Brazilian dam bid halted by judge
Source: Agencies |
April 21, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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A BRAZILIAN judge has suspended for a second time bidding on a massive hydroelectric dam project opposed by environmentalists, Indians and "Avatar" film director James Cameron.
The ruling can be appealed by Brazil's government and a spokesman for the National Electrical Energy Association said the auction will proceed as planned if the decision is overturned. He declined to be named in line with association policy.
Bidding on the Belo Monte dam was suspended by the judge last week in response to a claim by the state attorney general that it could have serious environmental and social consequences. But a court in Brasilia overturned that ruling.
A federal tribunal in northern Para state released a statement late on Monday saying judge Antonio Carlos Almeida had once again ordered a halt to bidding on construction of the Belo Monte dam.
The planned US$11 billion, 11,000-megawatt project to dam the Xingu River, which feeds the Amazon, would be the third-largest such hydroelectric project in the world.
Cameron has lobbied to stop the project, visiting Brazil's Indians and even comparing their struggle against the dam to the plot of his blockbuster movie "Avatar."
"Avatar" depicts a fictitious Na'vi race fighting to protect its homeland, the forest-covered moon Pandora, from plans to extract its resources.
Environmentalists and indigenous groups say Belo Monte would devastate wildlife and the livelihoods of 40,000 people who live in the area to be flooded.
The ruling can be appealed by Brazil's government and a spokesman for the National Electrical Energy Association said the auction will proceed as planned if the decision is overturned. He declined to be named in line with association policy.
Bidding on the Belo Monte dam was suspended by the judge last week in response to a claim by the state attorney general that it could have serious environmental and social consequences. But a court in Brasilia overturned that ruling.
A federal tribunal in northern Para state released a statement late on Monday saying judge Antonio Carlos Almeida had once again ordered a halt to bidding on construction of the Belo Monte dam.
The planned US$11 billion, 11,000-megawatt project to dam the Xingu River, which feeds the Amazon, would be the third-largest such hydroelectric project in the world.
Cameron has lobbied to stop the project, visiting Brazil's Indians and even comparing their struggle against the dam to the plot of his blockbuster movie "Avatar."
"Avatar" depicts a fictitious Na'vi race fighting to protect its homeland, the forest-covered moon Pandora, from plans to extract its resources.
Environmentalists and indigenous groups say Belo Monte would devastate wildlife and the livelihoods of 40,000 people who live in the area to be flooded.
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