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dam-l Dam-Building In Slovakia
In article <881dcf$256u$1@pencil.math.missouri.edu>, you wrote:
>/* Written 1:24 PM Feb 10, 2000 by ntangri@essential.org in en.alerts */
>/* ---------- "Dam-building in Slovakia" ---------- */
>
>From: Neil Tangri <ntangri@essential.org>
>
>FRIENDS OF THE EARTH - SLOVAKIA
>Ponicka Huta 65, 976 33 Poniky, Slovakia
>tel/fax: +421-88-4193324
>email: foe@changenet.sk
>web: http://www.changenet.sk/foe/
>
>February 10, 2000
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>Will ABB also profit from the economic problems of Slovakia?
>
>According to the Slovak press, ABB, the transnational dam building
>corporation, offered the Slovak Government its assistance in the operation
>of the Gabcikovo Water Works (GWW) as well as in the restructuring of debts
>of the Vodohospodarska Vystavba, the state-owned GWW project funder. This
>could potentially lead to the Slovak government subsidizing the profits of
>ABB while opening the doors for further destructive dam construction in the
>Slovak Republic.
>
>ABB is recognized as one of the leaders of the international dam industry.
>The company provides support for the world's most controversial dam
>projects, especially in the South where it takes advantage of innefective
>laws, a lack of democracy and its enormous political influence to get
>government guarantees on loans for dam projects. This results in the
>decapitalization of poor countries while at the same time brings huge
>profits for the company. Along with a number of large dams in Latin
>America, Asia, and Africa, the company is also actively involved in the
>Chinese mega-project the Three Gorges dam, which is to submerge 13 cities
>and more than 1,700 villages, leaving a minimum of 1.3 million people
>involuntarily relocated.
>
>The GWW is surely one of the most controversial investments in Slovakia's
>history. The project was designed and constructed by the Communist regime
>and completed and put into operation after the fall of the regime in
>contradiction to Slovak laws. It is believed that the GWW project has
>already cost US$1.5 billion, excluding the externalities, past accidents
>and expected expenses which will most likely soon be needed to fix its
>technical discrepancies.
>Vodohospodarska Vystavba is one of the most indebted companies in Slovakia.
>Unable to pay back even the interests of its foreign loans, Vodohospodarska
>Vystavba has repeatedly been in need of the implementation of the state
>gaurantees during the past few years.
>The GWW as a whole is not a profitable project, but its energy production,
>if it were to be legally separated from the rest of the project, would
>represent its only lucrative segment. Thus, Friends of the Earth-Slovakia,
>an association of civic organizations dealing with the development and
>human rights issues, fear that the Slovak Government may sell, or provide a
>long-term lease for the energy production of the GWW project to ABB in an
>attempt to rid itself of the troubled short-term loans. Friends of the
>Earth are frightened by the fact that, according to such a contract,
>Slovakia would be responsible for over-seeing the unhindered flow of water
>to the energy section of the GWW, controlled by ABB, which may then result
>in the further squandering of large public funds, e.g. for reconstruction
>and maintenance of the rest of the GWW. If such concerns are fulfilled, ABB
>would accept the contract with clear knowledge of the future financial
>profits while leaving Slovakia subsidizing such profits from public funds.
>At the same time ABB would successfully open the door for other dam
>projects in Slovakia.
>
>Friends of the Earth call on the Slovak Government to prevent further
>funneling of resources from the country's economy. They, however, also call
>on the government to stop any preparation and construction of new dams
>until independent comprehensive assessments of the economic, social and
>environmental effects of the current dam projects are complete. Based on
>such assessments, the government must hold accountable those responsible
>for ruining the state by ineffective dam projects and immediately undertake
>a process of substantial ammendment of the state water management policy,
>as well as reform of the whole ineffective and bureaucratic system of water
>management administration.
>
>For more information, please contact:
>Juraj Zamkovsky, tel/fax: +421-088-4193324, E-mail: zamkovsky@changenet.sk
>