Date: Wed, 26 May 93 21:57 EDT
From: opirgc@web.apc.org (OPIRG Carleton)
To: wcsbeau@ccs.carleton.ca
Subject: Three Gorges/British Columbia


/* Written  9:38 am  May  3, 1993 by eprobe in web:dams.general */

/* ---------- "Three Gorges/British Columbia" ---------- */

	Three Gorges Backgrounder #10                    April 30, 1993

       NDP Trade Delegation Lobbies Chinese To Build Three Gorges Dam 

       Chances Good of Landing Contracts From Its Socialist Comrades, 
                         says B.C. Premier Harcourt

       Province Wants A Piece of the Action Even Though Mega Projects 
                  Are Risky, says B.C. Hydro boss Eliesen


          A consortium of Canadian firms is well placed to land 
      contracts to help build the Three Gorges Dam -- the world's 
      largest and most controversial -- on China's Yangtze River, 
      according to British Columbia Premier Mike Harcourt. 

          Harcourt, who is on a two week trade visit to the Far East, 
      was hopeful after he discussed the project with Chinese 
      officials. 

          The Three Gorges Dam has been criticized on economic, 
      technical, and environmental grounds, and the Canadian 
      engineering consortium of B.C. Hydro, Hydro-Quebec, SNC-Lavalin, 
      and Acres International which gave the dam the green light in a 
      1988 feasibility study has been accused of biased, sloppy, and 
      substandard work. The dam is expected to cost between $10 and 
      $20 billion.

          Accompanying Premier Harcourt on the trade delegation is 
      Marc Eliesen, the Chief Executive Officer of B.C. Hydro, which 
      recommended the dam be built and which is one of the firms now 
      vying for its lucrative contracts. Mr. Eliesen, a critic of mega 
      projects during his short stint with Ontario Hydro, testified 
      under oath before the Ontario Energy Board that "whether it's 
      nuclear or whether it's large fossil, or any other large mega 
      project, I think the experience has shown in today's society 
      that there is tremendous financial risk and financial exposure 
      to these particular projects." 

          Premier Harcourt acknowledges the technical, and economic, 
      and environmental criticisms of the dam: "Oh, there are a number 
      of concerns that have been expressed about it," he said in a 
      Southam News report. But bowing to the Chinese government's 
      respect for due process, he said "The Chinese government has 
      listened to all of those concerns and has made a decision in 
      March to proceed."

          Critics believe Premier Harcourt's confidence in China's 
      benevolent leadership is misplaced. They point out that the 
      Chinese government has refused to listen to public concerns, 
      including those expressed by its own citizens. Yangtze! 
      Yangtze!, a book by prominent Chinese experts critical of the 
      Three Gorges project was banned in 1989, and its chief editor 
      jailed. Today, criticism of the dam in the Chinese press is 
      strictly forbidden. 

         At last year's National People's Congress, delegates wishing 
      to voice their opposition to the Three Gorges Dam were 
      overridden by the chairman. In protest, several members stormed 
      out of the Congress hall shouting "The [parliament] has violated 
      its own law" and chanting "I protest, I protest." An 
      unprecedented one-third of the delegates refused to vote in 
      favour of the dam.
                                    -30-

      Contact:  Margaret Barber or Patricia Adams, Probe 
      International, Canada, (416) 964-9223, ext. 236