World Rivers Review - International Rivers · World Rivers Review ... soot from coal creates acid rain that falls on 30 percent of the country and has affected India, ... China’s

I n early November, 400 villagersoccupying the Rasi Salai reservoir innortheastern Thailand nearlydrowned in their quest for repara-

tions for dam-related losses. Drawing inspi-ration from the struggles in India’s NarmadaValley, villagers have been occupying thereservoir since August 4 and refuse to leaveuntil their demands have been met.

On November 6, 30 shelters were sub-merged by the rising waters. The villagerscrowded into eight houses that stood onhigher ground, with more than 25 people ineach house. The houses were isolated by therising waters, and villagers lived in crampedconditions two kilometers from dry land.More than half of the food and belongingsof the villagers were swept downstream.

Two weeks later, responding to domesticand international pressure, the Departmentof Energy Development and Promotion

(DEDP) was directed by high-ranking offi-cials in Bangkok to lower the height of thereservoir, reducing the immediate threat tovillagers’ lives. Yet since that time, the gov-ernment has failed to respond to the sub-

stantive demands of the villagers. Villageleader Pijit Silalak said, “We will stay hereeven if we must drown. This seems to be thelast choice of those who have been fightingfor their rights for more than six years.”

The villagers are demanding that thegovernment reexamine the impacts of theproject, drain the reservoir, determine theexact number of people affected by thedam, pay compensation to all affected peo-ples, and correct the environmental prob-lems caused by the dam. If the governmentrefuses to do these things, the villagersdemand that the dam be removed.

The irrigation dam was completed in1994, and is part of the Kong-Chi MunWater Diversion Project, the largest of itskind in northeastern Thailand. Under theambitious plan, the DEDP aims to build 13dams on the Chi and Mun rivers over thenext 40 years, and divert water from theMekong to irrigate the northeast. Rasi Salaiis the first dam in this plan, and is currentlyuseless as the irrigation canals essential tothe project have not yet been completed.

The project has been plagued by contro-versy. Construction commenced in secrecy,without any disclosure of information topotentially affected people. The DEDPrefused to conduct an environmentalimpact assessment, claiming the projectinvolved a rubber weir only 4.5 meters inheight and that no land would be flooded.In reality, the DEDP built a 9-meter-highconcrete dam, and more than 100 squarekilometers of freshwater swamp forest andother lands were inundated. By law, an EIAis required for all dam projects which have areservoir greater than 15 square kilometers.

The dam destroyed the largest freshwaterswamp forest in the Mun River basin. Thisrare ecosystem was an extremely importantfish habitat, and provided many essentialitems for villagers, such as honey, vegetables,

Thai Villagers Refuse to Move as Dam Waters Rise by Aviva Imhof

continued on page 15

Published by International Rivers Network

World Rivers ReviewVolume 14, Number 6 / December 1999

Villagers pray for the spirit of the river to protect them as the waters rise.

Phot

o:Se

arin

The Mun River, our mother,has been chained

We are losing her because of injustice

But still we stand upStanding up in our fight

to free her.Prayer of Rasi Salai villagers

Volume 14, Number 6

ISSN Number 0890 6211

Editor: Lori Pottinger

Design/Production: Jeanette Madden

Printing: West Coast Print Center

International Rivers Network

Executive Director:Juliette Majot

Staff:Monti Aguirre, Elizabeth Brink,AletaBrown, Selma Barros de Oliveira,Lorena Cassady,Yvonne Cuellar, AnnieDucmanis, Dzhennet Eshchekova,Ignacio Fernandez, Mary Houghteling,Aviva Imhof, Owen Lammers, PatrickMcCully, Pamela Michael, LoriPottinger, Steve Rothert, ElyseShafarman, Doris Shen, Glenn Switkes,Susanne Wong, Petra J.Yee

Interns:Teerapong Pomun, Joanna Silber,Pia Sorensen

Board of Directors:Paul Strasburg (Chair),Philip Williams (President),Dan Beard, Patricia Chang, Bob Hass,Dorka Keehn, Lauren Klein, JoshuaMailman,Walter Sedgwick, Brian Smith,Francesca Vietor

Contact Information:International Rivers Network 1847 Berkeley WayBerkeley, CA 94703 USATel: (510) 848-1155Fax: (510) 848-1008E-mail: [email protected] Wide Web: http://www.irn.org

Page 2 World Rivers Review December 1999

veryone agrees that China needs clean energy options. In the past two decades,pollution from coal fired plants has blackened China’s skies, caused health andenvironmental crises and contributed to global warming. Sulfur dioxide andsoot from coal creates acid rain that falls on 30 percent of the country and hasaffected India, Japan and Southeast Asia. Of the ten most polluted cities in the

world, seven are in China. In response to this crisis, the government has been encouraging development and imple-

mentation of clean-air technologies and renewable energy sources. China’s coal consumptionin the past year decreased significantly as a direct result of market reforms, closing inefficientstate-owned enterprises, and the implementation of energy efficiency programs. Many in theinternational community recognize this as an important opportunity to bolster China in itsefforts to develop renewable energy sources. The US Department of Energy last monthannounced support for a US$25 million program to develop wind and solar projects.

However, senior officials, international aid agencies and foreign engineering firms contin-ue to push China toward large, expensive and inflexible hydropower projects. The recentlycompleted Ertan Hydroelectric Project in Sichuan is the perfect example of how thisapproach can create more problems than it solves (see opposite page). Ertan was made possi-ble by the World Bank’s largest-ever financing package for a single project. World Bank staffdescribed the objectives of the project to be “alleviation of acute power shortages in a least-cost manner.” The outcome, however, has proven to be quite different than planners hadhoped. In the midst of an electricity glut, Ertan Dam doesn’t have buyers for about half of itselectricity and is expected to lose up to $120 million this year. Consumers are not likely tobuy Ertan’s electricity as long as there are cheaper alternatives available.

Dams in China have been a disastrous experiment from all angles. Its nearly 19,000 largedams have displaced well over 10 million people, irreparably damaged aquatic ecosystems,and caused serious safety problems. A 1975 series of dam collapses in Henan province causedthe deaths of over 230,000 people. Today, corruption and poor planning continue to resultin dam-related safety hazards in China. Earlier this year, many bridges and related infrastruc-ture for the huge Three Gorges Dam was labeled “tofu scum” by the nation’s premier, andordered ripped out and rebuilt.

Technically, dams on China’s rivers face costly challenges as well. China’s reservoirs haveperhaps the world’s highest average sedimentation rate (11.5 times faster than the average USsedimentation rate, and twice the world average). This rapid loss in reservoir capacity resultsin shorter lifespans for its dams, greatly reduced economic viability, and huge changes tofloodplains downstream. In one case, the Yangouxia Dam on China’s Yellow River lost almostone-third of its storage capacity before it was even commissioned in the 1950s.

Economically, China’s hydropower cannot compete with other options, such as com-bined-cycle power plants, cogeneration plants or demand-management conservation mea-sures. Large dams also have huge social and environmental costs compared to renewablessuch as solar and wind. China’s geography and climate are well suited to both solar and windpower. Strong wind sources have been identified along its coasts, offshore islands and north-ern regions which are near major population centers. Wind speeds are suitable for both ruralvillage electrification and for large scale grid-connected electrical generation.

All of these options – combined-cycle power plants, cogeneration, demand-managementand efficiency measures, and renewables – are more flexible and, ultimately, more economi-cal than expensive and slow-to-complete hydroelectric dam projects.

Rather than learning from the problems at Ertan, members of the “hydro-mafia” – in thiscase, the World Bank, powerful members of China’s old political guard, and foreign engineer-ing and construction firms – are advocating for more hydro development in the Yangziwatershed. Several projects are planned that will be larger and more expensive than Ertan.

The impacts of China’s large dams will extend beyond the millions displaced from theirhomes and land, and the irreparable damage to rivers and watersheds. The economy and itselectricity sector will suffer a blow as well. While technological advances from around theworld offer the promise of cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable power, China’s citizens arebeing encouraged to buy expensive and unreliable power from dinosaur projects such asErtan and its ilk. It is time for an energy revolution for China, and a new ethic for thosepushing such projects on the Chinese people.

Doris Shen

Empowering China

E

International Rivers Network is an affiliate organization of Friends of theEarth International.

World Rivers Review

is “more than just building a dam and gener-ating power. Increased power generation willbe a stimulant for growth, changing the lifeof millions by giving them access to thebasics we take for granted.”

When questioned in late October aboutErtan’s energy surplus and lack of demandfor its comparatively expensive energy,Berrah called the issue “complicated.” Hecontends that project economics are not toblame, but rather that financing and con-tract laws in Sichuan are weak.

Ertan task managers at the World Bankcontend that electricity will be “absorbed”by the China’s growing economy andincreasing demand for energy. However, theWorld Bank has overestimated energydemand forecasts in the past. In more than100 national demand forecasts used by theWorld Bank, actual demand seven years afterthe forecasts were made was on average 20percent lower than had been projected.

According to the State AdministrativeBureau of Electric Power, China currentlyhas a total electricity surplus of 27,000 MW– about 10 percent of its total capacity. Theaccelerating shutdowns of state-owned enter-prises are part of the reason electricitydemand has fallen. “Desperate to boost

demand, the state has launched a cam-paign to persuade the country’s

World Rivers Review December 1999 Page 3

E rtan Dam, the largest hydroelec-tric project ever to be built inChina and one of the largest damsin the world, is losing more than

US$2.4 million a day. It has been losingmoney since its turbines first started produc-ing power in August 1998.

The $3.4 billion dam, which garnered theWorld Bank’s largest-ever project financingpackage ($1.2 billion, according to the WorldBank), has been running at half capacitysince operation started. Losses are expectedto grow after the last two of six turbines areinstalled, which will bring the total generat-ing capacity to 3,300 megawatts (MW).

“The Sichuan provincial government hasordered only about half of our current gener-ating capacity,” the project site manager toldthe Financial Times in November. “We donot see the situation improving next year.”

Sichuan, along with many other parts ofChina, has had an electricity surplus inrecent years, a result of a steady slowdownin economic growth from 12.6 percent in1994 to a predicted 7 percent this year.

Project planners have trumpeted Ertan’slarger-than-life statistics. It has the world’slongest diversion tunnels Asia’s largestunderground powerhouse, the second largestpower station (after the Three Gorges Dam,under construction downstream), and thelargest concrete arch dam in the world. AGerman contractor working on the projectdescribed the project’s tunnels as “more likecathedrals.” In this case, bigger does notmean better; it means inflexible.

Due to the proj-ect’s high costs andchanges in China’spower industry,Ertan’s electricity issignificantly moreexpensive than thatproduced by smallerpower stationswhich have sprungup since ground wasfirst broken for Ertanin 1991. Like manyhuge hydroelectricdams, Ertan is huge-ly inflexible. In thetwo decades it took toplan and build Ertan,assumptions about power needs in Chinachanged dramatically, and now it seems thedam may have been an expensive mistake.

It could have been worse. Developershad hoped to use power revenues fromErtan to finance the construction of anoth-er 20 large hydroelectric projects on theYalong River – a tributary of the Yangzi. Thecascade dam scheme could produce 22,500megawatts of power.

Power Agreements DroppedKnowing that cheaper power is availablelocally, Chongqing leaders have complainedthat the price of Ertan power, which is aboutsix US cents per kilowatt-hour, is too high.The Ertan Corporation, meanwhile, has lostits monopoly status and cannot force con-sumers to buy power they do not want orneed. “We have our own power stations tosatisfy our needs and they are cheaper thanErtan. Why should we take that power?”

asked a Chongqing city official.Noureddine Berrah, World

Bank task manager forErtan, remarked in

1995 that theproject

Ertan Dam’s Power a Hard Sellby Doris Shen

China

“The smooth lake appears in the mountains, the Ertan hydroelectric project will bringabout thrivingness.” (from official project propaganda)


An engineer’s vision for a cascade of dams on the Yalong River, including Ertan.

A plan to remove five dams in aneffort to restore 42 miles ofNorthern California’s BattleCreek was unveiled this month

by Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the US Depart-ment of the Interior. The ambitious proposal,which also includes the construction of fishladders and screens on dams to remain, rep-resents an improvement for Battle Creek andthe wildlife that depend upon it, but frustra-tion for river conservation groups, and a pos-sibly dangerous precedent for taxpayers.

Heralded as a major victory of theCALFED Bay-Delta Program, which is a 1994joint federal and state program to restore

ecological health and improve water man-agement in the San Francisco Bay-Deltaecosystem, the $50.7 million Battle Creekplan contains positive and negative elementsin both the final product and the processthat led up to it.

The CALFED process successfully broughttogether the owner of the dams, Pacific Gas& Electric Company (PG&E); local landown-ers; the National Marine Fisheries Service; USFish & Wildlife Service; US Bureau of Recla-mation and the California Department ofFish & Game. However, river advocacygroups were deliberately excluded in the offi-cial process. These groups continued to fight

to be included, but the end result does notadequately represent many of their concerns.

A serious flaw in the final plan is thatEagle Canyon Dam is not slated for removal.Conservationists believe this dam may bekey to successful recovery of rare Chinooksalmon and steelhead. Those who lobbiedthe California Department of Fish & Gamefor the removal of Eagle Canyon Damreceived a form letter indicating that therewas opposition from local landowners onthis issue. Instead, Eagle Canyon Dam willbe fitted with $2 million worth of screensand fish ladders, measures that may not ade-

Japanese Dam Removal Campaign Launched In 1994 the gates closed on the Nagara Estuary Dam, impound-ing for the first time one of only two undammed rivers left inJapan. But the thousands of activists who fought the most cele-brated river conservation campaign in Japan have not given up.They have persisted by calling for the permanent raising of thesegates, and the restoration of the free flowing river. In just fiveyears, commercial fisherman along the 160 km length of the riverhave seen catches steadily decline, in both number and size offish, so much so that the commercial fishing has nearly disap-peared. Some 100 species of fish once thrived in the Nagara, andit is now feared that many will soon disappear.With more than30,000 dammed rivers in Japan, it is hoped that these efforts tocontinue fighting for the Nagara will stimulate decommissioningand dam removal initiatives on rivers in Japan, similar to whatbegan in the United States a decade ago. For more informationcontact: Miori Aoyama, Society to Protect the Nagara River,e-mail: [email protected].

Sierra Club Campaigns to Restore Hetch Hetchy ValleyThe Sierra Club’s Hetch Hetchy Restoration Task Force is spear-heading a fight to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley in California’sYosemite National Park.The O’Shaughnessy Dam was built bythe city of San Francisco for water supply and electricity in theearly part of this century. In 1987, following Secretary of theInterior Donald Hodel’s proposal to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley,the Sierra Club’s Board of Directors reaffirmed its “historic andfundamental opposition to the damming of the Tuolumne River inYosemite National Park,” and called upon “all interests to take anopen minded, long view of this issue, and to study and assessalternatives to meeting their needs and concerns through alter-native sources of water, power and revenues.”

The Sierra Club is campaigning to restore Hetch Hetchy Valleyto its natural condition and allow “one of nature’s rarest and

most precious mountain temples” to be available for public enjoy-ment, to be reintegrated into its natural ecological system, and toprovide for scientific exploration. For more information, visit theSierra Club’s web page, which includes its Action Plan for restor-ing Hetch Hetchy: www.sierraclub.org/chapters/ca/hetchhetchy, orcontact Ron Good, Chair of the Hetch Hetchy Restoration TaskForce, PO Box 289,Yosemite, CA 95389; (209) 372-8785; e-mail:[email protected].

Removing Orphan Dams in PennsylvaniaIn Northeastern Pennsylvania, the “storm of the century” hitManatawny Creek near Potstown in the winter of 1996-97. Sub-sequent flooding and ice jams brought attention to “orphan dam#46-017” (an orphan dam is one without an owner).The damhad clearly exacerbated the already bad situation caused by thestorm. Nearby resident Elisabeth Lynch took notice of the dam-aging impacts of the dam while walking by the creek, and broughtit to the attention of other community members.

They decided to form the Greater Potstown WatershedAlliance in an effort to remove the nuisance dam and restore thecreek.The alliance has partnered with state and federal agencies,other NGOs, and local politicians and are moving quickly towardtheir goals. Lynch says she was amazed by the widespread public-ity given to this grassroots movement’s efforts to remove a 6-foot high dam, and “thrilled to see the entire community galva-nized and united by the project.” Since removal of the dam hasunanimous support, the remaining hurdle is the estimated$65,000-$90,000 price tag. Most of the money needed hasalready been secured from the National Fish & Wildlife Founda-tion and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protec-tion, and removal is scheduled for summer of 2000. For moreinformation, contact Elisabeth Lynch at [email protected].


Dam Decommissioning

California to Decommission Five Dams Battle Creek Restoration Called a Compromiseby Elizabeth Brink

continued opposite

River Revival Roundup

quately prevent fish kills or facilitate accessto crucial habitat.

Also receiving ladders and screens areInskip and North Battle Creek Feeder dams.These measures, along with removal of Wild-cat, Coleman, South, Lower Ripley Creek,and Soap Creek dams, will primarily be paidfor by taxpayers. This part of the deal hasthe public paying for mitigation measureslegally mandated by the Endangered SpeciesAct and other legislation forbidding decima-tion of threatened species.

This is an especially dangerous precedentbecause it represents a potential disincentivefor dam removal, says Steve Evans, Conser-vation Director for Friends of the River.“Often an owner opts to remove a dambecause doing so is considerably cheaperthan complying with environmental regula-tions,” Evans explains. “If that incentive isremoved because taxpayers will pick up the


Africa

Xxxx


O n November 8, the Ugandan par-liament gave the go-ahead forthe construction of a US$500million hydroelectric dam on the

Nile River by US-based company AppliedEnergy Services (AES), the largest indepen-dent power producer in the world. Parlia-ment approved a government guarantee tounderwrite electricity purchases from theproposed 250-megawatt dam by the state-owned Uganda Electricity Board (UEB).

The 22-meter-high dam will be privatelyfunded and built (funding which is not yetsecured), but cannot proceed without a guar-antee that the project’s power will be pur-chased. In case UEB fails to pay for thispower, government must pay, hence theneed for a government guarantee. Parlia-ment approved a “build, operate, transfer”deal, in which Uganda will inherit the damafter 30 years (which is likely to coincidewith the time it will need maintenance).

Environmentalists in Uganda had sought acourt order to prevent construction, but thecase was dismissed by a Kampala court inAugust, according to a Reuters story. TheBujagali Falls project would create a 390-hectare reservoir, flooding the Nile all the wayto the base of the existing Owens Falls Dam.

According to project documents, con-struction of the Bujagali Falls Dam wouldresult in forced resettlement for 820 peopleand affect, through submergence of commu-nal lands and burial sites, an additional

6,000 people. The reservoir is expected toincrease serious water-borne diseases likemalaria and schistosomiasis. It would alsosubmerge Uganda’s most popular falls, andkill local tourism and the booming whitewa-ter rafting industry (worth an estimated$600,000 a year and growing).

The dam’s power will cost more thanmost Ugandans can afford. A cheaper andmore sustainable option would be to fix theexisting power infrastructure system, whichis very inefficient. Power losses through theexisting UEB system amount to 30-40 per-cent, according to the Uganda Monitor. Ugan-da also has other power options that aremoving forward now, including a hydropow-er project that will not have a reservoir and isexpected to have few impacts.

The Bujagali dam has been a pet projectof President Yoweri Museveni, who has beenpushing hard for its approval. According toUganda’s The New Vision newspaper, Musev-eni told members of Parliament on Septem-ber 22 that the US Secretary of Commercehad written to him asking the Ugandan gov-ernment to expedite the implementation ofthe AES project. The New Vision reported thatMuseveni warned the MPs that the US offi-cial said a delay could cause AES to quitUganda, which would discourage investors.

Reaction to the long-delayed parliamen-tary approval was mixed. The newspaper TheUganda Confidential, in a November 18 edi-torial, called the approval “a pyrrhic victory”

and said the parliamentary resolution “lackslegal validity.”º

The Confidential reported that theapproval led to “much exhilaration, ululationand hugging outside parliament,” and asked,“Is there no members’ decorum after thedebate of such a controversial motion? Thewhole country knew the efforts expended ongetting parliamentary approval. The presi-dent had admonished parliament more thantwice... If it was ‘a victory and a great day forall the people of Uganda’ why not leave it forthe people to spontaneously celebrate in thestreets, bars, night clubs and their homes? ...We should be mindful that 95 percent ofUgandans do not use electricity because theycannot and will not afford it.”

And an article by a member of Parlia-ment in the November 9 issue of The Moni-tor states, “Anyone knowledgeable in theelectricity industry, including UEB and AES,know that UEB will default in the abovepayments. The Uganda government, evenunder the guarantee, would not, being aHIPC (High Indebted Poor Country), raisethe payments from the consolidated fundand litigation will issue ... They may wish totake the risk knowing they can always exertpolitical pressure, the precursor of extortion-ist foreign investment. What AES has tocontend with, however, is that a differentfuture government of Uganda can success-fully repudiate the guarantee and compelAES to sell its own power.” ■

Uganda Dam Gets Parliament’s Approvalby Lori Pottinger

North BattleCreek Reservoir

Wildcat

EagleCanyon

NorthBattleCreekFeeder

Decommissioned dams on Battle Creek

Coleman

Inskip

Soap Creek

South Diversion

Battle Creek

FishHatchery

Ripley Creek

Livelihood

I n April 1998, the Indian Expressnewspaper published a horrifyingstory about female infanticide andbaby selling in adivasi (tribal) villages

in the southern Indian state of AndhraPradesh. The story described how abjectpoverty had increased the value of boys andforced the adivasis to sell or kill their girlbabies. According to the newspaper, everyfamily in 60 hamlets surveyed had at leasttwo cases of girl deaths. Ninety percent ofchildren being sold for adoptions in AndhraPradesh came from these hamlets.

What is unique about these hamlets?Why such a concentration of hideous pover-ty? Because, the Express explains, the familiessurveyed were “rehabilitated” in this dry andbarren area after losing their ancestral landsto the huge Nagarjunasagar Dam. After 40years of supposed rehabilitation and despitethe nearby presence of the dam – one of thecountry’s largest irrigation and hydropowerfacilities – the villages have no roads, nopower supply, no water pumps or faucets.

The plight of the Nagarjunasagar damvictims is depressingly unexceptional.Around the world, from Native Americans inthe US to farmers in Thailand, communitiesare suffering the devastating aftershocks oflosing to dams their lands, homes, jobs andlife-sustaining resources like forests and fish.

The suffering of dam victims dates backmainly to the go-go years of the big damera, the 1950s and ‘60s, when mass evic-tions to make way for dams first began on aworldwide scale. It is impossible to statewith any accuracy how many people havebeen forced out of their homes by theworld’s dams: 30 million would be the mostconservative estimate, but the number couldtop 100 million. The official figure for thenumber evicted in China alone between1950 and 1989 is 10.2 million, but Chinesedam critics claim the true number could beas high as 60 million. For India, credibleestimates range between 14 and 40 million.Little is known about the great majority ofthese people, but based on what evidencethere is, these many millions have been lefteconomically, culturally and psychologicallybattered by forced resettlement.

And those directly displaced by reser-voirs are only a fraction of the total num-ber who have suffered the impacts of dams.For example, 11,000 people were flooded

out by Manantali Reservoir in Mali, but halfa million peasants downstream are sufferingthe consequences of the changed flowregime of the Senegal River in terms ofreduced access to floodwaters for irrigation,falling water tables, increased disease, anddiminished fisheries.

The rate at which dams are being built istoday far below its peak – according to damindustry figures around 5,400 large dams werecompleted during the 1970s, compared toaround 2,000 in the 1990s. The main reasonfor the slow down in dam-building has beenthe growing strength of dam opponents. Sincethe mid-1980s, an international movement of

groups fighting against dams has coalescedfrom a multitude of local, regional andnational anti-dam campaigns and a smallernumber of support groups working at an inter-national level. Today, a new wing of themovement is emerging, one which is strug-gling for justice for past dam victims. This is amovement for reparations, or retroactive com-pensation, for those who continue to sufferphysical, economic and cultural harm becauseof dams which have already been completed.

Dam victims in the past did not stopstruggling for just compensation when thelast bucket of concrete was poured on thedam which dispossessed them. But today theefforts of local groups fighting for repara-tions are as never before being heard at thenational and international levels, and com-munities which had long ago given up thestruggle are being inspired by other repara-tions campaigns to start agitating to finallywin justice. Winning these reparations strug-gles is important not only from the point of

view gaining justice for those who have suf-fered, but also because of the need to holdgovernments, funders and builders of damsaccountable for their actions and to impedethem from doing more harm in the future.

Probably the first internationally support-ed document to call for reparations for damvictims was the 1994 Manibeli Declaration,which was endorsed by 326 human rightsand environmental groups and coalitions in44 countries. This declaration, which waswritten to coincide with the fiftieth anniver-sary of the World Bank, calls for a moratori-um on World Bank funding of large damsuntil a number of conditions are met includ-ing the establishment by the Bank of “a fundto provide reparations to the people forciblyevicted from their homes and lands by Bank-funded large dams without adequate com-pensations and rehabilitation. The fundshould be administered by a transparent andaccountable institution completely indepen-dent of the Bank and should provide fundsto communities affected by Bank-fundedlarge dams to prepare reparations claims.”

Another widely supported document ofthe international anti-dam movement, the1997 Curitiba Declaration, broadened thescope of its predecessor by calling for notjust the World Bank, but “all governments,international agencies and investors” toimplement a moratorium on large dambuilding. The Curitiba Declaration wasapproved at the first international meetingof people affected by dams, held in Curitiba,Brazil in 1997. This declaration proclaimsthat the conditions for lifting the moratori-um should include that “reparations, includ-ing the provision of adequate land, housingand social infrastructure, be negotiated withthe millions of people whose livelihoodshave already suffered because of dams” andthat “actions are taken to restore environ-ments damaged by dams – even when thisrequires the removal of the dams.”

The need for reparation (or “restitution”)for those who have suffered past harm iswell-founded in legal principle and acceptedby the international community. Probablythe first widespread use of the term was inthe period after World War I, when Germanywas forced to pay reparations to the Alliedpowers. Following World War II, Germanyand Austria paid reparations to Israel and


continued opposite

After the Flood Reparations for Dam Victims Needed to Right Past Wrongsby Patrick McCully

“Why didn’t they just poison us? Then we wouldn’thave to live in this shit-holeand the government could

have survived alone with itsprecious dam all to itself.”

Ram Bai, who lost her land to Bargi Dam

Home

CommunityWorld Rivers Review December 1999 Page 7

holocaust survivors, and Japan made repara-tions payments for acts committed duringtheir occupation of Korea.

Other precedents exist where reparationshave been paid for losses and suffering causedby states to individuals or ethnic groups with-in their own borders. The 1988 US Civil Liber-ties Act, for example, was designed to “makerestitution” to Japanese-Americans who wereinterned during World War II. The act estab-lished a commission which oversaw the pay-ment of claims totaling $1.2 billion. Impor-tantly, the stated purposes of the act includednot only provisions for cash payments butalso to “apologize on behalf of the people ofthe US” and to “acknowledge the fundamen-tal injustice” of Japanese-American intern-ment. Calls for dam reparations also includenon-monetary measures, such as officialrecognition of injustices committed. Thedemands of the survivors of the Chixoy Dammassacres and evictions in Guatemala (seepage 8), for example, include the constructionof a monument to commemorate the 400people massacred, and bringing to justice theparamilitaries responsible.

Chile’s post-dictatorship Commission onTruth and Reconciliation envisaged threeaspects to reparations for the victims of statetorture, murder and disappearances: the dis-closure of the truth and the “end of secrecy,”the recognition of the victim’s dignity andthe pain suffered by their relatives, and mea-sures to improve the quality of their lives.The recommendations of the Chilean “truth

commission” led to the establishment of aNational Corporation for Reparation andRehabilitation. The corporation has responsi-bility for assessing eligibility for and admin-istering the reparations which include pen-sions, fixed-sum payments, and health andeducational benefits.

South Africa’s Truth and ReconciliationCommission has argued for a range of repa-ration strategies for both individuals andcommunities which suffered under theapartheid state. The TRC has recommendedfinancial reparations in the form of bothone-off payments and longer-term grantsspread out over six years, and “symbolicreparations” which include erecting head-stones and other monuments and renamingpublic facilities. The recommended commu-nity reparations include better access tohealth care and job-creation schemes.

Activists involved in the establishment ofthe World Commission on Dams (WCD)have ensured that this “truth commission”for dams is mandated to include recommen-dations on “restoration and reparation” inits final report. Many of the submissionswhich have been sent to the Commissiondeal with this issue and it was a prominenttheme at the Commission’s first two regionalpublic hearings, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka,in December, 1998, and São Paulo, Brazil, inAugust 1999.

The presentation to the São Paulo WCDhearing by Brazil’s National Movement ofPeople Affected by Dams (MAB) states that

“The errors of the past must be acknowl-edged and responsibility for them must beassumed. It is ethically unacceptable, sociallyunjust, and economically irrational to begannew large dam projects before the social andenvironmental problems of earlier dams arethoroughly evaluated and resolved.”

MAB’s submission calls on the WCD toestablish “principles and general guidelines”on reparations to be implemented by nation-al governments and multilateral funderssuch as the World Bank. These principlesshould include the assumption of responsi-bility for the costs of reparations and thesuspension of investment in new projectswhile ongoing problems remain unresolved.

The World Bank has already taken somesteps toward reparations on a few projectswhose social problems were particularlyawful. Although these steps have not yetmade much difference in people’s lives, itdoes show that the Bank can be pushed intoadmitting some responsibility for its pastactions long after its loans have been made.After the ecumenical human rights groupWitness for Peace brought the Chixoy mas-sacres to international attention in 1996, theWorld Bank was shamed into making someattempts to secure land for the survivors ofthe massacres and evictions. The Bank’s finalloan to Chixoy was made eleven years before.

World Bank approval of a loan for theGhazi Barotha hydro project in Pakistan inDecember 1995 was made conditional onthe resolution of disputes over compensa-tion for people displaced 20 years before byTarbela Dam, for which the Bank was amajor funder. Sadly, although pressurefrom the Bank led to an independentreview of outstanding resettlement issues atTarbela, which is directly upstream fromGhazi Barotha, little progress has beenmade in carrying out the recommendationsof the review.

This year, an attempt began in Zambia toraise the living standards of communitiesstill suffering the consequences of displace-ment more than four decades ago by theWorld Bank-funded Kariba Dam (of coursemany of the original resettlers have died andmany others, including the 23,000 displacedin Zimbabwe, will not be covered by thisproject). This rural development schemeforms part of a power-sector rehabilitationproject funded by the World Bank.

While the need for reparations is clear, itis much less obvious how workable mecha-

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Participants of a 1997 meeting of dam-affected people in Brazil called for reparations and a moratorium on dam-building.

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A s described elsewhere in thisissue, reparations for those vic-timized by the construction oflarge dams is gaining support as

it becomes clear that many dam-affected peo-ple have been left to fend for themselves bydam builders – their standard of living per-manently lowered by the changes broughton by a dam, their communities torn apart,their children growing up without hope.Below are some examples of cases that are inparticularly dire need of reparations.

Chixoy Dam, GuatemalaThe massacre of around 400 Mayan Achí,mainly women and children, in the village ofRío Negro in 1982 is a horrific example of theconsequence of forcibly evicting people in apolitical context where violence is a standardmeans of resolving conflicts. These people had

refused to acceptlands offered tothem in compen-sation for the lossof ancestral landsto the WorldBank-supporteddam. Despitesending numerousmissions to over-see the project, theBank kept silenton the massacres

until 1996 when human rights groups forcedit to undertake an internal investigation. Thisinvestigation found that the massacres hadindeed occurred, but not surprisingly absolvedthe Bank from all responsibility for them.

The Bank’s 1996 investigation concludedthat massacre survivors were never adequate-ly compensated and urged the Guatemalanauthorities to provide survivors with moreland. However by this time the power utilitywhich had built the dam was undergoingprivatization and claimed to have no moneyfor land. The Bank then got a commitmentfrom the National Fund for Peace to pur-chase the land. According to a JaroslavaColajacomo from the Rome-based Reformthe World Bank Campaign, Bank staff inGuatemala now consider the Chixoy issue tohave been dealt with because “almost allrelocated communities have reached thelevel they had in 1976 [when relocationbegan] or are about to reach it.”

In other words, although the massacresurvivors have suffered 20 years of extreme

deprivation, terror and murder of theirloved ones, the entities which caused theirplight believe that their responsibility isover because they have ‘helped’ the sur-vivors claw themselves back to the standardof living they had 20 years ago. Colajoco-mo adds that the compensation measureswhich the World Bank claims have nowbeen met were imposed on the communi-ties in 1980 when the state was carryingout a campaign of genocide against theMayan people. Furthermore, even theseinsufficient compensations have not beenfulfilled, in particular the stipulation thatreplacement land should be of the samequantity and quality as that lost.

Itaparica Dam, BrazilSome 40,000 people were displaced for con-struction of Itaparica Dam, and the federalSão Francisco Hydroelectric Companypromised resettlers they would get irrigationprojects necessary for agriculture in the aridnortheast of Brazil.

More than a decade later, and despite two World Bank loans totalling $232 mil-lion, only 35 percent of the irrigation proj-ects have been completed, and the greatmajority of the dam-affected populationhave been left high and dry. Many haveeven been forced to move to urban slums to try to find work.

Local populations, acting through a labororganization, filed two claims with the WorldBank’s Inspection Panel in recent years, butthe Brazilian government managed to squelchan investigation that might have spurred cor-rective actions. The government convinced anarrow majority of the Bank’s directors todefer action on the complaint, saying itwould invest $290 million to resolve the Ita-parica resettlement problems, and would con-stitute an executive work group reportingdirectly to the Brazilian presidency. Thesefunds have never been released.

Nor has the World Bank provided thenecessary oversight to ensure that Brazil takeeffective pro-active measures. The Bankdelayed a visit to the area for more than ayear. Meanwhile, Brazil continued to violateloan conditions, and social conditions at Ita-parica detoriated even further.

Bargi Dam, IndiaBuilt between 1974 and 1990, Bargi was thefirst dam to be completed on the NarmadaRiver. It has flooded more land than it irri-gates. The Madhya Pradesh government esti-mated it would affect 101 villages, but whenthe reservoir filled, 162 villages were whollyor partially submerged. Many people weredisplaced twice by Bargi because their resettle-ment camps were built within the area flood-ed. Shripad Dharmadhikary of India’s Narma-da Bachao Andolan (NBA – Save the NarmadaMovement), says, “The people lost not onlytheir land, but access to even the commonproperty resources. They lost access to grazingland. The fishing rights in the newly createdreservoir were auctioned off to a big contrac-tor and so the oustees could not fish for foodor income. All in all, a prosperous, self-suffi-cient community was reduced to penury.Even starvation deaths were reported.”

Soon after the reservoir began filling,affected people launched mass actions todemand proper rehabilitation. People reoc-cupied their own villages as the reservoirreceded during the dry season and pledgedto drown rather than allow the reservoir tofill during the monsoon. After several years,the government accepted that the peoplehad not been “resettled” and established arehabilitation committee comprised of repre-sentatives of the villagers, the NBA and thegovernment. The committee’s first actionwas to grant the rights to fish the reservoirto the villagers’ cooperatives. Continuedprotests by the affected people forced the


Resettlement Gone Wrong: The

“The soil is on everlasting property

and it is for generationsand generations. When

we don’t get enoughcompensation for our

soil, it is the death of ourchildren and the death of coming generations

because they would havenothing to help them

survive in their future.”Didian Malisemelo Tau

Resettled for Lesotho’s Mohale Dam

Home

CommunityWorld Rivers Review December 1999 Page 9

government in 1998 to agree to lower thereservoir by four meters every December,thus making a relatively large and fertile areaof land available for farming. Overall, how-ever, five years after the committee was con-stituted, little progress has been made inrestoring peoples’ livelihoods.

Pak Mun Dam,ThailandCommunities affected by Pak Mun Damhave been engaged in a struggle for repara-tions since the World Bank-funded dam wascompleted in 1994. From the outset, theproject was highly controversial due to thepredicted impacts on the rich and productivefisheries of the Mun River, the largest tribu-tary of the Mekong River. Between 1990 and1994, there was intense opposition to thedam by local communities.

As a direct result of the dam, more than25,000 people have been affected by drasticreductions in fish populations upstream ofthe dam site, and other changes to theirlivelihoods. Six thousand families havereceived some compensation for loss of fish-eries during the three year construction peri-od, but it is not enough.

On March 23, 1999, more than 5,000 vil-lagers occupied the Pak Mun dam site andintend to stay until their demands are met.Villagers are demanding compensation fromthe Thai government and the World Bank of2.4 acres of land per family for 4,500 fishing

families who lostfisheries incomebecause of theproject. In Octo-ber 1999 the vil-lagers announcedthat because thegovernment hadmade no attemptto solve theirproblems, theywere starting acampaign to

“remove the dam and give us back nature.”

Theun Hinboun Dam, LaosCommunities affected by this project haveyet to receive compensation for their losses.The Asian Development Bank-funded damwas completed in early 1998. By March 1998,thousands of villagers living downstream andupstream of the project were already suffer-ing severe impacts to their livelihoods,including reduced fish catches, the destruc-

tion of food gardens and dry-season drinkingwater sources, loss of fish nets and increaseddifficulties with transportation.

Existing mitigation and compensationmeasures were grossly inadequate. Out of theentire $260 million project cost, a total ofonly $50,000 was allocated for all resettlementand compensation costs for affected local peo-ple, most of which was spent on purchasingland for transmission line towers. In Novem-ber 1998, after sustained lobbying by NGOs,the ADB finally admitted that the project washaving a substantial impact on people’s liveli-hoods, and that they deserved compensationfor their losses. However, as of August 1999,negotiations with villagers had still not begunand adequate compensation had not beenprovided to affected communities.

Villagers want fair compensation for lossof fisheries, fish nets and vegetable gardens,and deep wells to ensure a constant supplyof fresh water. One villager told IRN inAugust 1999, “We are not greedy or pickypeople. We only want to be compensated forthe difficulties we have had to deal withsince the dam was built.”

Kariba Dam, Zambia/ZimbabweFrom the early 1500s until the 1950s, theTonga people lived along the Zambezi Riverin relative comfort. In the words of ChiefSyakusule, “The river provided us every-thing – water, fish, wild animals to hunt,two harvests each year, and cultural cere-monies.” But in 1957, the government sum-marily evicted the 57,000 Tonga from theirancestral land to make way for Kariba Dam.“Soldiers were sent by the government tokill people who didn’t want to move. Blood-shed was done,” Syakusule said. “WhenKariba was built, the Tongas lost everything,but people in distant cities gained a greatdeal,” said Fanuel Cumanzala, a descendentof one of the displaced families. Once theyhad lost their land, they depended on gov-ernment handouts. When these stopped,many died, and 1957 became rememberedas the “year of eating bones.” The land onwhich they were resettled was dry, infertileand far from water, and the governmentrefused to move Tonga burial grounds out ofthe reservoir area. No compensation wasprovided. To this day, the Tonga have bene-fited little from the dam, despite promises ofelectricity, water, roads, schools and clinics.In fact, the Tonga only received electricitytwo years ago – 40 years after the dam was

constructed. Tonga communities haverecently begun to negotiate with the Zam-bian and Zimbabwean governments, howev-er, to create a way for the Tongas to benefitdirectly from the dam.

Lesotho Highlands Water Project, LesothoAfrica’s largest infrastructure project haspushed a few hundred rural poor familieseven closer to the edge, by taking their landand replacing it with empty promises anddeliveries of foodstuffs and animal fodder. Adecade-old promise of new livelihoods hasnever come to pass. Although Callisto Mada-vo and Jean-Louis Sarbib, the World Bank’svice presidents for Africa, say the Bank-fund-ed project is “helping poor communities inLesotho through a social fund,” affected

communities saythis fund is doingnothing. “Thefund has beenand continues tobe a tool ofopportunisticpoliticians” whohave committedits resources topointless pet proj-ects, local NGOsdeclare.

NGOs working with project-affected peo-ple say that compensating those who lostland with cash has not succeeded in restor-ing livelihoods. Paying people in cashinstead of land arose because Lesotho osten-sibly did not have enough land to supply allthose displaced by the project. But NGOspropose that South Africa, the beneficiary ofthe project, supply the missing land. “Itseems only fair,” they say, “that submergedland be returned to Lesotho by South Africain the form of annexed lands for resettle-ment sites.” The groups would also like thedevelopment fund to be locally managed,and for guarantees to Lesotho that its citi-zens have the right to use water from proj-ect reservoirs if drought or developmentefforts necessitate it. ■

Photos: Opposite page, this Mayan priest’s fami-ly was killed in Chixoy Dam Massacres. Thispage, left: Villagers occupy Pak Mun. Right:Lesotho villagers displaced by Katse Dam.

Case for Reparations


A t first glance, nothing seemsamiss about the twin bell towersand yellow façade of Itá church.But look more closely, and it

becomes clear something is very wrong. Thechurch façade stands alone like a gravestone;the rest has been demolished.

The gravestone-church overlooks a ghosttown of rubble and rampant vegetation. Tenyears ago, the 12,700 residents of the smallsouthern Brazilian town of Itá moved tomake way for a reservoir. The 14,000-hectarereservoir of the long-delayed Itá Dam mayfinally start to rise by the end of this year,some eight years behind schedule.

The people of Itá first learned the fate oftheir town in the late 1970s, when state-owned utility Eletrosul announced plans tobuild 22 hydropower dams on the upperUruguay River and its tributaries. Over thefollowing decade, church activists, ruralunionists and academics helped to mobilizea grassroots movement of people to beaffected by the dams, especially the farmersto be displaced by the first two dams to bebuilt, Itá and Machadinho. This movement,the Regional Commission of Dam-AffectedPeople (CRAB), steadily grew in strengththrough the 1980s and pressured Eletrosulthrough holding marches and rallies, block-ing roads, occupying the utility’s offices, andsabotaging its land surveys by pulling upsurvey stakes and detaining surveyors.

By 1987, CRAB had forced Eletrosul tosign an accord making significant resettle-ment concessions, including that all farmersdisplaced would be offered land of equiva-lent quality and value (to be determinedwith the participation of the farmers), andthat landless farmers to be displaced wouldbe eligible for land at resettlement sites.CRAB’s resistance together with financingproblems forced long delays in the construc-tion of Itá and then its suspension in 1990.CRAB also forced Eletrosul to redesignMachadinho Dam with a smaller reservoirand less displacement.

Then in 1996, Eletrosul kick-started theItá project by awarding a heavily subsidizedconcession to build and operate the dam toa consortium of private Brazilian investors.

The 125-meter-high dam may start generat-ing power in mid-2000. The dam was origi-nally planned with an installed capacity of1,620 megawatts, but it was reduced to1,450 MW when it was privatized, presum-ably because Eletrosul’s engineers had exag-gerated how much energy they could pro-duce at the site. Machadinho was alsostalled, then privatized and restarted and iscurrently under construction.

The concessions which CRAB forced fromEletrosul were threatened in 1997 when theutility was broken up under Brazil’s electrici-ty sector restructuring. Eletrosul’s role in theUruguay River dams has now been replacedby Gerasul, the majority shareholder ofwhich is the Belgian multinational Tractabel(itself now owned by giant French conglom-erate Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux). CRABresponded by putting the heat on Gerasul,most notably when hundreds of farmersoccupied company offices in 1997.

Despite the 1987 Eletrosul-CRAB accord,numerous problems continued with theresettlement process. The utility dragged itsfeet on negotiating purchases for the reset-tlement sites, and pressured rural families toaccept prices below market value. CRAB con-tinued holding demonstrations and occupa-tions and succeeded in winning furthergains, perhaps most importantly that fundsfrom Eletrosul for building the necessaryinfrastructure at the resettlement sites wouldbe managed by CRAB itself. This has meantthat houses, barns and community buildingshave been built by the resettlers themselvesrather than Eletrosul contractors, ensuringthat they are bigger and of better qualitythan originally planned.

Itá is the first large dam to be fundedunder the Inter-American DevelopmentBank’s (IDB) new private sector funding ini-tiative, through loans and guarantees ofUS$341 million. CRAB demanded that theIDB withhold financing for the project untilall outstanding and environmental problemswere solved, a request the IDB ignored.

At the SiteA group of about 25 men wait for us as wearrive at Barracão, one of the resettlement

sites for Machadinho Dam. The men, whohave been working on building their houses,greet us with gourds of the tea known inSpanish-speaking countries as mate.

Barracão is set in an open landscape ofrolling hills covered in a patchwork ofwoods and fields. Each of the families hasthe right to receive at least 15 hectares ofland, but most of the allotments at Barracão

are 17-20 hectares depending on family size.The resettlers also get five years’ financialhelp to enable them to improve their newlands and technical advice from agriculturalextension workers. Approximately 70 per-cent of the region’s population are smallfarmers, most of them descendants of Ger-mans and Italians who emigrated to south-ern Brazil about a hundred years ago.

“I’m sad to leave my old farm,” said Wil-son Rufato, “but the land here is more fer-tile. We’ll also get running water and elec-tricity which we didn’t have before.”

Lucimar Da Silva proudly showed usaround his almost-complete new home. It’sa solidly built five-room house. Before reset-tlement, he was a sharecropper on tenhectares; now he has title to 26 hectares. DaSilva’s main concern is that after three years

Two Decades of Struggle for Just Resettlement:The Story of Itá Damby Monti Aguirre & Patrick McCully

The gravestone-church of Ita.

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nisms can be established for holding dambuilders and funders responsible for pastdamage, and for ensuring that reparationsare paid in a timely and fair fashion. Onepossibility is that international agencies,companies and national governments whichhave funded dams could be required to putmoney into reparations trust funds. Thesecould be calculated (on the donor side) as apercentage of the interest that the donorshave received in repayments from dams, onthe company side as a percentage of theirdam-related income, and on the governmentside as a percentage of receipts from sales ofpower and water. Funds could also comefrom a reparations tax levied on all futuredam-related contracts (including for mainte-nance, upgrading and refurbishment ofexisting dams).

Key to the success of any reparationsfunds will of course be the structures for

overseeing and implementing how they arespent. While these structures would haveto vary according to local contexts, oneessential principle would be that affectedcommunities would have the ultimate sayin any decisions on compensation pay-ments and social development or environ-mental restoration projects. Reparationscommittees, including representatives ofaffected communities, governments, and insome cases perhaps international agencies,could be set up at the project, regional ornational level. The committees wouldestablish priority uses of reparation fundsand monitor payments and projects paidfor by the funds.

An interesting mechanism was used atThailand’s Pak Mun, where two years aftercompletion of the dam the Thai electricityutility was forced by villager protests intopaying retroactive compensation for fisheries

losses suffered during the three years whilethe dam was under construction. More than6,200 families received cash payments ofUS$1,200 dollars, with additional amountsof between $1,200 and $2,400 per familypaid into a villager-controlled agriculturalco-operative (the villagers are still fightingfor compensation for on-going fisheries loss-es due to dam operation).

These are just some of the possible mech-anisms which should be explored by theWorld Commission on Dams: much morecreative thinking is required on this issue.While reparation mechanisms are beingexplored, common sense dictates that con-struction of new dams should be halted andshould not restart until governments andagencies have shown that they are capableof fulfilling their promises to fully compen-sate and rapidly reestablish the living stan-dards of those they displace. ■

Reparations continued from page 7

Ita continuedhe will have to start to repay the powercompany the difference in value betweenhis old holding and his new land. He thinksthat maybe a quarter of the corn he expectsto grow each year will be needed for repay-ing the loan.

At Campos Novos (New Fields), one ofseven resettlement sites for Itá Dam, wemeet a group of families who’ve been livinghere for a year. Gilvane Gauger told us thatthe area had belonged to a big landowner.“It was all brushwood and forest, but withthe help of an agronomist, we chose itbecause it is fertile land,” said Gilvane. “Westill have to build the church, school andother community buildings. This year we aretrying organic fertilizers and reducing ouruse of pesticides. We built six fish pondswhich the community will manage as acooperative,” he said.

MAB, the national movement of dam-affected people in Brazil, is demanding thatrepayments to Gerasul be used to fund theresettlers’ cooperatives. “We’re about totake six bus-loads of farmers to Gerasul’soffice in Florianopolis to press for thisdemand,” said Gauger.

“The children are going to school, andwe now have a project to complete theroad which surrounds our new settlement,”said Lourdes de Sousa from Campos Novos.“Life is better now. I used to work in thefields on my own, and now we work collec-tively. This is something that we learned inthis struggle – to work and keep together,”she said.

“We had to fight for a good resettlementand we got it, but do you know how it feelswhen you have been raised close to the riverand you are asked to leave your roots behindand go somewhere else? Nothing will com-pensate for that,” said Gilvane Gauger. “Ifyou are forced to leave, then you have tomake sure you get better resettlement, com-pensation, and a better way of living. Goodresettlement is the minimum that can begiven to people. And not all have been reset-tled yet. Also, the resettlement means thatyou have to displace another person fromsomewhere else to take their place.”

“Many people will end up better off afterresettlement because of Itá and Machadin-ho,” said Wilson Rufato. “But it still doesn’tcompensate us for all that we’ve gonethrough – 20 years of uncertainty and strug-gle. If we’d known at the beginning what weknow now we’d have fought to stop the damever being built.” CRAB are totally opposedto the Foz de Chapecó Dam, planned to bebuilt across a tributary of the Uruguay down-stream of Itá. At two other proposed damsfurther upstream, Barra Grande and ComposNovos, MAB is demanding that no workbegin in the riverbed until agreements arereached to resolve all the social problems thedams will cause.

Edilson Patzlaff from Compos Novos saysthat they could have stopped Itá but didn’t“because some people did not join CRAB,there wasn’t a strong organization at thebeginning, and some people had a very diffi-cult financial and agricultural situation – and

they gave in to the company. It is reallyimportant to be united, and not to give up.You have to keep on pressuring the company.”

Around a third of the farming familiesdisplaced by Itá and Machadinho did notjoin CRAB, and instead opted to accept a let-ter of credit so that they could purchaseproperty on their own. According to Rufato,many of these families now regret this deci-sion as they have been split up from theirneighbors and are finding their new lives dif-ficult without the community support avail-able at the resettlement sites. Storekeepersand other small business owners whoselivelihoods have been affected by Itá are alsodeeply unhappy about the way they’ve beentreated by the project authorities.

The seriousness of unresolved compensa-tion and resettlement problems at Itá wasstrikingly illustrated in October, when 600MAB supporters took over the dam site, par-alyzing construction work. The occupationlasted for five wet, near-freezing days. It wascalled off after winning important conces-sions, including additional funds for resettle-ment sites and agricultural extension ser-vices, and the opening of negotiations withhigh-level officials.

“To mobilize, to lose working days, tospend days at the occupation camp, is not agood thing, it’s not something we do on awhim,” said Romani, one of the farmersaffected by Itá who occupied the dam site.“But we did it because it’s the only way thatGerasul and the government will listen to usand deal with our demands.” ■


SHORTSPemon Indians in southern Venezuelatoppled four transmission towers inlate September to protest the lack ofnegotiations by the government withcommunities affected by the 600 km.,US$150 million Guri Dam–Boa Vista,Brazil power corridor.The indigenouscommunities interrupted traffic on theroad connecting the two countries,before they were surrounded by theVenezuelan military.The power lineaffects 15,000 indigenous people inover 30 communities of the Akawaio,Arawako, Pemon, and Karina tribes.Indigenous people say the power linewill have serious environmentalimpacts on the pristine tropical forestand savanna ecosystems, and willboost industrial gold mining and log-ging in the region.

A Florida man convicted of dumpingwaste into Tampa’s waterways has beenhanded the longest prison sentenceever given in a federal environmentalcase, reports Environmental News Ser-vice. In August, Gary Benkovitz wassentenced to 13 years in prison forordering his employees to dischargehazardous waste, including pesticides,heavy metals and toxic solvents, into astorm sewer that empties into a baynear Tampa.

A federal district judge in Sacramento,California ordered a developer onNovember 8, 1999 to pay up to $1.5million for destroying wetlands.Thefine is the largest wetlands civil penal-ty ever imposed by a US court.Thedeveloper,Angelo Tsakapoulos, wascharged with 358 violations of federalenvironmental laws for wetlandsdestruction on his 8,348-acre ranch.

Nine demonstrators scaled London’snew Millennium Wheel in late Octo-ber to protest dam projects in Spainand India.The demonstration wasmounted by the group Solidarios conItoitz, which opposes construction ofthe Itoitz reservoir in Spain’s Basquecountry, and an Indian Group calledNarmada UK.The demonstratorsunfurled banners reading “Stop TheDams” during the 30-hour demon-stration.Two of the demonstratorswere arrested.

U P D A T E SMALAYSIA: The forced relocation of nearly10,000 indigenous people for Malaysia'sonce-shelved and now massively scaled-backBakun Dam was completed in August. NGOshave described the forced relocation as eth-nocide. “It is difficult to adequately capturein words the utter desperation and disloca-tion being experienced by the indigenouscommunities,” said a recent report by NGOsentitled Empty Promises, Damned Lives. “Agaping hole has been blown in their socialfabric; their culture and their future is inserious jeopardy.” Kua Kia Soong, a represen-tative of the Coalition of Concerned NGOson Bakun, reported that those who havebeen resettled – 200-300 kilometers awayfrom their original communities – have lostinterest in traditional activities. “They don'thave peace of mind even to weave baskets, atraditional activity, and have resorted toalcohol. When we talk of ethnocide, we aretalking about very visible disappearance of aculture,” said Kua.

The Bakun Dam, one of Southeast Asia'slargest infrastructure projects, was shelved in1997 due to its lack of financial viability.However, in early June, the Malaysian gov-ernment announced its intention to resumethe controversial project. In November,jailed former Malaysian finance ministerAnwar Ibrahim revealed that Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad ordered him to bail outdam developers using public funds withoutgoing through proper auditing or accountingprocedures. Project contractor Ekran said inOctober that it had relinquished its rights tothe project and that the government wouldpay over $250 million in compensation todam developers, contractors and lenders.Susanne Wong

CHINA: The German Government hasgranted another export guarantee for theconstruction of the Three Gorges Dam on theYangzi River (it granted a first guarantee in1997). Minister of the Economy WernerMuller said the government approved therequest from Siemens and the German

export-credit agency Kreditanstalt fur Wieder-aufbau (KfW). According to the Minister ofthe Economy, the guarantee of US$52.9 mil-lio, covers the financial risks for the companyto supply 15 transformers for the hydropow-er plant. Siemens received the approval onOctober 12. A spokesperson for the Ministrysaid the application had come in during thetime of the previous coalition government,which had given an approval in principle,and that this possibly has led to a legal oblig-ation to Siemens. When they were in opposi-tion, the SPD party and the Greens had con-demned any support for the dam, and reject-ed an earlier guarantee of the past govern-ment for turbines and generators. Togetherwith 57 other environmental and humanrights organisations, the German NGO Weeddemanded that no guarantees be providedfor the construction of the dam. The projectwill cause the forcible resettlement of up to1.9 million people. Doris Shen

F I S H S T O R I E SNORTH AMERICA: Fresh water species arethe most endangered in North America andare dying out five times faster than those onland, according to a new study published inthe October issue of Conservation Biology.Warning that the US could lose most of itsfreshwater species in the next century ifnothing is done, one of the authors, Antho-ny Ricciardi of Dalhousie University (Hali-fax), said, “A silent mass extinction is occur-ring in our lakes and rivers.” The authorscalled their estimates “conservative,” andsaid that freshwater animals may be dyingout as fast as rainforest species, consideredby many to be the most imperiled on earth.

Since 1900, at least 123 freshwater animalspecies have been recorded as extinct inNorth America, from snails to amphibians tofish. Many considered at risk are expected todisappear within the next century. At riskspecies account for almost half of theremaining 262 mussel species, one-third ofthe 336 crayfish species, 26 percent ofremaining amphibians species and 21 per-cent of remaining freshwater fish.


The scientists identified the most seriousthreats as dams, introduction of non-nativespecies, and pollution. The authors say thatthe relicensing of US dams is an opportunityto reduce the threat of extinction and re-establish natural flows in many rivers.

US: “Crash-test salmon” made their debut inthe summer of 1999, in an effort by damengineers to try to refine the fish-killing tur-bines that create hydropower. “Flubber,” a 6-inch rubbery replica of a young salmonpacked with wires and sensors, was sched-uled to spurt through the churning, 10-foot-long blades of the McNary hydropower damon the Washington-Oregon border in July tomeasure what salmon go through on theirtreacherous journey downstream.

“The idea is to document with data whatfish experience,” said George Hecker, presi-dent of Alden Research Laboratory Inc. inHolden, Mass.

The synthetic salmon was developed atthe Energy Department's Richland, Wash.,lab as part of a five-year, $8 million govern-ment effort to make hydropower dams morefish-friendly. Millions more have been spentby dam operators on similarly unique andusually futile efforts to save salmon from dis-appearing on dammed rivers. In the PacificNorthwest, 16 salmon species are consideredthreatened or endangered, and Congress hasauthorized more than $100 million a yearfor attempts to bring them back. The disap-pearing salmon runs are a major reasonmany groups are pushing for the removal offour dams on the Snake River.

Government scientists and some corpo-rate partners, including Alden and VoithHydro Power Generation of York, Pa., wantto use the Flubber data and studies of realsalmon to make better turbines. A spokesper-son for Voith said it may be possible toincrease the survival rate at a dam to 98 per-cent by changing the shape of turbines.

A B E T T E R W A YFUEL CELLS: Ford Motor Co. openedAmerica’s first hydrogen fueling station ear-lier this year at its research facility in Dear-born, Michigan. The $1.5 million fuel sta-tion provides both liquid and gaseoushydrogen, and will allow tests of fuelingtechnology including nozzles and storage.Ford is expected to spend more than $1 bil-lion on alternative fuel research over thenext five years, including $400 million onhydrogen based projects. Ford and otherautomakers have pledged to bring fuel cellpowered cars to market by 2004. The fuelstation will help Ford test its P2000 fuel cell

prototype car, which uses hydrogen andwater in a chemical reaction to generateelectricity for an electric motor. Thenation’s second largest automaker alsoannounced plans to develop an experimen-tal car powered by a hydrogen-burninginternal combustion engine by the end ofthe year. Ford displayed a working 2.0 literengine fueled by hydrogen. A car equippedwith the engine would be 25 percent morefuel efficient than a gas-powered vehicle,and produce no hydrocarbon, carbon diox-ide or carbon monoxide pollution. Emis-sions of nitrogen oxide would meet pro-posed federal clean air standards.

Meanwhile, at the Department of Energy,the goal of developing highly efficient, lowor zero emission automobile fuel cells took abig step forward thanks to a tiny part thatconverts readily available gasoline intohydrogen to power a fuel cell. Becausehydrogen filling stations are not yet inplace, fuel-cell-powered vehicles will forsome time need to convert standard gaso-line into hydrogen. The Department ofEnergy's Pacific Northwest National Labora-tory have successfully demonstrated thetechnical feasibility of an ultra-compact fuelreformer that converts gas to hydrogenwithout sacrificing efficiency.

“This microtechnology is significant,”said Dan Reicher, Assistant Secretary forEnergy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.“Not only will it reduce the size and weightof on-board fuel reformers, but it also willdecrease fuel cell system start-up time.”Reducing the size of the hardware may alsoreduce the price of fuel cell technology.

WIND POWER: US Energy Secretary BillRichardson has announced a plan to pro-duce 5 percent of the nation's power fromwind by 2020, up from 0.1 percent now,the New York Times reported on June 19,1999. The federal government – thenation's largest electricity customer – willrely on wind for 5 percent of its power fiveyears sooner, according to the plan. Thedepartment plans to encourage “wind-friendly codes and covenants,” invest inresearch and development, and encouragevocational schools to train “windsmiths” toinstall and maintain the new system ofwind turbines. By the end of June, the USwas expected to add 900 megawatts of windpower, up from 1,600 MW for the entirecountry to 2,500 MW. The price for windpower in the US is now at about 5 cents perkilowatt-hour. The average American resi-dential customer pays about 7 cents perkilowatt hour currently.

THE WORLD: There is a clear link betweenenergy poverty, hunger and ill-health fornearly one in every three people on Earth,says a new report by the London-basedWorld Energy Council (WEC) and the Unit-ed Nations' Food & Agricultural Organiza-tion. “The majority of these two billionpeople live in the rural areas of developingcountries,” says WEC secretary general Ger-ald Doucet. “We cannot alleviate hungerwithout solving issues of energy supplyand use.”

The report examines a number of optionsfor the generation of electricity, includingbiomass, wind, photovoltaic, solar thermal,micro-hydro, hybrid systems and energystorage. The key to solving the massive ener-gy problems of people in the rural areas ofdeveloping countries without access to com-mercial sources of electricity is to change themindset of developed nations, the reportconcludes. The report advises that the peo-ple who will use the power should play aninfluential role in the planning process. Theneeds of rural residents must be consideredwhen planning and implementing newpower projects, to ensure that investmentsare not squandered.

More than half the world’s populationlives in rural areas using wood, dung andcrop waste for fuel. “This combination bare-ly fulfills the energy requirements of thebasic human needs of nutrition, warmth andlight, let alone the possibility to harnessenergy for productive uses which mightbegin to permit escape from the cycle ofpoverty,” the report points out.

It is estimated that seven percent of cur-rent global electricity generation could meetthe basic human needs of rural people indeveloping countries “but, in an age ofapparently advanced technological and man-agement skills, we have failed this relativelymodest challenge,” the report says.

Most developing nations have rural elec-trification programs that promote renewableenergy sources or grid extension. “In princi-ple, renewable energies, such as photo-voltaics and wind power, should find goodapplication in rural areas, but they play aminor role at this time,” the report con-cludes. The costs of electrification are under-estimated while the benefits are overstated,and switching to modern energy systemscosts more than rural households can afford.

The report examines a number of renew-able energy technologies and rural electrifi-cation, including solar home systems inIndonesia, leasing of solar systems in theDominican Republic, financing of solar sys-tems in India, and solar rural electrificationin Morocco. ■


Latin America

T wo groups of scientists who con-tributed to official environmen-tal impact studies for theAraguaia-Tocantins Hidrovia

industrial waterway in central Brazil havecharged that their findings, which werecritical of the project, were deliberatelywatered down and distorted by Transporta-tion Ministry officials.

On October 25, federal judges in two dif-ferent states issued court orders suspendingthe licensing process for the project. Theproject involves five states, and thereforewill be licensed on the federal level.

In his opinion, Judge César Augusto Bearsiof Mato Grosso said, “Frankly, a project ofthis size cannot be based on a farce, nor canthe results of studies be presented to the pub-lic [as if] they are real and serious, when infact they were adulterated. If the public hear-ing were permitted to take place, the publicwould know only those facts ‘chosen’ toshow to them rather than the complete stud-ies carried out by qualified professionals.”

Charges of fraud on the EIA had comefrom anthropologists and biologists whotook part in the studies. In August, fouranthropologists revealed that the content of their opinions were “mutilated” by theAraguaia-Tocantins Hidrovia Authority (AHITAR), the agency responsible for thestudies. The scientists’ unadulterated find-ings were that the project could seriouslyaffect indigenous communities, even leadingto the death of some indigenous people as aresult of water pollution and impacts onfisheries, an important food source for nativecommunities. According to an open lettercirculated by the anthropologists, “we con-sider the present version of the EIA to beconcerned only with the desire to make theproject feasible, without considering itsgrave implications for the future of indige-nous groups.” Responding in the press,Transportation Ministry officials said thatthe anthropologists lacked the technicalcapacity to comment on such matters.

Biologist Afonso Pereira Fialho, a fishexpert from the Goiás Catholic Universitywho worked on the EIA, said that his find-ings predicting “intense” impacts on fishpopulations with resulting consequences forriverbank dwellers had been omitted fromAHITAR’s report.

Communities Left OutIn another indication of the project’s corruptpractices, civil society organizations from theregion say that Brazilian environmental offi-cials are deliberately restricting the publichearing process to communities where localinterests support the hidrovia.

In Goiás state, federal judge Carlos Hum-berto de Souza issued another order paralyz-ing the approval process for the hidrovia. Inhis opinion, he noted the limited range ofsites available for public comment: “It isobvious that these hearings are being chosento take place in small towns, with limitedcultural, technical, and scientific resources.What technical expert or scientist will travelat his own expense to these remote towns?”

Only three days later, the TransportationMinistry obtained a judge’s decision over-turning the court orders in a higher court,which should permit the hearings to moveahead. Residents of the capitals affected bythe project and indigenous and riverine pop-ulations had unsuccessfully petitioned forpublic hearings in their communities.

The hidrovia plan involves straighteningand deepening the channels of the Araguaia,Tocantins, and das Mortes rivers by dredgingand altering rock formations along morethan 2,000 km of the river system, as well asconstruction of an artificial canal to bypassrapids. The project will also require theexpansion of barge fleets, and port, railroad,

and road construction – elements whosecosts are not estimated or included in theproject’s overall costs. The project isdesigned to lower the cost of soy exports toEuropean markets.

Critics of the project say that the riverhighway will also be used for shipping fuel,pesticides, and chemical fertilizers whichcould have a serious impact in the case ofnavigation accidents. They also question theeconomic feasibility of the project, given thatthere are alternative routes for shipping grainsvia the new Ferronorte, railroad, roads, andthe Madeira River. The project would directlyaffect 11 indigenous ethnic groups, anddozens of indigenous and natural reservesalong the principal river system of the easternAmazon. A dozen indigenous groups haveexpressed their opposition to the project, anddemanded respect for constitutional guaran-tees which require consultation with affectedindigenous communities before river infra-structure projects may be built. ■

Charges of Fraud Dirty Hidrovia Watersby Glenn Switkes

Small barges can already navigate the river year-round.

Phot

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lenn

Sw

itkes

For more informationRios Vivos a/c ECOARua 14 de julho, 3169 Centro79.002-333 Campo Grande, MS BrazilTel: +55.67.724.3230;Fax: +55.67.724.9109email: [email protected]


one billion peasants to use more electricity,”reports the South China Morning Post August 28, 1998).

World Bank Guaranteed to GainConstruction of the 245-meter-high dam wascarried out by a consortium includingImpregilo of Italy and Dumez of France,both of whom were recently implicated in acorruption scandal over another large dam,Africa’s Lesotho Highlands Water Project (see p. 16). Engineering management camefrom Harza Engineering of the United States,

the Advisory Group of Norway, and Hochtiefof Germany. General Electric Canada provid-ed the turbines.

The World Bank is confident of that itsloan will be repaid on time because of aMinistry of Finance guarantee. However, aWorld Bank official expressed concern overthe project and said talks were under way tofind a solution to the grave financial prob-lems. This may include rescheduling or refi-nancing its debts.

The project displaced some 35,000 people,inundated 10,100 hectares of land (1,656

hectares of cultivated land, which representsthe loss of 15,000 tons of grains per yearminimum), and affected the habitat of manyrare species including pandas, golden mon-keys and others. The reservoir is expected tohave impacts on water quality, human health(by increasing rates of malaria and schistoso-miasis), increase landslide potential andharm fisheries. Dam safety is another issuewhose effects remain unknown, but it is rec-ognized that the area could be subject toreservoir-induced seismicity. ■

Ertan continued from page 3

tab, then we are likely to see fewer removals– which are generally the best way to restorehabitat – and more ‘mitigation’ efforts likescreens and ladders.”

PG&E’s only contribution to financingthe restoration measures will be a loss of $20million in revenues from electricity genera-tion – an amount which otherwise mighthave been added into the cost of the damremoval.

Additionally, if project costs exceed cur-rent estimates, no mechanism is in place tosecure additional funds. It is most likely thata scaled back version of the plan would beimplemented, or more money would need tocome from taxpayers.

However, if the entire plan is carried outas presented, the benefits will extend beyondsaving salmon and steelhead. Higher flowswill increase production of other residentfish, and also promote growth of vegetation.Increased water availability will help producemore rigorous stands of plants in the ripari-an zone, including elderberry bushes, whichare critical to the survival of the threatenedelderberry longhorn beetle.

Improvements in the riparian corridorswill increase habitat for several mammals,including the river otter, long-tailed weaseland muskrat, while providing migration cor-ridors for other mammals and birds. Higher

flows in Battle Creek will also improve habi-tat for amphibians and reptiles.

The benefits of restoring Battle Creek arevast. As Evans enthusiastically acknowledges,“This plan is a great first step.” But concernsabout the process remain. Says Owen Lam-mers, who heads the River Revival decom-missioning project at IRN, “The CALFEDprocess vividly illustrates the need for inclu-sionary planning and financing mechanismswhich require dam owners to be heldresponsible for measures that prevent themfrom devastating river systems.” ■

Decommissioning continued from page 5

fish, medicine and salt. The reservoir area isnow plagued by salination as it is situateddirectly above a large salt dome, making thereservoir water unsuitable for irrigation.

A Long StruggleBecause no EIA was done, the number ofaffected people was never determined. NGOsestimate that more than 3,000 families, or15,000 people, have lost farmland to thereservoir.

In 1994, responding to public pressure,the DEDP constructed a dyke to attempt toreduce the number of affected villagers.However, the dyke created worse impacts,blocking natural drainage patterns andflooding vast areas of farmland.

In 1997, Rasi Salai villagers joined the massmovement, Assembly of the Poor, in a 100-day demonstration outside Parliament Housein Bangkok. Bowing to pressure, the formerPrime Minister, General Chavalit, agreed tocompensate 1,154 families for loss of farm-lands, fisheries and other livelihood sources.

However, more than 1,800 familiesremain uncompensated. Those families whoreceived compensation were later subjectedto intimidation, harassment and threats oflawsuits by the new Chuan government,which accused villagers and the Assembly ofthe Poor of embezzling money.

On April 20, 1999, more than 2,000 vil-lagers from the Assembly of Mun River Basinand Assembly of the Poor occupied the damsite and stayed for three and a half months.The government ignored them.

In order to draw the government’s atten-tion to their plight, the frustrated and angryvillagers decided to take their struggle to thenext level. In August, more than 1,850 peo-ple created a new village in the reservoir areaon the site of their old one and named it“Mae Mun Man Yuen Village #2.” They grewrice and vegetables in their old area, fishedin the river, and collected non-timber forestproducts from the nearby forest. Theyannounced that they would stay until theirdemands were met.

The DEDP responded by filling the reser-voir, engulfing the makeshift village andcrops. The DEDP flooded the land in orderto avoid conducting a ground survey whichwould determine the exact number of peo-ple affected by the reservoir. Even thoughthe recent decision to reduce the height ofthe reservoir may be construed as some kindof a victory, the villagers have still not hadtheir substantive demands met, and say theywill continue their fight. They are nowestablishing a permanent settlement in thearea, and every day they plead to the spiritof the Mun River to protect their lives.

Pha Kongdhamma, one of the affected vil-lagers, said, “This dam has taken everythingfrom many people. We are not only fightingfor ourselves but also for our descendants. Ifthe government does not take responsibility,we think they should remove the dam.” ■

For more information, caontact Southeast AsiaRivers Network: [email protected]

Rasi continued from page 1

1847 Berkeley WayBerkeley,CA 94703,U.S.A.

Address Correction Requested

Stop PressNon-Profit Org.US POSTAGE

PAIDBerkeley, CA 94703

Permit No. 126Companies Charged with Corruption on Lesotho Damsby Lori Pottinger

IN THIS ISSUE

SPECIAL FOCUS ON

Thailand:Villagers faceRasi Salai Dam’s risingwaters.Page 1

Commentary:Chinaneeds an energy revolution.Page 2

China:Ertan Dam can’tsell its power.Page 3

Dam Decommissioning:California to remove fivedams.Page 4

Africa:Uganda approvesBujagali Dam.Page 5

Reparations:A call forjustice for dam-affectedpeoples.Page 6

The World:A roundup ofreparation case studies.Page 8

Latin America:20 yearsof struggle at Ita Dam.Page 10

News Briefs:Updates,alternatives and more.Page 12

Latin America:Hidroviaproject muddied by fraud.Page 14

Reparations

T en companies and two consortiawere summoned to appear in aLesotho court on November 29on charges of bribing Masupha

Sole, former director of the Lesotho High-lands Development Authority. Sole isaccused of accepting around US$2 million inbribes from the companies, which includedmajor dam-building firms from Europe,Canada and South Africa.

The accused companies worked on theKatse Dam, the first of five huge damsplanned for the Lesotho Highlands WaterProject (LHWP). Katse is now completed andwork has started on a second dam, Mohale.

The World Bank has provided both fiscalmanagement and loans for the Lesotho proj-ect, and is currently carrying out an internalinvestigation of the LHWP contracts it hasfinanced. According to public statementsmade by World Bank staff, the Bank is plan-ning to take sanctions only against compa-nies that had direct contracts with the Bank.Companies which paid bribes on other proj-ect-related contracts would thus be exempt.

In a November 26 press release, IRN calledfor the dam-building companies chargedwith corruption to be suspended from receiv-ing World Bank contracts while they areunder investigation. IRN is also calling onthe World Bank to establish an independentinvestigation of its role in the scandal.

Critics argue that the Bank's responsibili-ties are not restricted to individual contractsbecause of the Bank's role in getting theproject off the ground, and as its fiscal man-ager. They argue that the World Bank isinterpreting its procurement guidelines nar-rowly in hopes that they will not have toapply them to some of the biggest dambuilding companies in the world.

“Such a narrow interpretation of its pro-curement guidelines may be in keeping withthe letter of the guidelines, but it is certainlynot within their spirit, nor the spirit of Presi-dent Wolfensohn's frequent anti-corruptionstatements,” says Patrick McCully of IRN.

In an unusual move, the World Bank haspledged financial and other support for theLesotho justice department in its pursuit of

this case. But critics argue that this support isinappropriate because the World Bank is thefiscal manager and a funder and promoter ofthe project with a long-standing and closerelationship with the companies charged.

“The Bank is not a knight coming to therescue of the government of Lesotho. It is aleading actor in a major corruption scandal.The set-up gives little reason for confidencethat justice will be served,” says McCully.

“It's time for an independent investigationthat considers not just the role of the compa-nies, but the performance of the World Bankin its oversight responsibilities,” McCullysays. “We need to know what the World Bankknows about the bribes, and when it firstknew it. We know from past experience thatinternal World Bank investigations cannot betrusted to reveal the truth.”

IRN also called for the establishment of aCommission of Inquiry that would includerepresentatives of local non-governmentorganizations, to investigate more allega-tions of corruption among former and cur-rent senior officials. ■

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World Rivers Review - International Rivers · World Rivers Review ... soot from coal creates acid rain that falls on 30 percent of the country and has affected India, ... China’s