Judge Suspends Licensing Process for Araguaia-Tocantins Hidrovia Dam
10/26/99
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Judge Suspends Hidrovia
Source: Glenn Switkes, Director, Latin America Program,
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: October 26, 1999
A federal judge in Cuiaba' yesterday suspended the licensing process
for the Araguaia-Tocantins Hidrovia, following new allegations that
critical findings by scientists contracted to carry out the
Environmental Impact Assessment were deliberately covered up in the
final document presented by the Brazilian Transport Ministry to
Brazilian environmental authorities.
Lawyers for the Socioambiental Institute in Braslia, representing
Xavante indigenous communities, obtained the court order.
Judge C,sar Augusto Bearsi suspended a series of public hearings, the
first of which was to have taken place today. In his decision he
stated "frankly, a project of this size cannot be based on a farce,
nor can the results of studies be presented to the public, leading
all to believe they are real and serious, when in fact they were
adulterated. If the public hearing were permitted to take place, the
public would know only those facts "chosen" to show to them rather
than the complete studies carried out by qualified professionals.