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Non-Tech : The ENRON Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (3775)	4/1/2002 3:12:04 PM
From: Skywatcher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5185

SORRY but the program will NOT be on CBS....misread it....only on CBC....CANADIAN TV....am very disappointed that I and all of us won't be able to see this important program. But here is an interesting letter from some travellers that sums up much of the controversy: The Evening Telegram, Letter to the Editor March 26/2002 Newfoundlanders report on Chalillo controversy Re: Fortis Chalillo Dam - Belize Visit We recently returned from a winter vacation in Central America. During our travels we spent two weeks in Belize a beautiful tropical country approximately the size of the Avalon Peninsula. Frankly it was somewhat embarrassing to be a Newfoundlander traveling in that country where many Belizeans associate our home and country with Fortis Inc. and the construction of the Chalillo Dam on the Macal River. The dam is a very controversial public issue in Belize and a frequent topic of newspaper articles, letters to the editors and everyday conversations. During the past year, here in our province, some Belizean officials and Fortis representatives have stated on radio and through other media that the Belizean people support the Chalillo Dam and that it is only the outside interventionists such as Bobby Kennedy Jr. and Greg Malone who oppose it. Based on our travels throughout Belize nothing could be further than the truth. We met many people on buses, in bus stations, restaurants and in the places where we stayed, and we did not meet anyone who supported the dam. In fact most people we came in contact with expressed strong opposition to the dam for various reasons mostly related to engineering, economics and the environment. Some considered it to be a bad, unsafe engineering project. A previously constructed dam downstream already falls significantly short of the power it was supposed to generate. They also said it appeared to be structurally unsound due to the unstable limestone and shale geology of the dam site. Regarding economics, people do not expect any decrease in their electricity bills and several expected increases. In a recent Belizean newspaper article, (The Reporter, Sunday March 3rd edition) it was reported that "Mexico joins fray vs Fortis" and that Mexican Senator Edward Ovando Martinez noted that "Mexico has been selling electricity to BEL at a subsidized price of US 6 cents a kilowatt hour in the mistaken belief that these low rates are helping the people of Belize. But BEL, (a subsidiary of the Canadian Energy giant, Fortis) is charging the people of Belize US17. 5 cents a kilowatt hour or nearly three times what it pays to Mexico" We were told that a political decision to build the dam would not be in the best interest of Belizeans and their environment and that it would mostly benefit the Fortis Corporation, their political allies and foreign stockholders. Several people we met expressed concern over loss of habitat and for the future of the scarlet Macaw and the dozen threatened species that would be negatively affected by the dam construction and flooding. Belizeans also talked to us about the realistic alternatives to the dam for meeting their country's electricity needs. They believed that there would be longer-term jobs and economic benefits through developing power from biomass such as the residue from sugar cane production or by utilizing wind and solar energy. Yours truly, Bob Diamond Melvin Ellsworth For more information and a place to ACT against this disaster: probeinternational.org Thanks for taking the time to protest if you do.... CC