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Subject: LS: Decision due soon on Ralco Project

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Date: March 10, 2000
Subject: Decision due soon on Ralco Project
Source: CHIP News
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        A specialized team from the Comptroller General's office has been
working intensely this week to reach a prompt decision on whether to
approve decrees that would grant power company Endesa final authorization
to build the Ralco hydroelectric dam wall and its transmission lines.

        The move followed the Comptroller's decision to return to the
Economy Ministry decrees 31 and 32 on Feb.1 in order to resolve legal
complications arising from opposition to the 570 MW project from
ecologists and indigenous families.  The decrees cannot become law without
the comptroller, which oversees certain government activities, giving them
the green light.

        Two of the most controversial aspects concern the indigenous law
and questions over Endesa's water rights.  The Comptroller General is
currently studying reports provided by the State Water Authority and the
Electricity and Fuels Superintendency.  Economy Minister Jorge Leiva said
a final decision could take "anywhere from a few days to a month."

        Endesa announced Feb. 17 that as from March 1 it would suspend
work at the project, located on the Upper Bio Bio in Region VIII, and said
it would only resume activities when the decrees granting the relevant
concessions are published in the Official Gazette.  As at the end of
February Endesa, Chile's largest energy supplier, had invested US$154
million of the US$568 million needed to complete the hydroelectric project
which could provide as much as 18 percent of the country's Central Power
Grid needs.

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Ignacio Fernandez A.
International Rivers Network			      Internet Coordinator
http://www.irn.org/					   ignacio@irn.org
Phone: 510-848-1155 ext.307                              Fax: 510-848-1008
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"Si nuestro sudor sirviera, ya habria algun sudoducto"
Leon Gieco