clearing land to plant rubber. Residents registered a complaint with the district and province governors, but have received no coherent response.

Much of the 60-hectare plantation has since perished due to neglect, but the company cleared all valuable timber from the area.

"The Vietnamese company does not care if the rubber plantations will have yields or not," said Loun. "Their focus is on logs for export. The relevant authorities know about this problem but have done nothing about it."