Tension rises over halted Ralco Project

September 13, 1999

Sources: el Mercurio, La Tercera

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.

Source: 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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