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dam-l LS: Tension Rises Over Halted Ralco Project
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CHIP NEWS
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Date: 9.13.99
Subject: Tension Rises Over Halted Ralco Project
Sources: el Mercurio, La Tercera
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-- TENSION RISES OVER HALTED RALCO PROJECT.
Tension rose among Pehuenche indigenous people after construction on the Ralco
hydroelectric dam on the upper Bio Bio valley in Region VIII was
halted by a court order, causing some 1,500 workers hired by
building company Besalco to lose their jobs.
The ruling was made by the sixth Santiago civil court last week
following a lawsuit brought against the owners of the project, the
Spanish-controlled Endesa generating company, by the Pehuenche
Quintreman sisters in June 1997.
The sisters are among seven indigenous families opposing the
US$500 million project, which would flood the ancestral homeland of
70 Pehuenche families. Endesa has been negotiating a US$20 million
relocation plan with the other families which the company says will
help the Pehuenche overcome their impoverished state.
Eleven percent of construction work on the 570 MW dam
project, which was due to be operational by 2002, has already been
completed. In subsequent appeals, the courts will have to decide
whether the indigenous law or the electricity law takes precedence
in the dispute.
On Saturday 300 indigenous people who were laid-off by
Besalco following the lawsuit, gathered in the Ralco area to denounce
the Quintreman sisters, blaming them for the job losses.
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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
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