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Ottawa – Fortis Inc of Newfoundland, a successful Canadian corporation,
and the Canadian Government will be on trial Wednesday (December 3,
2003) in London when the highest court in the Commonwealth sits to
consider stopping construction of the Canadian-backed dam on the Macal
River in Belize.
The Court will decide whether the rights of the people of Belize were
violated by Fortis and the Belize Government in denying them access to
proper public hearings and full disclosure of the contracts they would
pay for. In short, a transparent Environmental Impact Assessment as
required by Belizean law. And Commonwealth law.
Was that Environmental Impact Assessment process violated? That is the
essential question of the case that the judges will consider. It’s
simple enough. But the circumstances of the case are extraordinary.
It’s extraordinary that this seedy little case has made it all the way
to the Privy Council. It’s the first time in its 500 year history that
the Privy Council has heard an environmental case. It’s the first time
they have ruled thery have the authority to hear such cases. And the
issues involved are those of fundamental human rights. Environmental Law
has become a vital component of Human Rights Law.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms the right of all
people to clean water, clean air and enough land to live on. Without
these other freedoms are meaningless. Environmental Rights are Human
Rights.
And the EIA is a major part of Environmental Law. The EIA sets out our
rights. The EIA is what stands between us and Love Canals and the Sydney
Tar Ponds and the Walkertons and poisoned lakes and oceans and toxic
death in general. The EIA is our protection. And is this EIA, paid for
by the Canadian Government, a farce?
How was it violated? We expect the Judges will look at the denial of
proper Public Hearings as a major breach of the EIA process, which
denies the people of Belize fundamental rights under the Law.
The Wildlife aspect will probably not be considered by the judges,
although the Wildlife component of the EIA, which was conducted by the
Museum of Natural History in London, recommended the dam not be built
because the damage to wildlife and the ecosystem would be too great and
not possible to mitigate. Fortis put this report in the Appendix of the
EIA, and contradicted it. The CEO of Fortis, Stan Marshall, said the
wildlife reports were wrong and the endangered animals could just move
up the hill when their Valley is flooded.
The judges will probably look at the recent amazing revelations about
the flawed geology studies of the Dam site. Just last week, only days
before the Privy Council Hearings, the Government of Belize finally
released the findings of a Government Report on the Dam area.
Chief geologist, Jean Cornec, says in that report of May 2002 - From the
Final Report - Remapping proposed Challilo Dam area. Geology and Petrol
Department, Minister Natural Resources. And Environmental Trade and
Industry. “The major fault zone observed in the Macal River bed appears
on the original map of the IGS (overseas memoir #3 Bateson and Hall
1977). However the fault is absent on the Geological Map produced by
AMEC (for Fortis –author’s note) in their partial reproductions of the
77 IGS map. The rationale for the removal of the fault line is unknown
as this fault outcrops spectacularly in the Macal River bed and left
bank.”
In their geology data in their EIA, Fortis has actually erased a fault
line in a map of the site, despite the high number of dam collapses
world wide, and risk to life. There are very good reasons why the
Government of Belize passed a law shielding Fortis from all lawsuits.
Why would Fortis need to be above the law if not to break it?
It’s a text book case of Free Trade, Globalization and Privatization, at
work in the world. Free Trade means the freedom of money, not people.
Fortis, a powerful transnational corporation was free to buy into Belize
and set up a private monopoly over electricity distribution, with the
people of Belize a captive market, paying the highest price for
electricity in the Western world. Now Fortis wants to set up a monopoly
over electricity generation by putting up the costly and controversial
Challilo dam on the Macal River.
Fortis, a billion-dollar corporation – they just purchased Aquilla in BC
and Alberta for $1.2 billion – went to the Canadian government for help
to put up the dam in the Rainforest. In steps CIDA, then under the
command of faithful Fortis friend, Brian Tobin. CIDA gave Fortis the
money to take care of the EIA. $500,000 Canadian tax dollars to ensure
the rights of the people of Belize were respected. Or to make sure the
dam went through, falsify geological data, hide illegal contracts,
prevent public hearings and make sure people in Belize would never have
a say in the dam?
We gave Fortis a $500,000 advantage. Team Canada pumped up on subsidy
steroids from CIDA scores another hit in the Third World. And the people
of Belize lose, thanks to the Government of Canada, Fortis, and the
Government of Belize. So now the people, environmental groups and
business people are seeking redress and justice from the Court in
London.
We paid for this fraudulent document to cheat the people of Belize. CIDA
specifically paid for the EIA, in a secret deal only discovered under
the Freedom of Information Act. So they aren’t proud of what they’ve
done here. But we paid for this mess.
The suit is directed against the Government of Belize. That they
approved this EIA and this dam project, is their shame. But that we
financed it, and produced it, is Canada’s shame. So really on Wednesday
when the people of Belize seek redress against their Government in
trying to protect their environment and livelihoods, we in Canada should
pray that they are successful, and that the Court puts an end to the
scurrilous and embarrassing behaviour of Fortis and the Canadian
International Development Agency in Belize.
This report was written by Greg Malone
Save the Macal River Coalition
December 2, 2003, Ottawa
For more information:
Sierra Club of Canada
613-241-4611
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