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.
(July 1, 2008) Chalillo dam developers did not meet certain environmental health and safety obligations after its construction, and the Department of the Environment did not meet all of its responsibilities in enforcing the Environmental Compliance Plan (ECP), rules a Belize judge.
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.
ENDNOTES
Introduction
1. “Yao Yilin Says That for the Time Being China
Will Not Consider Starting the Three Gorges Project Immediately,”
Zhongguo Tongxun She, 23 January 1989.
2. Edward Goldsmith and Nicholas Hildyard, The
Social and Environmental Effects of Large Dams, (San Francisco: Sierra
Club Books, 1984), p. xi.
3. CIPM Yangtze Joint Venture (CYJV), Three Gorges Project Water Control Project Feasibility Study, Vol. 1, p. 16-12.
On September 17, 1990, Probe International filed
complaints against British Columbia Hydro International, Hydro-Québec
International, SNC, Lavalin International, and Acres International for
their work on the Three Gorges Water Control Project Feasibility Study.
The complaints were filed with the regulatory bodies that are legally
responsible for regulating the profession of engineering in the
provinces of British Columbia, Quebec, and Ontario. Using the findings
contained in Damming The Three Gorges: What Dam Builders Don’t Want You
To Know, Probe International accused the engineering companies of
negligence, incompetence, and professional misconduct.
1. The population subject to resettlement should, at a minimum,
maintain its current standard of living and should have the opportunity
to achieve a higher standard of living after resettlement has taken
place.
2. The resettlement transition period should be
minimized and adequate support of both a social and economic nature
should be provided during the transition period.
Economic and Financial Aspects
by Vijay Paranjpye, Ph.D.
The
feasibility study of the Three Gorges Project was conducted by the CIPM
Yangtze Joint Venture (CYJV) with the principal objective of providing
impartial technical input to the Government of China in its
decision-making process, and to provide the basis for securing funding
from international financing institutions. In the study summary, CYJV
states its objective as:
Sedimentation Analysis
Dam Safety Analysis
Missing Energy Perspectives
by Vaclav Smil, Ph.D.
Flood Control Analysis
by Philip B. Williams, Ph.D., P.E.
Background
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
Other News Sources
Probe International 