SED Managers Upgrade Skills
Line Managers and Team Leaders from the Social and Environmental Division have completed a leadership and management training program, becoming the first THPC staff to benefit from the company’s drive to upgrade professional skills.
Fifteen SED staff attended the six-day course over three separate two-day modules in May and June 2013. Conducted by Vientiane-based firm Enterprise and Development Consultants, the training aimed to increase management knowledge and skills so that line managers can more effectively lead their teams.
The first module encouraged participants to analyse their own management experiences so that they could identify their core skills and weaknesses, while the second session presented methods of communicating with and leading teams. The final two days of training explored problem-solving skills and ways of motivating colleagues in different situations.
Training methods included lectures, experience sharing, case studies, group exercises and question-and-answer sessions. SED Deputy Manager Ms Surapha Viravong said the course had proven very useful, allowing the division’s managers to exchange opinions and to look at their work from new perspectives.
THPC’s Human Resources (HR) Team is planning a series of training programs as the company invests in the development of its staff. The next planned course will focus on leadership and management skills for the Operations and Maintenance Division, and this will be followed by training on project management and technical skills for different divisions.
Theun-Hinboun Spends on Social Measures
Theun-Hinboun spends on social measures Vientiane Times June 07, 2013
The Theun-Hinboun Power Company (THPC) has allocated around US$5 million in budget funding for its social and environmental programmes.
The programmes include resettlements, livelihood improvement programmes, community development, construction of educational and healthcare facilities, environmental management, according to THPC's Social and Environmental Division Deputy Manager, Ms Surapha Viravong.
Each year, the company spends millions of dollars on livelihood improvement and community development programmes, she said, reflecting its commitment to the people of the local area as well as the natural environment.
Recently, it sponsored tree planting activities in Phousa-at village, Khounkham district, Khammuan province on June 1 to mark Abour Day, as part of its social and environmental programme, aiming to help villagers feel more at home .
Through the activity, the company donated 2,000 saplings of fruit and decorative trees that will help green the village and also provided jackfruit, mango and santol ensuring a healthy diet for villagers and maybe market revenue as well.
The activity will beautify the village, produce fruit for local people and help raise awareness of the importance of trees to the surrounding environment.
Phousa-at is a new village established in 2011 as part of THPC's social and environmental programme. The tree planting ceremony was attended by district officials, local villagers and company staff.
Five villages have been moved to the new site provided by the Theun-Hinboun expansion project, which offers better housing, roads, electricity and water supplies, plus community facilities such as a clinic, school and temple.
Overall, 23 villages downstream of the Theun-Hinboun project are moving to relocation sites in flood-safe areas. As with all newly constructed sites, it takes time for the areas to regain a natural look.
In January this year, the company inaugurated an extension to its power plant, bringing generating capacity to 500MW and making the company the third largest power producer in the country.
The company's Deputy General Manager, Mr Soulideth Baomanikhoth said that this expansion increased not only THPC's contribution to the Lao economy but also its responsibility to both local people and to protecting the environment.
New Trees Help Villagers Feel at Home
Residents of Ban Phousaat in Khounkham District, Khammouane, have planted about 2,000 trees around their village to mark National Tree Planting Day. The planting of the trees, donated by the Theun-Hinboun Power Company or THPC, will beautify the village, produce fruit for local people, and help raise awareness of the importance of trees to the environment.
Phousaat is a new village, established in 2011 as part of THPC's Social and Environmental Program. Five villages have moved to this new site, which offers better housing, roads, electricity and water supply, plus community facilities such as a clinic, school and temple. Overall, 23 villages downstream of the Theun-Hinboun project are moving to relocation sites in flood-safe areas.
As with all newly constructed sites, it takes time for the area to regain a natural look. At Phousaat, Khounkham District officials joined the villagers and THPC staff to plant a combination of fruit and decorative trees that will help "green" Ban Phousaat and also provide jackfruit, mango and santol (mak thong), contributing to income-generation and a healthy diet for villagers.
In January this year THPC inaugurated an extension to its power plant, bringing generating capacity to 500 MW and making the company the third largest power producer in the country. Mr Soulideth Baomanikhoth, the company's Deputy General Manager, said this expansion increased not only THPC's contribution to the Lao economy but also its responsibility to both local people and to protecting the environment.
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2012 Social Monitoring Report
Results from the 2012 socio-economic survey of villages in the project area are now available - click on the picture to download the report.
Previous monitoring reports and other Socail and Environmental Department documents are avaialble here.
THPC Contribution to Lao Development Rewarded
Vientiane, Wednesday May 29, 2013
Two directors of the Theun-Hinboun Power Company (THPC) have been awarded national medals in acknowledgement of their efforts to promote development in Laos.
On behalf of the government Mr Khambay Damlath the Governor of Khammouane Province, presented the Medal of Development, Second Class, to Mr Robert Kay of GMS Power and Mr Jan Cederwall of Statkraft. Both companies have 20% shareholdings in THPC.
The medals were presented in recognition of the contribution of GMS and Statkraft to development in the Theun-Hinboun area, above and beyond the obligation of the hydropower concession. In addition to funding US$70 million of investment in social and environmental programs under the concession, GMS and Statkraft each donated $1.5 million to fund irrigation projects for five villages in Khammouane.
Mr Khambay said “The donation of $3 million by the THPC shareholders was extra to the important development work being carried out by the hydropower company and shows the commitment of these investments to the people of Laos.”
Robert Kay of GMS (left) and Statkraft's Jan Cederwall (right) with Khammouane Governor Khambay Damlath following the medal ceremony.