Probe International

True, Fortis narrowly
escaped an injunction to stop construction of the Chalillo dam. Three
out of five judges decided the Belizean government’s environmental
approval of the dam was not illegal, just flawed.

After years of alleged
financial mismanagement and corruption by the People’s United Party,
civil unrest broke out in the capital city of Belize in January,
provoked by the release of a new national budget with significant tax
increases.

Chalillo dam construction site photos taken April, 2005.

Bills to increase as much as 57% for Belize Electricity Limited
customers who had benefited from a reclassification of the social rate
category in April 2003, which was discontinued after BEL claimed the
government subsidy for the program had dried up.

Overall grade:
"Fortis/BECOL has failed to meet its legal obligations in construction
of the Chalillo Dam and providing for the health and safety of the
people, the river, and the environment."

The new dam is planned for the Vaca area on the Macal River, about 6 miles from the Chalillo site.

"Each year, Fortis/BEL reports higher and higher profits as our rates go up and the [Macal] river gets worse."

Belize Environmental Law and Policy Office vice president Candy
Gonzalez argues for stay on construction of $105-million Vaca dam
pending fulfillment of certain aspects of an Environmental Compliance
Plan.

The Belize Institute of Policy and Law Organization (BELPO), a citizen lobbying group operating out of the Cayo district, has successfully secured a Supreme Court judgement against the Department of the Environment (DOE) for its failure to enforce an Environmental Compliance Plan (E.C.P.) against the multi-million dollar corporate giant BECOL.