[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
dam-l LS: Ralco Workers Protest Impending Shut Down
CHIP NEWS
***
Date: February 24, 2000
Subject: Ralco Workers Protest Impending Shut Down
Source: El Mercurio, La Tercera
***
-- RALCO WORKERS PROTEST IMPENDING SHUT DOWN.
Up to 500 construction workers from the Ralco hydroelectric dam on the upper Bio Bio River stopped traffic on the Pan-American highway for nearly 30 minutes Wednesday in protest of Endesa's planned shut down of construction there. Power company Endesa announced last weeked it would suspend work at the project because it didn't have the final permits for the hydroelectric generator and corresponding transmission lines. Workers spokesperson Hector Duran said they would continue to carry out peaceful protests to alert the government about their fears of losing their jobs. "No one can say that unemployment is coming down in this country while there is the threat of losing such a large number of jobs that were secure for at least the next three years," he said. There are around 1,300 people working on the project, 360 of which come from local Santa Barbara community and 240 of whom are indigenous Pehuenche. Nearly 30 percent of work on the project has been completed, and Endesa has spend some US$157 million of the planned investment of US$540.
***
Chip News
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Monti Aguirre
Latin American Campaigns
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, CA. 94703 USA
Phone: 510 . 848.11.55 and 707 . 591 .91.49
Fax: 510 . 848.10.08
e-mail: monti @irn.org
<color><param>ffff,0000,ffff</param>http://www.irn.org</color>