(February 28, 2014) Candy and George Gonzalez from the Belize Institute of Environmental Law and Policy (BELPO) — longtime champions of Belize’s Macal River and active monitors of the controversial Canadian-owned Chalillo dam and its impacts on the river — say they are again trying to press various Belize government departments to adhere to the Environmental Compliance Plan agreed to for the project. Under the plan, the Macal’s water and fish require regular testing and the results published to protect public health and safety. At present, the Gonzalez’s say public health is in danger from high mercury levels in fish caught in the Macal and high levels of E. coli in the river’s water, but the departments responsible for implementing the project’s risk management program are not doing their job.
SNC-Lavalin facing allegations of kickbacks in Canada
(February 21, 2014) SNC-Lavalin, the Montreal-based engineering giant, is facing more allegations of corruption.
“An independent Catalonia should not pay” for Spain’s “odious debts,” says employer association CCN
(February 18, 2014) As Catalonia’s secession movement gains new momentum, Albert Pont, the leader of a Catalan pro-independence business lobby, recently called out part of the national debt owed by the government of Spain — estimated at 962 billion euros in 2013, its highest level in a century — as “odious debt.” In the event of separation from Spain, Pont said that while an independent Catalonia — currently a province widely known as “the factory of Spain” and as the country’s wealthiest region — would be willing to “assume part of [the Spanish] debt; obviously, a proportionate one…. there are shares of the debt that we are not responsible for.”
Water in Beijing scarce, and getting scarcer
(February 14, 2014) German-based hydrology expert Wang Weiluo says Beijing’s water scarcity is a manmade disaster that began following the Chinese Communist Party takeover in 1949.
‘The Office’ meets NGOs
(February 12, 2014) That’s how Hussein Kurji, the creator of Kenya’s first mockumentary, describes his new television series, ‘The Samaritans’ — a satirical look at the absurdities of the international aid sector. Comic though the premise is, a far more serious critique of NGO accountability and effectiveness lies beneath.
Somaliland says “thanks, but no thanks” to foreign aid
(February 6, 2014) Somaliland – the, unrecognized, self-declared state north of war-torn Somalia – attributes a lack of foreign aid to its success.
Does SNC-Lavalin deserve a clean bill of health?
(February 4, 2014) A “privileged and confidential” review by the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), released to Probe International under the Access to Information Act, says graft-tainted engineering giant SNC-Lavalin has cleaned up its act. Reviews that lack rigour and independence, however, do not help the cause of rebuilding corporate reputations.
Jinping-I Dam impoundment linked to earthquakes
(February 3, 2014) Chinese geologist Fan Xiao investigates once again if the impoundment of a large dam reservoir triggered a series of earthquakes in the seismically active southwest region of China? Based on data collected by China Seismic Information (CSI), Mr. Fan says, ‘Yes’. Not only were the November 22, 2013, seismic events recorded in Sichuan, China not naturally occurring or isolated incidents, he says the region should prepare for stronger, “even destructive earthquakes” as a result of further impoundment.
USAID and Chinese state companies look to build white elephant
(January 24, 2014) USAID may join forces with Chinese state companies to build a controversial and uneconomic dam in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Aid in Haiti’s void
(January 17, 2014) Haiti’s post-earthquake disaster housing projects are either empty and looted, or taken over by squatters and people unaffected by the 2010 earthquake. Why? “There is a void…there is no authority there.”
While Canadians endured hardships during recent storms, customers in UK got compensated
(January 7, 2014) To help its most vulnerable customers cope, one UK power company provided them with Christmas dinners as well as hotel accommodation, all at shareholder expense.
Chinese dam builders rush to Latin America
(January 7, 2014) China’s growing involvement in hydropower development in the region boosts clout but also leads to allegations of poor corporate responsibility. “There is great resistance to dam-building in Latin America and special worry about Chinese dams because of the opaque nature of China’s decision-making and poor quality in these dams,” says Pat Adams of Probe International.
Foreign aid: supporting dictators one at a time
(January 7, 2014) British foreign aid money is being used to prop up some of the most corrupt countries in the world.
Talk about following a bad example
(December 24, 2013) As Europe’s carbon market crumbles, China decides it’s time to set one up. On a side note, this has crazy corruption written all over it!
Chinese geologist links recent Badong County quake to Three Gorges Dam
(December 20, 2013) High-profile Chinese geologist Fan Xiao — and the author of several reports for Probe International — notes with interest the rush by China’s state media, and the country’s official seismological agency, to dismiss a link between the 5.1-magnitude Badong County earthquake on Monday and the Three Gorges Dam reservoir. A dismissal that runs contrary to common sense and the basic facts of seismic analysis, says Mr. Fan, who believes reservoir-induced-seismicity (RIS), triggered by impoundment of the massive dam, was likely behind the recent quake and could induce stronger earthquakes in the region.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
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