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dam-l "storm on the Yangtze" <fwd> Economist article
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From owner-irn-three-gorges@igc.org Wed Mar 25 22:05:44 1998
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Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 16:23:54 -0800
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"Storm on the Yangzi", Beijing, pg 45,
The Economist, March 21st 1998
When asked in 1992 to approve the gargantuan Three Gorges Dam on the
Yangzi River, two thrids of the delegates to China's National people's
Congress gave their blessing. Such a vote might be an overwhelming victory
elsewhere, but in China it represented one fo the slimmest margins of
approval for any project ever put before parliament. Indeed, the vote was
cited as "proof" of the NPC's growing assertiveness.
Some say the NPC needs to be more assertive still, and could start by
re-evlauating the Three Gorges project. Dai Qing, an envirnomentalist and
China's most tenacious opponent of the dam, claims legislators were
hoodwinkedi n 1992. In a letter to the NPC, she accuses the dam's backers
of lying about the true scale of its problems, dangers and cost. The NPC,
she believes, must find the facts iteslf, and act to "prevent a disaster".
Others say that a disaster is already unfolding as the government starts
to move the 1.2million people whose wose homes will eventually be flooded.
A report issued on March 12th by two American groups, International Rivers
Network and Human Rights in China, claims the resettlement programme is
floundering.
Though officals claim to have moved about 100,000 people already, the
report says the true number is only half that. It claims resettlement
officials are largely incompetent and corrupt, and have failed to provide
land, homes or jobs for the people who have been uprooted. The reservoir
behind the dam is due to start filling up in 2003. "If the central
government insists on filling up the reservoir, it will have to rely on the
military or a man-made flood to force people out of their homes," the
report quotes a local offical as saying.
Although it has not acknowledged receiving her letter, the NPC may,
indirectly, have done something to satisy Miss Dai by naming Zhu Rongji as
prime minister. He replaces Li Peng, who has been the driving force behind
the project. Mr. Zhu is well known for scaling back schemes he considers
grandiose or wasteful and, as Miss Dai hopefully notes, he has never been
heard to say a kind word about the Three Gorges Dam.
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Three Gorges Campaign
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, CA 94703
threegorges@irn.org
tel: 510.848.1155 ext 317
fax: 510.848.1008
www.irn.org