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A coalition of environmental groups yesterday lost the latest round
in their legal battle to halt the building of a dam in one of the
most fragile habitats in Central America. The Privy Council,
sitting in London, ruled by
a majority of three to two against the Belize Alliance of
Conservation Non-Governmental Organisations (Bacongo), which raised
concerns about the potential dangers posed by the structure.
Bacongo says the
50-metre high Chalillo Dam planned for the Macal river valley in
Belize will destroy a tract of unspoilt rainforest, home to more
than a dozen endangered species.
They argue that
the project, which involves flooding three and a half square miles
of rainforest, would threaten communities living downstream and
produce too little electricity to be worthwhile. But the coalition
vowed to fight on, taking comfort from the judgments of the two
dissenting law lords, Lord Steyn and Lord Walker. Tony Garel,
chairman of Bacongo, said: "This is a
setback, but we won't stop until we get the truth. The Privy Council
was
highly critical of the Belizean government."
In January 2002,
the coalition began legal action to overturn the environmental
impact assessment for the project. Becol, a Belizean
subsidiary of the Canadian power company Fortis, plans to build the
dam and sell the power to Belize Electricity Limited, owned by
Fortis and the sole Belizean utility.
Supporters of the
scheme say it is the most economic option, and would
ease reliance on Mexican energy as well as providing cheap
electricity.
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