Govt draws up plan to protect Bolaven Plateau

The government is creating a plan to preserve the Bolaven Plateau in southern Laos as an agricultural area and a tourist destination, putting an end to companies’ hopes to set up heavy industry plants in one of the most fertile areas of Laos.
The National Economic Research Institute, which is in charge of drawing up the plan for the development of the plateau, said this week it was finalising the plan and hoped to get a final endorsement from top government leaders in the near future.
The cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, last week screened a draft of the plan which elicited a lot of comments, according to a media release from the Prime Minister’s Office.

An official involved with the development of the Bolaven Plateau told Vientiane Times on Monday that cabinet members agreed with the main concept of the plan, which aims to preserve the plateau as a green agriculture area and a tourist destination.
“The plan aims to stop the expansion of heavy industry onto the plateau,” the official said.
The plateau is well known for its coffee plantations, with the coffee harvested categorised as a world-class cherry grade. In addition, local people grow a wide variety of vegetables on which they depend for their livelihood.
On top of the area’s potential for agricultural development, the plateau contains significant deposits of valuable minerals such as bauxite.
Other officials from the National Economic Research Institute say that once the plan is approved, agricultural land would no longer be at risk from the threat of mining and heavy industry development.
Some companies expressed interest in establishing a bauxite mine on the plateau after data showed that the area contained huge amounts of bauxite, which is considered to be one of the largest mineral deposits in Asia.
Officials said the plan would also discourage hydropower development on the plateau, adding that this area of high ground was the source of rivers due to its dense forests.
“Changes to river systems would have an adverse effect on agriculture,” one official said.
The Governor of Pakxong district on the Bolaven Plateau, Mr Vichit Keobouapha, told media recently the government strongly supports the cultivation of coffee in the district in the hope that the expansion of coffee farms will enable local people to rise above poverty.
He also said authorities had approved a feasibility study by a company on the construction of a huge Buddha statue. It is envisaged that the statue will be the tallest in the Asean region and become a top tourist attraction.
Authorities anticipate that development of the district’s cultural attractions and nature-based activities will draw more foreign tourists, which would further boost local people’s incomes and improve their wealth levels, he added.

By Ekaphone Phouthonesy
(Latest Update February 2, 2019)