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dam-l Enron and Karnali-Chisapani Project [fwd: NBA@lwbdq.lwbbs.net]
>>From majordom Wed Sep 9 12:50:33 1998
>Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1998 12:50:33 -0400 (EDT)
>From: owner-dam-l@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca
>To: owner-dam-l@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca
>To: dam-l@lox.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca
>From: NBA@lwbdq.lwbbs.net (NBA) (by way of swong@irn.org (Susanne Wong))
(by way of "D. Murray" <dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca>)
>Subject: LS: Enron and Karnali-Chisapani Project
>
>The Enron circus and Nepal ko bikas
>By Pratyoush Onta
>
>This year we have heard repeatedly about Enron and the proposed
>Karnali-Chisapani 10,000 plus megawatt hydro project. The papers have
>been
>full of these reports: Enron withdraws its interest in the project due
>to
>delays caused by unsure Nepali politicians of various colours; PM Girija
>
>requests Enron to "come back"; A "warm" welcome accorded to the Enron
>delegation; Deputy PM Shailaja sends a letter to Enron asking it to be
>"patient until we make substantial progress" on the proposed Indo-Nepal
>Pancheshwar Project; hangama in the Parliament as Shailaja tries to
>defend
>her decision by saying downstream benefits that
>will accrue to India after the building of the project need to brought
>into the picture....
>
>The circus has had many participants. Expectedly ex-PM Sher B Deuba, did
>
>his "Nepals future has been jeopardized by Shailajas move" gig in
>parliament. UML netas including Manmohan Adhikari (of "I invited Enron"
>fame) - the same ones who have built their political careers as
>communists
>by denouncing American imperialism - have criticized Shailajas decision
>as
>being counterproductive for Nepal ko bikas.
>
>They are saying - an excellent opportunity to realize massive economic
>growth arising from an unprecedented structural transformation of the
>economy of Nepal (kayapalat is the word they use) has been lost. Their
>speeches, spiced with their proclaimed devotion to uplift the Nepali
>people, continue to highlight that only the revenues of the magnitude
>derived from big projects such as the Karnali-Chisapani (and Pancheswar)
>
>will actualize Nepal ko bikas.
>
>This national myth - that only big projects will revolutionize the
>economy
>of Nepal and make Nepalis rich - is extremely seductive. Other cultural
>historians might be interested in analysing the connections between the
>highly masculine nationalist psyche and the fascination of our netas for
>
>big projects.
>
>Here I simply ask the proponents of this myth to spell out
>the linkages between big projects, projected large revenues and Nepals
>development. I do not expect an answer to this question from the current
>
>lot of dishonest politicians. Hence, my attention is focused on my
>colleagues in the communications business.
>
>That the seduction of big projects has also gotten the better of some
>otherwise competent journalists can be evidenced from the commentaries
>they have written of late. Journalists participating in the Enron circus
>
>have included reporters for this publication.
>
>Take for instance the commentary filed by Jogendra Ghimire (TKP, 9
>August
>1998). After stating that downstream benefits constitute less than 10
>percent of the overall gains from this project (how did he do the
>calculations?), Ghimire writes, "The remaining 90 percent will be
>realised
>within the domain of Nepal and Enron... will pay royalties and taxes
>that
>will add to at least a couple of hundred million dollars for the first
>fifteen years. Then, Nepals yearly earning from the project could cross
>the billion dollar mark.
>
>The multiplier effect that the project is bound to have - in the form of
>
>employment, industrialisation and, most importantly, establishment of
>Nepal as a safe investment destination - will be immense and beyond the
>imagination of those opposing the entry of Enron in Nepal."
>
>Ghimires line of reasoning is typical of those for whom big projects
>constitute a magic wand that will lift Nepalis out of abject poverty.
>They
>have great faith in the myth that one-time investment of big money in
>the
>Nepali economy will engender a multiplier effect so immense that it will
>
>
>(Continued to next message)
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Dianne Murray,
Coordinator, Dam-Reservoir Working Group
Webmistress, Dam-Reservoir Impact and Information Archive
http://www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/dams
vox: 1-613-520-2757 fax:1-613-520-3898 e: dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca
Home of Project Pisces: fish need flow!
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