In the morning of 25th September 2020, guests and participants witnessed the official launching ceremony of the Community Radio Station for development in Nakai. The station will be handed over under the Enhancing People’s Participation Through Community Radio Project, led by Department of Mass Media, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism and with the support from the United National Development Program in the Lao PDR (UNDP) and the Nam Theun 2, with the total supported fund of 200,000 USD. The Project will operate over the course of three years period, starting from September 2019 to August 2022.
The ceremony was attended by a number of honourable guests including H.E Mr. Oday Soudaphone, Governor of Khammuane Province; H.E Mr. Savankhone Razmountry, Deputy-Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism; Ms. Jinha Kim, Representative from the United Nations Development Programm in the Lao PDR and Mr. Stephane Lemasson, Chief Operation Officer, Nam Theun 2, and with participants from both central government and local authority, development partners, community radio volunteers and local organisations were also presented at the ceremony as well.
Mr. Stephane expressed his appreciation and gratitude to be able to attend this Official Launching Ceremony of the Community Radio Station for Development in Nakhai District. He added that it was such a privileged to witness the contribution and the joint support between Nam Theun 2 and UNDP Lao PDR, in enhancing and improving transmission capacity and extending the broadcasting coverage of the Nakai Community Radio to reach wider audiences, specifically those living in remote and rural areas. In this regard, on behalf of Nam Theun 2, Mr. Stephane also took this opportunity to convey the appreciation to the Government of the Lao PDR, in particular the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, as well as authority from the Provincial and District levels for their guidance and support in this Project.
Overall, the main objective of the Project is to ensure that people living in the remote and rural areas can access to important information and that they are able to make better informed decisions in community development and utilise the information to improve their livelihood.
Furthermore in the afternoon, Nam Theun 2 took the lead for H.E Mr. Savankhone and the officials from Ministry of Information Culture and Tourism to visit Nakai Nam Theun National Park (NNT NP) Office where Mr Savanh Chanthakoummane, Director General of NNT NP, presented the scope of NNT NP mission in general and lastly Nam Theun 2 Powerhouse where Mr Dousith Phommachanh, Nam Theun 2 COO and Plant Director, presented how Nam Theun 2 friendly has been generating over the past ten years.
