Help Needed to Stop Building of San Roque Dam in the Philippines
9/17/99
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Help Needed to Stop Building of San Roque Dam in the
Philippines
Source: International Rivers Network via Global Response
www.irn.org
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: September 17, 1999
Dear Members of Global Response's Quick Response Network:
This Urgent Action Alert comes from our friends at International
Rivers Network. We need faxes on this issue before next Wednesday!
Please help if you can. -- Global Response
YOUR HELP NEEDED NOW TO STOP FUNDING OF SAN ROQUE DAM IN THE
PHILIPPINES!
Dear friends,
We urge you to send faxes now to stop the release of Japanese loans
for the San Roque Dam Project in the Philippines. The dam, located
in Northwestern Luzon, would destroy the indigenous Ibaloi community
and negatively affect more than 20,000 people. The Ibaloi are
fiercely opposed to the project as they believe it will destroy their
community and their livelihood. Still, the Japanese Export-Import
Bank (JEXIM) is set to release more than $300 million in loans for
the project next Wednesday, September 23.
An independent review of the project's environmental impact
assessment coordinated by International Rivers Network, Friends of
the Earth Japan and the Cordillera Peoples Alliance found that there
were serious deficiencies in the quality of the studies and that many
important questions regarding issues such as seismicity and
sedimentation were not addressed. In addition, a recent fact-finding
mission to the existing resettlement sites found that the
resettlement is proceeding under very poor conditions.
We urge you to fax letters to JEXIM today! A sample letter follows.
Thank you for your support.
Aviva Imhof
South-East Asia Campaigner
International Rivers Network
****************************
SAMPLE LETTER
September 17, 1999
Hiroshi Yasuda
Governor
The Export-Import Bank of Japan
Fax: + 81 3 3287 9539
Dear Mr. Yasuda
San Roque Dam Project
I urge you to reconsider your support for the San Roque Dam project,
and to withhold any additional funds for the project until the
following matters are adequately dealt with. I believe that any
approval of additional JEXIM loans at this stage would be premature,
and could seriously jeopardize the lives of many thousands of people
upstream and downstream of the dam.
I am concerned about the findings of the independent panel which
reviewed the project's environmental impact assessment. The
independent panel found that the reservoir could fill with sediment
much faster than the EIA predicts, thus greatly shortening its
lifespan and affecting its economic viability. The accumulation of
toxic sediments could poison the water in the reservoir and
downstream. The dam could be more prone to failure from earthquakes
than the EIA predicts, and the project could exacerbate rather than
alleviate flooding. These issues have not been addressed by the
project developers or the National Power Corporation.
The indigenous Ibaloi people are fiercely opposed to the project as
they believe it will destroy their community and their livelihood.
They are concerned that high rates of sedimentation in the watershed
area will cause increased flooding around the reservoir, inundating
their lands. People who have already been resettled by the project
are worse off than before they were resettled and have no land to
till or source of long-term livelihood. Some families have been
forced to relocate using military intimidation.
With all the problems associated with this project, it is quite clear
that any release of JEXIM funds would be premature. I urge you to
undertake a thorough and public reassessment of the economic, social
and environmental impacts of the project before disbursing any
additional funds. To do otherwise could jeopardize JEXIM's
reputation, which would be funding a project that is seriously
flawed, endangering the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people
downstream and upstream of the dam site.
Yours sincerely,
YOUR NAME