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dam-l Judge orders halt to Hidrovia Araguaia-Tocantins Licensing Process



Judge Suspends Hidrovia

A federal judge in Cuiaba' yesterday suspended the licensing process for
the Araguaia-Tocantins Hidrovia, following new allegations that critical
findings by scientists contracted to carry out the Environmental Impact
Assessment were deliberately covered up in the final document presented by
the Brazilian Transport Ministry to Brazilian environmental authorities.
Lawyers for the Socioambiental Institute in Brasília, representing Xavante
indigenous communities, obtained the court order.

Judge César Augusto Bearsi suspended a series of public hearings, the first
of which was to have taken place today. In his decision he  stated
"frankly, a project of this size cannot be based on a farce, nor can the
results of studies be presented to the public, leading all to believe they
are real and serious, when in fact they were adulterated. If the public
hearing were permitted to take place, the public would know only  those
facts "chosen" to show to them rather than the complete studies carried out
by qualified professionals.


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      Glenn Switkes, Director, Latin America Program,
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org

          South America/América do Sul:
                     Tel/Fax/Message/Recados: +55 65 791 1313
                                 email: glen@cba.zaz.com.br
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