The Canadian power company Fortis Inc., of Newfoundland, plans to construct the so-called Chalillo Dam in Belize's Macal River Valley - one of the last undisturbed
rainforest valleys in Central America.
The actual
construction will be carried out by BECOL, a Belizean subsidiary of Fortis, and will sell the power generated to Belize Electricity
Limited (BEL), the sole Belizean utility, also owned by Fortis. In January 2002, BACONGO, a coalition of environmental groups
in Belize, initiated legal action to overturn
the environmental impact assessment for the project. The assessment, carried out by AMEC, a giant worldwide consulting firm
based in London, has been harshly criticized by scientific, technical and economic experts.
The battle between Fortis and Belize environmental groups was taken
by the latter to the highest Commonwealth instance of appeal, the British Privy Council, last year. Following a two-day hearing
in December, the 5 appeal judges postponed a judgement until some time in 2004.
Belize conservationists accuses the government of helping to consolidate Fortis' total monopoly in Belize, where Fortis charges more
than three times more for electricity than the average price at home in Canada. Belizeans already pay twice as much as their
neighbours. Economically therefore the dam is a bad deal for Belize and a black mark for Canada. Added to this, serious safety flaws have been
exposed in the planning process, some up which, like the geological composition at the site and the location of fault lines
critical to the future safety of the dam, appear to have been deliberately covered up.
Just as
serious are the probable consequences for the environment. The dam, if completed, would flood a string of ancient Mayan settlements
and unspoiled habitat for rare and endangered species such as the Tapir (Tapirus Bairdii) Belize's national animal,
Jaguar (Panthera onca), Morelet's Crocodile (Crocodylus moreletti), Neotropical Otter (Lutra longicaudis) ,
Black Howler Monkey (Alouatta pigra), and the brilliantly-coloured Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao), fewer than
200 of which remain in Belize. The area also provides winter homes for many of the birds seen in North America in Canada during
the summer, such as the endangered Acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens).
The World Wide Fund for Nature
says: "This dam heralds a catastrophic dawn for one of Belize's most precious natural treasures. An unblemished wilderness, teeming
with exotic flora and fauna, risks being razed to the ground and flushed from the face of the earth."
Belize conservationists have support
from Friends of the Earth in the United Kingdom, the WWF, Canadian and American environmental organizations,
leading scientists, and prominent people, including Cameron Diaz, Harrison Ford, and Bobby Kennedy, Jr. Its about time Proact joined them!
"This dam heralds a catastrophic dawn for one of Belize's most precious natural treasures,"
said Dr
Ute Collier, head of WWF's Dams Initiative.
"An unblemished wilderness teaming with exotic flora and fauna risks being razed to the ground and flushed from the face of
the earth."
