• Burma: Revival of the Weigyi dam
• Indonesia: Reopening of Indorayon pulp mill encounters strong local opposition
• Laos: Nam Theun 2 dam - Fighting corruption World Bank style
• Philippines: Growing opposition against the Sumitomo Corporation nickel refinery plant in Palawan

 

- Burma: Revival of the Weigyi dam

First commissioned in 1964, the World-Bank funded Bhumiphol dam in Tak province, north west Thailand, has never operated to its full capacity. In March 1994, the reservoirs behind the Bhumiphol and Sirikit dams (both World Bank-funded) contained only 7 per cent of their total usable volume. The Thai government's answer is to propose yet more dams on the Salween River, on the Thai-Burma border in order to divert water into the Bhumiphol reservoir.

The Salween river runs along the edge of Thailand for several dozen kilometres. It passes through mountains and rainforests, until recently the scene of armed insurrection. Thailand plans to deprive the Salween --as well as other rivers running along the border-- of some of the plentiful monsoon rainfall diverting it towards the reservoirs of its own dams and using also the natural resource as a source of electrical power.

Recently, plans by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to build the Weigyi dam between Thailand's Maehongson Province and Burma's Karen State, have been revived. The dam will have a back flood that will go as far as 380-400 km to the north. Weigyi "Great Whirlpool", after completion, will be 168 meters high, with a generating capacity of 4,540 MW at an estimated cost of US$ 6 billion.

The Thailand-based environmental NGO TERRA (Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance) says the reservoir, with a normal high water level of 220 meters will be inundating 15,000 - 20,000 acres of land that will displace thousands of Karenni people in Burmese Kayah State. The extent of the damage, however, remains to be investigated, though an EGAT reporting to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee promises probable destruction of thousands of acres of forest areas on both sides of the Salween River.

The Weigyi dam nonetheless still requires official approval from Rangoon, that had already signed an agreement with Thai-based MDX Group last December to construct a 3,300 megawatt dam at Shan State's Tasarng, 400 km upstream.

The Burmese Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy has already confirmed since Burma's Independence Day, 4 January, that it is firmly against foreign investments until substantive talks between the Opposition and military rulers are in place. Shans, Karens and Karennis have also voiced their condemnations on the dam projects since 1993. "This is a life and death issue," says a Karenni representative. "The Weigyi Dam would split the Karenni in two. It would be the final nail in our coffin. Damming the Salween affects us in so many ways: economically, socially, culturally, environmentally. It will break the Karennis' rice pot."

Article based on information from: "Environment Dam in Karen State will still flood Shan State", Shan Herald Agency for News, 20 February 2003, disseminated by electronic list owner-irn-mekong@netvista.net ; "A paradoxical Alliance, Thailand taps Burma's rivers", André and Louis Boucaud, Le Monde Diplomatique, http://mondediplo.com/2000/02/10boucaud
"Over the hills and not so far away. The Karenni people of Kayah state in Burma will live and die with their resources,", by James Fahn http://www.geocities.com/jdfahn/Karenni.htm

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- Indonesia: Reopening of Indorayon pulp mill encounters strong local opposition

The reopening of the PT Inti Indorayon Utama paper and rayon pulp mill, in Porsea, North Sumatra, has caused strong local opposition to resume. The factory is located at the centre of a densely populated district near to Lake Toba, one of the largest fresh water reservoirs in South East Asia, and releases pollutants, often unfiltered, into the environment, pollutes the water and air in the region and destroys the local Batak population's basis for life. During the 1990s, scientific evidence demonstrated that the mill was responsible for the damage caused to the health of the local population: skin diseases, respiratory illnesses and damage to the nervous system are consequences of the production of pulp and rayon. Furthermore, land clearing, essential for production, has had a devastating impact on local farming: landslides, uncontrollable fluctuations in the water supply, damage to plants and fish. Local people have been opposing for a long time the mill and the plantations that feed it (see WRM Bulletin 14).

Indonesian churches and NGOs which have joined the protest against the reopening of the factory are supported by the United Evangelical Mission (UEM). In a letter to the Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the UEM, together with Misereor, the Diaconical Work of the Evangelical Church in Germany, Watch Indonesia! and INFID, appeals to the Indonesian government to refrain from reopening the mill, to avoid risks to the population and the environment.

Although environmentalists and the then Indonesian Minister for the Environment had already warned of the foreseeable consequences from the outset, the project was implemented under the patronage of former ruler Suharto. After the downfall of Suharto, and as a result of the massive protests by the people, production was temporarily stopped, but since then the company has been fighting incessantly for production to be resumed --as it turns out, successfully. Although the Indonesian Minister for the Environment had recommended the final closure of the plant at the beginning of 2000, the government gave the company management permission to resume operations in November 2002. Since then, there have been recurring violent clashes between the local population and the police, leaving eighteen demonstrators imprisoned, among them two pastors from the Batak Protestant Christian Church (HKBP), one of the UEM's member churches.

Local NGO KSPPM and the North Sumatra branch of environmental group WALHI are also supporting the protestors. Local groups set up a crisis centre and kitchen in the neighbouring town of Tarutung to help victims of the conflict. A Porsea man in hiding in Jakarta said: "The government does not care about the environment --about the damage Indorayon has caused-- or about what the local people want. The government takes the company's side, but 90% of the community don't want Indorayon here."

Article based on information from:"UEM against the reopening of pulp mill in Indonesia. Indorayon puts human life and environment at risk", Press Release, January 30, 2003, sent by Watch Indonesia!, e-mail: watchindonesia@snafu.de ; "Thousands protest reopening of Indorayon pulp plant", Down to Earth, Newsletter No. 56, February 2003, e-mail: dte@gn.apc.org ; http://dte.gn.apc.org

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- Laos: Nam Theun 2 dam - Fighting corruption World Bank style

Last year, presumably in an attempt to clean up its tarnished image, the World Bank produced a glossy brochure: "10 things you never knew about the World Bank". Number seven on the list is the claim, "The World Bank is a leader in the fight against corruption worldwide." The brochure adds, "The World Bank is working to fully integrate governance and anticorruption measures into its planning and operational work. The Bank is also committed to ensuring that the projects it finances are free from corruption."

Unfortunately, in its involvement in the proposed 1,000 MW Nam Theun 2 dam, the Bank seems to have forgotten its fight against corruption. The Bank has funded a series of studies on the US$1.5 billion project and without a US$100 million partial risk guarantee from the World Bank, commercial financiers will not risk lending money on the Nam Theun 2 project. The Bank has postponed its decision on whether to give the guarantee for many years.

Despite the fact that the dam may never be built, the forests in the reservoir area have been clearcut. Since the early 1990s, the Lao military-run Bolisat Phathana Khet Phoudoi (BPKP - Mountainous Region Development Corporation) has benefited from the concession to log the project's 450 square kilometre reservoir area on the Nakai Plateau.

With the forests gone, the Lao government revoked BPKP's logging concession and the company crashed. On 14 January 2003, the government appointed a new acting director of BPKP, Sisaleuay Khounbathao, who was previously the Deputy Head of Business Improvement at the Prime Minister's Office. Sisaleuay replaced Bounmy Chithphanya, BPKP's director for the last five years. Although the company faces huge debts, Bounmy told the Vientiane Times, "It is not bankrupt yet because we have the Party and State supporting us."

The forests of the Nakai Plateau have been sold off to the highest bidder and the company that sold the logs is heavily in debt and can only survive through government support.

BPKP's collapse, however, should not come as a surprise to anyone in the World Bank.

In 1997, International Rivers Network (IRN) wrote to the World Bank questioning the Bank's involvement in the Nam Theun 2 project. In the letter, IRN quoted from a World Bank-funded Economic Impact Study by the consulting firm Louis Berger. The report pointed out that BPKP operates largely outside of the control of the central government and recommended, "As an autonomous state enterprise, BPKP should have a Board of Directors and fiduciary accountability to the Ministry of Finance to facilitate oversight of its activities."

None of Louis Berger's recommendations were acted on, until this year. Under Sisaleuay Khounbathao, the newly appointed director, plans are afoot for BPKP to establish a council board, a board of directors, departments, and BPKP company groups and branches.

Louis Berger's 1997 report also stated, "BPKP's commercial interests will continue to lie in the direction of maintaining higher logging quotas than are commensurate with a sustainable harvesting regime, and of opening access to previously untouched areas."

This is precisely what BPKP has done. A 2001 report on forestry in Laos by the World Bank, Sweden and Finland stated, "Recent World Bank missions have assessed the extent of unauthorized, illegal, unplanned and illicit logging in selected NBCAs [National Biodiversity Conservation Areas] and in the Nam Theun 2 watershed area where logging is prohibited." The report also noted, "serious logging infractions in the Nakai Nam Theun NBCA, and other areas which the GOL [government of Laos] had designated as off limits to logging."

In addition to logging the reservoir area, BPKP has carried out resettlement related to the project and built houses for resettled villagers. Louis Berger's 1997 report noted that BPKP was bidding for contracts relating to the dam project, while it was also a member of the Lao government's committee that decides on those bids. In November 1997, the Bank's then country director for Laos, Ngo Zi Okanjo Iwella told Power in Asia, "BPKP will have to compete with other private companies in public bids associated with the project." The question of BPKP's conflict of interest remained unaddressed.

Iwella confirmed to Power in Asia that she was aware of "governance issues" relating to the Nam Theun 2 project. However, regarding BPKP Iwella said, "From past experience in regional rural activities, we have had a constructive engagement with BPKP. But we also know there are issues associated with BPKP in the past and we have to make sure they will not be repeated in the future."

The Bank's "constructive engagement" with BPKP has done little to prevent BPKP from running up huge debts while clearcutting a vast area of forest. A detailed and public audit of BPKP's operations, focussing especially its operations related to the World Bank and the Nam Theun 2 project, is long overdue.

The state-run Vientiane Times reported recently, "The World Bank and the Government of the Lao PDR are working hand in hand to establish that the Project revenues to the Government of the Lao PDR will effectively serve the long-term development of the country."

The income from logging the reservoir area is project revenue. If the plans for the Nam Theun 2 dam did not exist, neither would BPKP's concession to clearcut the forests on the Nakai Plateau. The people living on the Nakai Plateau who have seen BPKP steal their forests have a right to know where the money went.

By: Chris Lang, e-mail: chrislang@t-online.de

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- Philippines: Growing opposition against the Sumitomo Corporation nickel refinery plant in Palawan

Even though in 1992 the local government on the island of Palawan cancelled the concessions granted to logging companies (see WRM Bulletin 38) in an attempt to curb the destruction and degradation of the country's forests, it did not halt the threat to the integrity of the indigenous communities in the Philippines. There are also mining companies endeavouring to carry out their business in spite of the opposition of local communities and warnings about the environmental damage their activities will cause.

The project for the installation of a multi-million dollar nickel refinery, financed 90% by the giant Japanese mining company, Sumitomo Metal Mining Corp and the remaining 10% by the Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp. (RTNMC) --a company belonging to the brothers Ronaldo and Manuel Zamora that has been operating for years in the region-- will extract 10,000 tons of nickel. The production will take place over a 20-year period, starting this year and increasing in successive years.

Exploitation activities in Rio Tuba are located in the South Eastern region of Palawan Island. With its over one thousand islands and islets rich in tropical flora and fauna scattered over 1.5 million hectares, Palawan is the largest province in the Philippines and the home of various indigenous groups, among which the Tagbunau, Pala'wan, Tau't bato and Batak.

The indigenous population of Rio Tuba has organised itself and joined with other community members to defend their lands, their health and their way of life. The toxins from mining operations have visibly affected water sources because the dams built to contain the wastes overflow during the rainy season, causing the rivers to become silted up. Skin and respiratory problems suffered by the inhabitants of the communities are attributed to the dust and waste coming from a lateral mine gallery. The proposed project will be another blow to hundreds of fisher people, farmers and indigenous peoples whose very survival depends on a healthy environment.

In 1991, the Palawan NGO Network, Inc. (PNNI) was set up, comprising social and non-governmental organisations from the province, and on 3 December 2002 on its behalf, the Environmental Legal Assistance Centre (ELAC) with the support of the international organisation Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW), submitted a document to the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) to prevent the endorsement of the construction of a multi- million dollar nickel refinery complex.

This document makes a critical analysis of the ecological, legal and political impacts of the mining project, pointing out that it violates several of the country's laws, policies and directives. The project is located and affects areas within the ancestral domains of the Pala'wan community. Over 30 families of this community who inhabit the territory are struggling to reaffirm their ancestral rights to the land, which enables them to maintain their means of livelihood and are fearful that the project will use a limestone outcrop in Sitio Gutok, considered a sacred site.

For all these reasons, ELAC argues that the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) should not be granted to this mining project. It also denounces the fact that the evident community opposition shows that the company does not have community consent. This involves a violation of the Indigenous Rights Law, which requires that the company should obtain "prior free and informed consent" following an open presentation of the intentions and scope of the activity proposed, to enable the community to have a clear understanding of the situation.

According to the report that ELAC submitted to the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), RTNMC used deceitful tactics to obtain the signatures of the indigenous leaders and of other groups, which it later attached to its environmental impact declaration. The community inhabitants and various other groups such as ELAC have publicly denounced the deceitful ways used by the company to achieve support: "many were asked to sign an attendance sheet, and found out later it was a letter supporting the proposed HPP project."

On 10 July 2001, the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Heherson Alvarez granted an environmental certificate to the project, certifying that it would not cause considerable negative impacts and that the submitting company had observed all the requirements of the Environmental Impact Assessment system. This certificate was later endorsed by the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, an administrative body regulating environmental projects in the province.

This sentence goes against the well-founded fears that a major part of the project will be carried out in a zone where activities are not permitted, including a coastal area with coral reefs. The experts studying the environmental impact declaration submitted by RTNMC found that some details of the project were missing. Meanwhile, the company did not duly respond to the questions on how they were going to prevent infiltration of sulphur and other dangerous effluents from the plant.

In September, ELAC met with Senator Robert Jaworski, which led to him to adopt a senatorial resolution questioning the environmental certificate. Subsequently there was another resolution regarding this subject. As a result, last December the senate carried out an investigation in which NGOs, indigenous communities, Muslim and farmer representatives from Palawan submitted their case. The senate promised to continue with the investigation and the people are now waiting that this body forcefully intervenes by taking up defence of the environment and of the inhabitants of Palawan.

Article base on information from: Indigenous Peoples in The Philippines Fight Nickel Mine Expansion", Drillbits & Tailings, Volume 7, Number 7, 5 September 2002, "Project Underground" e-mail: cbaldi@moles.org; "Planned nickel plant in Palawan under fire", Jofelle Tesorio, Inquirer News Service, http://www.inq7.net/reg/2002/jan/28/reg_6-1.htm ; Administrative Order Nº 2000, http://www.psem.ph/download_files/dao-mine%20waste3.pdf

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