(December 24, 2000) The last few months have seen major developments in the campaign to stop Fortis’s hydro scheme in Belize’s Macal River Valley. Here’s an update of recent events.
Other News Sources
Letter to the WCD Chair, signed by the ADB President
(December 22, 2000) Following is a letter to the WCD Chair, signed by the ADB President, and information about a workshop organized by WCD at ADB’s headquarters from February 19-20, 2001.
Three Gorges Probe – flood control; resettlement; water clean-up and conservation
(December 15, 2000) Yangtze flood control chief says, keep the alarm bells ringing
Corruption in the third world is our problem
(December 13, 2000) Britain is slow to punish businessmen who offer bribes abroad.
Three Gorges dam a time bomb, reports Asiaweek
(December 11, 2000)… China’s Three Gorges dam is a time bomb with problems to match its colossal girth …
Loan given to build hydropower dam abroad
(December 11, 2000) China’s Exim Bank agrees to provide credit for the construction of the first overseas BOT project by China’s power industry: Kirirom I Hydropower Plant Rehabilitation Project, in Cambodia.
Hug the forests, feel the wilderness
This review of Robert Bateman’s new book cites Patricia Adams.
Three Gorges Probe – ancient cultural relics; future developments
(December 8, 2000) Museum to store cultural relics from Three Gorges area
Coughing up for apartheid
(December 8, 2000) Foreign companies should face up to the truth about their roles in apartheid, a recent NGO conference in Germany concluded.
China turns floodwater into new source for irrigation
Floods become friends rather than foes in China, since the country has succeeded in making terrible summer floodwater useful in drought resistance.
Shanghai bans illegal fishing at mouth of Yangtze River
(December 8, 2000) Illegal fishing and eel catching are being cracked down at the mouth of the Yangtze River by the coast guards and frontier inspection police in Shanghai. The crusade, which began on Wednesday, aims to improve safety along the waterway of the longest river in China.
Canada’s Executive Director to ADB responds to Probe International, Re:Samut Prakam Wastewater Plant
(December 7, 2000) Response Letter of Julian H. Payne, Executive Director to ADB, to Grainne Ryder, Policy Director, Probe International.
Poor are sold down the river
(December 7, 2000) This article is by longtime Probe colleague and U.S. engineering consultant Phil Williams, a contributor to three Probe International books — Damming the Three Gorges: What Dam Builders Don’t Want You to Know (1990), Yangtze!Yangtze! by Dai Qing (1994), and The River Dragon Has Come (1998, co-editor) — and founder of the Berkeley-based International Rivers Network.
Canada’s Executive Director to ADB responds to Probe International, Re:Samut Prakam Wastewater Plant
(December 7, 2000) Thank you for your fax letter dated 1 December 2000 (received here on 4 December due to the intervening weekend and time difference) concerning the Samut Prakam Wastewater Management Project in Thailand. Your interest in and attention to this ADB project are sincerely appreciated. As the Executive Director for Canada at the ADB, you can be assured that I take very seriously the allegations that you as a Canadian NGO have raised in your letter concerning this project.
China’s thirst for energy
(December 6, 2000) China’s environmental degradation from its rapid, no-holds barred industrialisation has reached the point where it is now interfering with future growth. Bodies such as the World Bank have estimated that the cost of environmental pollution is equivalent to several percentage points of GDP.


