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dam-l New Turkish Dam
This announcement, see below, has raised the ire of environmentalists.
It will also raise a storm of protest of the downstream countries; read
the background in Marq de Villier's new book, "Water."
don
Don McAllister
Planet
Ark Home page
National
Recycling Week
FOCUS - UK "minded" to grant credit
for Turkey dam
UK: December 22, 1999
British builder Balfour Beatty applied last year for the
government to underwrite its bid for the 200 million
pounds ($322 million) Ilisu project on the Tigris river.
Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers
published two government-commissioned reports on
the Ilisu dam on Tuesday.
"I have carefully considered both reports and I am
minded to grant export credits," he said.
"This will have to be conditional on the Turkish
authorities agreeing to address the concerns we have
about the environmental and social impact of the
project."
Balfour Beatty welcomed the announcement.
A government source said no final decision had been
made and Byers had laid down a list of tough
prerequisites.
The Export Credit and Guarantee Department can
provide money for part or all of the value of the
contract. Sources close to the department said it could
well stump up the whole amount if given the
go-ahead.
ENVIRONMENTAL OPPOSITION
Environmental groups have opposed the scheme tooth
and nail.
Friends of the Earth says the dam will flood 15 towns
and 52 villages and displace up to 20,000 Kurds. It has
written to Prime Minister Tony Blair begging him to
veto the project.
The scheme is also politically sensitive, planned for a
site only 40 miles upstream from the
Turkish/Iraqi/Syrian border.
Byers said money was dependent on the Turkey
drawing up an internationally acceptable resettlement
programme and ensuring water quality and
downstream water flows were maintained.
He also insisited on a detailed plan to preserve the
ancient heritage site of Hasenkeyf - the only Anatolian
town to have survived since the Middle Ages - as far
as possible.
Balfour Beatty, which has gone to great lengths to
rebut allegations about environmental, political and
humanitarian problems with the project, said the four
stipulations laid down by Byers would be the subject
of a full environmental impact report, due early next
year.
Turkish authorities were already developing a full
resettlement plan and had funded archaeological
teams to assess the potential damage, the company
said.
"And since there are no irrigation functions for the
project, the operation of the Ilisu project will cause
no
net diminution of the annual flow of the Tigris along
the Turkish/Syrian border and into Iraq," it said in a
statement.
Political sources say the Foreign Office, publicly
pledged to a more ethical foreign policy, was against
the plan.
"If the reports that (Blair) has given the Ilisu Dam his
personal blessing are true, the government will face
charges of gross hypocrisy," Tony Juniper of Friends
of the Earth said. ($1=.6208 Pound).
LONDON - Britain said yesterday it would grant export
credit to a proposed hydro-electric dam in Turkey if
stiff conditions were met.
Story by Mike Peacock
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE