Kevin Ward
Canoe News
December 3, 2003

A dam in Belize backed by a Canadian company is fundamental to the country’s economic development, Belize’s attorney general said Wednesday as he warned of dire  consequences if the project is delayed by Britain’s Privy Council.

London: A dam in Belize backed by a Canadian company is fundamental to the country’s economic development, Belize’s attorney general said Wednesday as he warned of
dire consequences if the project is delayed by Britain’s Privy Council.

As a poor country, Belize relies on foreign investment to build public projects, but Godfrey Smith fears that money would evaporate if the Privy Council orders the dam to
undergo a second environmental assessment, possibly postponing its construction for years or even causing it to be abandoned.

“Belize simply cannot afford for the world financial community to know that there is this kind of indecisiveness,” he told a five-man judicial committee hearing an appeal of the case brought by a coalition of environmental groups.

The Chalillo Dam on the Macal River has been approved by local environmental protection agencies, but the Belize Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (BACONGO) believes plans for the hydroelectric project are flawed.

BACONGO says the dam’s approval was granted on plans that showed it would be built on granite, but geological surveys indicate the site chosen for the dam consists of sandstone
and shale, raising questions about its safety.