(May 4, 2000) ‘The electricity produced by the dam is much more expensive than that produced in other ways, because it costs tons of money to relocate local people and to offset the disasters it has caused to build the dam,’ says journalist Dai Qing.

Article excerpt: … [M]any locals say corrupt officials have taken their money and they cannot make a living. Although the authorities say they have investigated and prosecuted many officials, the problem still persists. Environmental campaigners say that an area of outstanding natural beauty will be lost to the world forever under the waters of the Three Gorges. And they warn that the reservoir behind the dam is already severely polluted and likely to get worse as much of the waste from big cities upstream like Chongqing flow into the Yangtze. Activist Dai Qing says the dam is causing more problems than solutions, insisting: “The electricity produced by the dam is much more expensive than that produced in other ways, because it costs tons of money to relocate local people and to offset the disasters it has caused to build the dam.”

BBC News Online, May 4, 2000