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In a dramatic turnaround during court hearings last week, the Belize government denied ever giving Canadian power company Fortis Inc. permission to build the Chalillo hydro dam in the Chiquibul Forest.

In submissions before the Court, government lawyers said no final environmental approval has yet been granted for the dam, despite letters presented by Fortis to the contrary.

Belize environmentalists, as well as Canada’s Probe International and the U.S. based Natural Resources Defense Council, are hopeful the government’s backpedalling will prompt Fortis to rethink its plans to build the dam – its first hydro venture outside North America.

"We went to court because we cannot allow companies like Fortis to bulldoze our laws and rob us of our rivers," Jamillah Vasquez, Executive Director of BACONGO, said this week.

BACONGO’s lawyers argued that the government broke the country’s environmental laws last year when it gave Fortis the green light to build the Chalillo dam without first conducting public hearings and completing an environmental impact assessment.

"This case suggests that Fortis has been operating on the shady side of the law," says Gráinne Ryder, Policy Director for Probe International.

"We trust Fortis will now respect the law so that Belizeans, not Fortis, will have the last word on this dam," she said.

Lawyers for the Belize government conceded that public hearings and more studies are needed before the government can make a final decision. Fortis’ lawyers appeared suprised and perplexed by the government’s legal position.

In Toronto, foreign aid watchdog, Probe International has obtained a report prepared by Fortis consultants, AMEC, which estimates that Canadian companies stand to win some $12 million worth of engineering and equipment contracts if the dam goes ahead.

Fortis hired Toronto-based AMEC last year to prepare an environmental assessment which BACONGO has condemned as biased and failing to meet Belizean standards.

Environmentalists worldwide are opposed to the Chalillo dam because it threatens one of Central America’s last rainforest valleys where rare wildlife, including jaguars, freshwater crocodiles, howler monkeys, and a rare subspecies of scarlet macaw still thrive.

The dam would also not produce cheaper electricity for Belizeans who already pay rates two to three times higher than neighbouring Central Americans.