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dam-l LS: Comptroller to Receive Ralco Report



***CHIP NEWS

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Date: February 22, 2000

Subject: Comptroller to Receive Ralco Report

Source: El Mercurio, El Diario

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COMPTROLLER TO RECEIVE RALCO REPORT.  


The National Water Bureau, which is part of the Public Works Ministry, said it would send the Comptroller General a report on the Economy Ministry's resolution 362, which granted Endesa authorization to go ahead with the dam wall and transmission lines at its Ralco hydroelectric project (Region VIII). The move follows a statement Friday by Endesa that it would suspend work at the 570 MW project on March 1 because it hasn't been granted the final permits for the Ralco hydroelectric generator and the corresponding transmission lines. The Comptroller did not accept resolution 362 issued by the Economy Ministry, meaning it could not become law. The Comptroller requested the report on the resolution following a lawsuit filed against Endesa on behalf of several indigenous families opposed to the Ralco project, who argue their ancestral homeland would be destroyed in the process. Water Bureau Director Humberto Pena said the controversy was over resolution 362 and not whether or not Endesa had the water rights for the project, which are also being disputed by the indigenous families.  It had been granted water rights for the project in 1987, he said.

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Chip News



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