Assessment of occupational allocation for people affected by hydropower projects

This study aims to assess the impact of the construction of the Nam Tha 1 hydroelectric dam in Ban Vieng Mai, Na Lae District, Luang Nam Tha Province and assess the job allocation and challenges. The data collection was used a quantitative and qualitative methods, which interviewed 16 members of the committee responsible for job allocation and interviewed 65 families that affected by the construction of the hydroelectric dam. The data was analyzed for frequency and percentage by using SPSS and opinions were summarized by using a descriptive research method. The study found that:

Although the hydroelectric dam’s construction project is a response to the increasing demand for socio-economic growth, it has also affected on the ecological changes, especially the loss of agricultural land, construction land, economic impacts and socio-cultural changes, including of the traditional lifestyles, which have affected food security. Along with compensation for the dam construction, the development of infrastructure and the job allocation for the people are seen as necessary and important to improve people's lives and enable them to engage in a variety of occupations. The occupations allocated by the project include: planting, animal husbandry, fishing and trading, etc. In addition, the project has also provided plant varieties, animal varieties, and equipment necessary for occupations and has also sent technicians to receive technical and technical training and has been monitored periodically. It was found that the most suitable and acceptable occupations by the people are: animal husbandry (duck and chicken raising), which accounts for 100% because it is a stable occupation and generates continuous income. When viewed as a whole, it can be seen that the income after the dam was built is quite high compared with dam was built. The main income came from rubber plantations in the old village area and some from cattle raising. Regarding the allocation of jobs to the people, there are many challenges in implementing the project, such as: wrong data analysis, some people do not cooperate and most importantly, limited budgets. Although frogs and catfish raising are profitable, both of these animals are not popular for consumption and both animal raising were used high cost and this job are not unsustainable. Another, vegetable gardening is not yet accepted because most of them grow it for family consumption. Similarly, growing bamboo is not yet in demand in the market because bamboo shoots are easy to find in natural area in their villages. Fishing is also not yet a source of income for them because most of the fishing is only for family consumption. However, in order to continue to monitor the quality of life of the people to strengthen the community, especially to promote job creation and income generation to ensure that displaced families are not affected, before allocating jobs to people, it is necessary to study their needs first, including the techniques to be promoted to see if they are suitable for them. In addition, assistance should be continued to help them become strong and self-reliant.