The Hill Times
February 11, 2002

ASK CIDA!

Last month bulldozers began illegally clearing a road through the rainforest to make way for the construction of the Chalillo dam which would flood the rainforest valley of the Upper Macal River – one of the wildest places left in Central America. This would not be happening without Canada’s help:

The hydro dam is a project of Fortis, a billion-dollar Newfoundland-based corporation. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), using taxpayer’s money, gave almost $500,000 to AMEC, a Toronto-based engineering consultancy, to conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Since its release, geologists and scientists have discovered that the CIDA-funded EIA is deeply flawed. AMEC downplays the fact that the dam will, if Fortis is not stopped, flood critical habitat for threatened species such as the jaguar, tapir and scarlet macaw. Geologists in Belize have warned that AMEC’s geotechincal assessment of the dam is so shoddy that it should not be used as a basis for the dam’s design and construction.

Fortis and its partners are breaking the law in Belize, rushing ahead with no permits and no public hearings.

Fortis has abused our foreign aid, and stands to profit much more from Belizean ratepayers, who already pay electricity rates three times higher than those in Canada.

Call upon CIDA to recall this flawed assessment of the Chalillo dam now! The reputation of Canada, and the wildlife of Belize depend upon it.