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dam-l LS: President-Elect to Inherit Conflict over Dam



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Date: February/2000

Subject: President-Elect to Inherit Conflict over Dam

Source: IPS

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ENVIRONMENT-CHILE: President-Elect to Inherit Conflict over Dam

By Gustavo González

SANTIAGO, Feb 21 (IPS) - The dispute between environmentalists, indigenous

groups, business and

government officials over the construction of the huge Ralco dam and

hydroelectric plant is one of the

chief environmental conflicts to be left to Chilean president-elect Ricardo

Lagos.


When outgoing President Eduardo Frei steps down three weeks from now, he

will leave unsolved the problem of

the Spanish- Chilean company Endesa, which last Friday announced a

suspension of work on the controversial

dam.


In a decision which drew fire from environmentalists, Frei granted Ralco

the concession for supplying electricity in

January. But the Comptroller-General's office objected to the government's

decision.


It was the objections raised by that office which were cited by Endesa as

the reason for calling a halt to the works

on the dam being built on the upper Bio-bio river, Chile's largest, some

500 kms south of Santiago.


The suspension of the works will leave 1,400 workers out of a job, and

could lead to hikes in electricity rates if it

alters the government's energy plans for the year 2003.


Ralco has had a rocky history since 1994, when Endesa announced its

decision to build the dam, which has run up

against opposition from local environmental groups and by Pehuenche

families living along the upper Bio-bio.


Economy Minister Jorge Leiva and attorney Roberto Celedón, who represents

the Pehuenche families opposed to

the project, explained Monday that the objections raised by the

Comptroller- General's Office were due to several

pending legal proceedings.


At least three lawsuits have been filed against Endesa in Chilean courts,

while charges of ''ethno-cide'' were brought

against the mother company, Endesa-Spain, in 1999 in Madrid.


Frei, a Christian Democrat and a staunch supporter of the project, and

Lagos, a Socialist, both belong to the

governing Coalition for Democracy. But Lagos is expected to be more

receptive to the protests raised by

environmentalists and indigenous families.


The incumbent president insisted Sunday that Chile must reinforce its

energy policy based on hydroelectricity,

since this Southern Cone country of 14 million lacks its own reserves of

petroleum and natural gas.


Ralco is the biggest dam ever planned in Chile, with a 570- megawatt

potential which will increase the current offer

by 18 percent if it begins operating as scheduled in 2003.


The 155-metre high dam on the Bio-bio will create a reservoir with a

capacity of 1.2 billion cubic metres of water,

which will flood 3,467 hectares of land.


That area is now home to 91 Pehuenche families, 80 of whom have agreed to

swap their property for land

elsewhere offered by Endesa. But 11 families refuse to abandon their

ancestral territory.


The Bio-bio Action Group (GABB), a network of environmental and indigenous

groups and other non-governmental

organisations, protest that Ralco will commit ''eco-cide'' by destroying a

river system unique to that part of Chile.


The group also argues that the project is committing ''ethno- cide'' by

destroying the cultural habitat of the

Pehuenches - a branch of the Mapuche ethnic group - and accuses Endesa of

obtaining agreement on the land

swaps through deceptive means.


GABB leader Cristián Opazo said Endesa's announcement to freeze work on the

Ralco dam could be designed to

apply pressure on authorities to finally grant the company the necessary

concession.


Opazo accused Frei of failing to act in the dispute as president of Chile,

but as ''a businessman of the energy

sector.'' He argued that the best thing to do would be to put an end to

Ralco, which he termed ''a legally and

politically inviable project.''


Environmentalists argue that electricity generation can keep up with rising

demand in Chile by using thermal plants

fueled by natural gas, large quantities of which have been piped in from

neighbouring Argentina since 1998.


But in the government and armed forces there is resistance to depending on

imported fuel for energy, while Frei

says the problem with thermo-electricity is the high price of oil.


But critics of the project point out that hydroelectricity does not provide

a foolproof guarantee for national security

either, as demonstrated by the power shortage which affected Chile in late

1998 and early 1999 as a consequence

of a lengthy drought.


In the conflict over Ralco, concern over the environment and indigenous

rights have clashed with an energy policy

which according to ecologists must be revised and alternative sources of

power developed.


Environmentalists are also demanding a review of the concession for

exploiting rivers granted by the dictatorship of

Augusto Pinochet (1973-90) to Endesa in 1987, when the state-run company

was privatised.


In early 1999, Endesa-Spain acquired a controlling stake in the consortium

Enersis, of which Endesa forms a part.

(END/IPS/tra-so/ggr/sw/00)




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