(January 4, 2007) Sop Hia, Laos Near this dusty village of 51 houses, amid remote hills in the center of landlocked Laos, a country where electricity and running water are scarce and 80 percent of people still live on subsistence farming, a giant project is taking shape that has multinational companies and lenders buzzing.
WB blacklists Bhasha dam surveyors
(November 12, 2006) The World Bank blacklisting of Lahmeyer International has jeopardized the future of a dam scheme the company is working on in Pakistan; although widely reported by the media, Pakistan authorities say they need to verify the company’s debarment first before taking action. Work on the Bhasha dam project in Pakistan is in jeopardy now that the World Bank has blacklisted the German engineering firm, Lahmeyer International, after finding the company guilty of paying bribes in the multi-billion dollar Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP).
Odious Debt: definition, application and context
(October 30, 2006) The co-author of Advancing the Odious Debts Doctrine addresses how the doctrine can be applied and in which contexts.
Export credit the new ‘odious debt’ of the Third World
(September 1, 2006) Patricia Adams, executive director of Probe International, speaking to the European Commission Conference on Export Credit Agencies and Sustainable Development, 20 June 2006, Brussels.
Free the Third World of export credit agencies
(June 21, 2006) The evidence of boondoggles made possible by Export Credit Agency (ECA) support – the Three Gorges dam, the Norwegian shipping deal to Ecuador, the Manantali dam in the Senegal River basin, the Bataan nuclear power station in the Philippines, pulp and paper mills to Indonesia, the OK Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea, military exports to Iraq – is extensive and well documented.
Address to the European Commission conference on export credit agencies and sustainable development
(June 20, 2006) Thank you very much to FERN and to the European Commission. It is an honour for me to be here to discuss this very important subject – how to prevent more unpayable Third World debts being created by the world’s export credit agencies.
Export credit debt prevention: speech by Patricia Adams
(June 20, 2006) I suspect the vast majority of ECA loans, credits, and guarantees to the Third World – which have doubled and now account for 34% of all Third World official debts – could be deemed "odious."
Export credit debt prevention
(June 20, 2006) Three steps to protecting future generations from export credit agencies.
In involuntary resettlement for China projects, the World Bank ignores its own guidelines
(May 31, 2006) For some years now, the World Bank has been promoting the People’s Republic of China as a model of “best practice” for the developing world in the contested area of involuntary resettlement. This evaluation has been widely repeated, and most recently has been adopted in several papers commissioned by the World Commission on Dams (WCD http://www.dams.org), a body mandated to conduct an independent review of the “development effectiveness” of big dams and water projects around the globe.
Big Projects Targeted for Review
As the International Commission on Large Dams met last week in Beijing, China, international dambuilders are bracing for the release of a report that could rewrite planning and, more importantly, lending criteria for large international dam projects.
Henan dam fails to find customers
(May 14, 2006) China’s US$4 billion (HK$31 billion) dam in Henan province across the Yellow River has been unable to find customers for its electricity, according to its vice-general manager, Wang Xianwu.
China planning nuclear blasts to build giant hydro project
(May 14, 2006) Chinese leaders are drawing up plans to use nuclear explosions, in breach of the international test-ban treaty, to blast a tunnel through the Himalayas for the world’s biggest hydroelectric plant.
Global study blasts ills of hydro dams
"Development critics find report too hopeful." Article quotes Grainne Ryder.
Ertan hydroelectric power plant seeks loan extension
(April 6, 2006) Ertan is asking for a 10-year deferral of loan repayments, including some to the World Bank. Since opening in 1998, the Ertan dam has lost an average of US$145 million annually due to an electricity glut in Sichuan province.
Exporters to identify agents and face random audits in anti-bribery drive
(April 5, 2006) Exporters will have to identify middlemen and face random audits to detect potential bribes under tough anti-corruption rules issued by the government yesterday.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
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