Belize dam awaits far-off ruling
#17728
01/28/04 12:49 PM
01/28/04 12:49 PM
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 80,387 oregon, spr
Marty
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Belize dam awaits far-off ruling By David Shukman
The UK's historic Privy Council is hearing a challenge to the construction of the 50-metre-high Chalillo dam in Belize, in central America. Our science correspondent has been to see the work in progress.
The work is well advanced The long dirt road to Chalillo snaked up through the forests of the Maya Mountains in Belize and the potholes gouged by the tropical rain were so deep I wondered if our four-wheel-drive would make it.
Our first sight was a bleak encampment for the construction workers.
Row upon row of huts, surrounded by a sea of mud, house teams hired from as far afield as China, Nepal and India.
As we waited to be escorted to the dam site itself, the Chinese workers were preparing a feast to celebrate their New Year and their laughter rose above the gentle sounds of table tennis.
Two of the project's senior engineers led us further into the mountains, our cars eventually stopping on a sharp bend overlooking the deep valley of the Macal River.
Far below lay pale scars of bare earth where the jungle had been stripped to make way for access roads and assembly areas.
I hadn't realised how advanced the project was: heavy vehicles were in place along with a massive rock-crusher and two storage towers for cement.
Standing amid these giant works, it hardly seemed feasible that a panel of British judges, sitting on the Privy Council, could actually bring all this to a halt.
How it should look: Artist's impression of the dam (Image by Bacongo) The dam's developers, the Belize Electricity Company, admit that the PR battle has hurt them - who could match a protesting Cameron Diaz in a canoe? - but they certainly believe that nothing will stop the project from being completed.
The case turns on whether the environmental assessment was adequately handled.
Campaigners argue that the rock at the dam site is sandstone not granite as the developers once claimed and that a fault-line running right over the site was conveniently removed from a key map.
The electricity company says its opponents latch on to the smallest error and blow it out of proportion.
What will be lost? What will be gained? Like so many projects of this kind, it's a question of balance between encouraging development and minimising destruction.
Belize's image as an eco-friendly tourist destination may suffer if the dam goes ahead. On the other hand, asks a senior electricity executive, how will those tourists enjoy air-conditioning if we don't go ahead?
The dilemma is clear. The problem is the effects of the dam are likely to be irreversible.
During my stay, I was cooled by an electrically powered fan but also woke to a gentle orchestra of bird-song rising from the banks of a river that may be changed for ever.
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Re: Belize dam awaits far-off ruling
#17730
02/16/04 01:29 PM
02/16/04 01:29 PM
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 92 Houston, TX
SASSIK
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Originally posted by Lan Sluder/Belize First: Unfortunately the Privy Council has now ruled that the Belize government has the right to build the dam and can proceed. The court dismissed the appeal of the Belize Alliance for Conservation Non-Government Organizations.
--Lan Sluder So are there no further options? I am an attorney, but I also have access to a system which burns carbon waste, emits nothing but power and clean water, and takes up less than one acre. I gain nothing from the promotion of this system, but I have grown to love Belize as my second home. If they are willing to consider this process, we should be able to petition the court for a temporary injunction to give time to consider it. Sandra Godfrey ( [email protected])
Sandi
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Re: Belize dam awaits far-off ruling
#17731
02/16/04 02:13 PM
02/16/04 02:13 PM
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 915 San Antonio TX and Seine Bight...
ckocian
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The Privy Council in the UK is its Supreme Court. The ruling was 3-2 to allow the project to proceed. The effort of the opposition to the project is now centered on monitoring the construction of the dam and making sure its progress is in alignment with the laws on the books. The opposition hopes that Fortis will abandon the project in the long run, though that will not alleviate the damage to the site in the meantime. Look at www.stopfortis.org for all the developments of late.
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Re: Belize dam awaits far-off ruling
#17736
02/17/04 05:37 PM
02/17/04 05:37 PM
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 92 Houston, TX
SASSIK
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I just think they owe it to the Creator to at least try something else before bulldozing through the country just to "see if it works".
Sandi
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