A coalition of environmental
groups yesterday lost the latest round in their legal battle to halt
the building of a dam in one of the most fragile habitats in Central
America.

The Privy Council, sitting in London, ruled by a majority of three
to two against the Belize Alliance of Conservation Non-Governmental
Organisations (Bacongo), which raised concerns about the potential
dangers posed by the structure.

Bacongo says the 50-metre high Chalillo dam planned for the Macal
river valley in Belize will destroy a tract of unspoilt rainforest,
home to more than a dozen endangered species.

They argue that the project, which involves flooding three and a
half square miles of rainforest, would threaten communities living
downstream and produce too little electricity to be worthwhile. But the
coalition vowed to fight on, taking comfort from the judgments of the
two dissenting law lords, Lord Steyn and Lord Walker.

Tony Garel, chairman of Bacongo, said: “This is a setback, but we
won’t stop until we get the truth. The Privy Council was highly
critical of the Belizean government. “In January 2002, the coalition
began legal action to overturn the environmental impact assessment for
the project.

Becol, a Belizean subsidiary of the Canadian power company Fortis,
plans to build the dam and sell the power to Belize Electricity
Limited, owned by Fortis and the sole Belizean utility.

Supporters of the scheme say it is the most economic option, and
would ease reliance on Mexican energy as well as providing cheap
electricity.