SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

State of the Basin Report - 2003The chapter that follows discusses the following topics:• passenger and cargo traffic on the waterways of the Lower Mekong Basin• the contribution of river transport to poverty alleviation• modal shares of inland waterway transport versus those of competitive transport modes• navigational channels and inland ports• the extent of IWT vessel fleets• government transport policies related to IWT development• conditions for increased international navigation• environmental protection measures for IWTBecause data on inland waterway transport were extremely limited in the Lower Mekong Basin,this chapter is largely based on a study conducted by the MRC in April and May 2002. During thisstudy a researcher visited all four lower basin countries to gather transport-related data. Althoughgathering this data was a challenge because in some countries IWT records are kept by individualports and not necessarily passed on to the national government, sufficient data were collected tocover the above-listed topics.Four main factors influence the extent to which the Mekong and its tributaries are used fortransportation purposes. These are:• economic and trade growth• the availability of choices in type of transport and the strength of competition fromother types of transport (most notably from road transport)• physical restrictions, such as limitations on vessel draft, imposed by the maximumdepth of water available in the dry season or (in the case of parts of the delta affected bytides) at low tide• the non-physical (or institutional) barriers to international navigation1. Importance of inland waterway transport to the remote communitiesin the Lower Mekong BasinThroughout the Lower Mekong Basin, the Mekong and itstributaries provide poor communities with the means of gettingto markets, health clinics and education services located indistrict or provincial centres. This is particularly true duringthe monsoon season when roads become impassable formonths at a time. While the dependence of riversidecommunities a on inland waterway transport is graduallydeclining as a result of the on-going construction of new roadsin the Lower Mekong Basin, more than one-third ofpopulations living along the Mekong in Cambodia and on itstributaries in Lao PDR live further than 10-11 km from a yearroundroad (see Figures 1 and 2). For such communities, theriver is the only means of transport.During the monsoon season, when roads become impassable, waterways are the only means transportation for millions of peopleaFor the purposes of this review, “riverside communities” are defined as those within 10-11 km of the Mekong Riveror one of its tributaries.218