The precise timeline to compensate remaining villagers affected by the construction of the National Stadium remains unclear, a senior government official has said. But officials in charge have confirmed they have already proposed the budget from the government to compensate the remaining villagers.

Many villagers affected by the construction of the national sport complex, which was constructed in Xaythany district of Vientiane to host the 25th South East Asia Games (SEA Game) that took place in Vientiane in 2009, have been compensated. Deputy Director General of the Land Administration Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Mr Anothai Chanthalasy told a press conference on Tuesday that officials in charge have requested a budget from the government to complete the compensation accordingly to plan .

He spoke to local media at the conference held at the National Assembly (NA) in response to the compensation progress that was raised by an affected villager through the hotline of the NA’s ordinary session that ended recently.

The affected villager who called the hotline said he had not been compensated, calling for payment.

Mr Anothai stated that most affected villagers had no land titles as they occupied conservation forest area where the National Stadium was developed. Due to this fact, the government has compensated only 10 million kip per hectare for rice fields in return for the villagers having developed the rice fields.

Compensation for crops, trees and buildings have been made in accordance with assessment by relevant authorities.

Most of the affected villagers have been and will be compensated in cash. But only small numbers deemed as critical, such as those having no lands elsewhere to locate to, have been compensated with lands.

Those compensated with lands have been relocated to Xaysomboun village in Xaythany district where peoples affected from other projects were relocated to, according to Deputy Governor of the district Mr Vanpheng Inthavong.

He said half of the affected villagers have received their compensation, while the remaining half has not.

Mr Vanpheng added that the remaining compensation cost would amount to more than one billion kip.

The national sport complex was developed on 125 hectares in Dongsanghine village, Xaythany district, Vientiane.

Construction of the complex began in October, 2007 with a total cost of more than US$80 million. The complex was a joint cooperation project between the Lao government and the China Development Bank.

Source: Vientianetimes.org.la on August 7, 2014