The Reporter (Belize)

September 9, 2001

All through September and into October a group of 12 Belizeans – the members of NEAC (National Environmental Appraisal Committee) – will study the 5 volume Environmental Impact Assessment on the effects of building the Chalillo dam, which in theory would augment the failed Mollejon hydro project.

There will be unbelievable pressure on these individuals, many of whom work directly or indirectly for Government in various ministries and departments. The pressure will not only be because of the enormous task of sifting through thousands of paragraphs of evidence about the potential environmental threat of building Chalillo but also because the Belize Government has, from the financial supremo (Ralph Fonseca) and prime minister (Said Musa) down through sundry ministers, already given their premature blessing to the building of Chalillo.

I want to address this column to all the members of NEAC: to Andre, Angel, Barbara, Godswell, Janet, Ramon, George, Francine, Candy, Rony, Valdemar, Natalie and, last but not least, Ismael.

Chalillo is more than just a dam in a river. It represents, as nearly as any issue can, the age-old struggle between the common good and the often unstoppable power of high finance – and government subservience to this power. Call it globalization, rampaging capitalism or even savage socialism. Its name does not matter, but the brutal reality of the result does matter: that is, the manipulation of costs and prices to suit the few at the expense of the many and, in this particular case, at the expense of all the people of Belize.

Nobody in Belize at first saw what was coming with BTL and its price gouging and enormous profits, and few imagined that the privatization of the telephone company could bring anything but good news. But then, nobody knew that the biggest and controlling chunk (65%) was going to be handed over to a single individual, Michael Ashcroft, as the monopoly telephone and communications provider. The law in Belize, which was flaunted in allowing a single individual this measure of control (plus a thirty year tax concession), protects the now Lord Ashcroft against anyone in Belize taking advantage of the new technology of the Internet to communicate cheaply. The law will go on protecting Lord Ashcroft at the expense of Belizeans – for one simple reason, which Lord Ashcroft has made very clear to Belizeans. He can AFFORD to fight any infringement of his monopoly and will do so no matter what it costs. And, as he has already proved, not even the Belize Government has the power or money to fight him.

What has this got to do with Chalillo? It is basically the same story. In this case a mega-company out of Canada, Fortis Inc, which owns 95% of the present hydro provider BECOL and 65% of Belize Electricity Ltd., wants much the same deal which Lord Ashcroft has – except that they want their monopoly to last 50 years! Just why the Belize Government is panting so hard in support of BEL and Fortis to build this foolhardy dam is hard to fathom, except of course the already voiced suspicion that a political inner group and a few “friends of government” will benefit enormously financially if Chalillo goes ahead.

It is time to bury forever the idea that Chalillo is about cheap electricity. It cannot be, for two very simple reasons. Firstly, there is just not enough water in the Macal River – as is all too obvious since it has been proved over and over again. Secondly, if BEL and Fortis had ever been truly interested in cheap electricity, they would have long ago joined with Belize Sugar Industries in seeking power through biomass, which could revive Belize’s dying cane industry and the whole of the north of Belize. Instead, their interest throughout has been in hydro and Chalillo – and a third dam at Vaca when Chalillo, like Mollejon, also fails. Hydro does not mean cheap electricity; it means MONEY for a few and a huge debt for the Belizean people.

Yes, there is a very sound environmental argument against building Chalillo, but it is not just about displacing a few animals, about re-locating scarlet macaws, as the Chalillo supporters allege. It is about much, much more. It is about destroying the base of Belize’s current single biggest foreign exchange earner and its greatest future industry – tourism. The only thing that Belize has to offer that is better than its competitors to the north, to the west and to the south is its rich natural endowment: its reef, its undeveloped Mayan ruins, clean rivers, pristine rainforest, high lush jungle, the beauty of its unexplored mountains and its extraordinary wildlife. This unbelievable heritage, which is supposedly owned by all Belizeans and future generations yet unborn, is now under direct threat – not just from natural population growth or even from intrusion from across our borders, but from our own Government´s lack of vision and foresight and, no doubt, the greed of some of its members.

Let me leave the 12 NEAC members (whom I think of as a jury which will decide Belize´s fate, far into the future) with this small section of the EIA that they are studying; it outlines just some of the adverse environmental fallout from Chalillo.

* significant and irreversible reduction of biological diversity, initially at the population level but later potentially at the species level.

* fragmentation of the proposed Meso-american Biological Corridor.

* rapid reduction in the already endangered population of the Scarlet Macaw subspecies (Ara macao cyanoptera), leading to possible extinction of the species from Belize.

* reduction in the numbers of migratory birds from the United States and Canada.

* reduction in nutrients and essential biological debris materials that facilitate the productivity of downstream ecosystems.

* negative impacts on biodiversity and ecological interactions extending well beyond the dam and its impoundment.

* serious negative (and probably long-term) accumulative impacts from illegal hunting and settlers as a result of increased access to the area.”

And, as the EIA reveals, there is much, much more!

The conference now taking place in Durban is about the colonial exploitation of Africa (in the past and in the present) by western politicians and big business. The past and present of Central America is not all that different from Africa. Belizeans should be listening very closely to events in Durban, in order to be able to pre-empt a similar fate for Belize. The neo-colonialism of today’s globalization, which allows foreign monopolies control of crucial utiltiies and resources, is little different from the worst aspects of yesterday’s colonial exploitation.

The members of NEAC have a responsible and painstaking task ahead. May God and good sense guide them to their decisions – but not fear of retribution or promise of rewards!