Chinese government plans a role in the transmission of energy from Belo Monte Dam (Brazil)

This is an unofficial translation of a Portuguese-language article which
appeared in "Valor Econ�mico" (http://www.valor.com.br/)

Chinese government plans a role in the transmission of energy from Belo
Monte Dam (Brazil)

Claudia Schuffner, Valor published 10/11/2011.

Original link:
http://www.valor.com.br/empresas/1045456/state-grid-planeja-disputar-transmissao-de-belo-monte

Largest power company and the world's seventh largest company listed
among the Fortune 500, the Chinese state-owned State Grid Brazil
Holdings made another acquisition in the country. Just bought, for $205
million, an entire building and the new Avenida Presidente Vargas in Rio
de Janeiro. It's a step in the installation of the company that has
invested nearly $ 3.5 billion in the country since last year. The
amounts were spent on the acquisition of seven power transmission
companies controlled by the Full Broadcasters, the Spanish Elecnor,
Isolux, Abengoa and Cobra for $1.89 billion and discharge of a loan of
$1.338 billion from the National Bank for Development Economico e Social
(BNDES).

With the acquisition of the building, which will be used initially only
the last five floors, the State Grid's investment comes to $3.433
billion. But this may be just the beginning. Cai (pronounced Chai)
Hongxian, CEO and board of directors in Brazil, said the appetite for
the country is not a passenger.

The executive, who left China in 2010 to live in Rio, is interested in
disputing the concession to build the transmission lines that will
transmit 11,223 megawatts (MW) of energy that will be generated by
hydroelectric Belo Monte for the rest of Brazil, but that's not it.
While the market awaits definition of the Energy Research Company (EPE)
on the design and other technical details of this line - which will be
auctioned in 2012 and is still in design phase - the State Grid seeks
partnerships. State Grid is interested in partnerships with companies
that have Brazilian (state and private) and international projects for
generation of any source is hydroelectric, wind, biomass and solar. The
search for partners involves projects in Brazil and other Latin American
countries. Among the companies that have had conversations with the
Chinese Hongxian mentioned Copel, AES, Cemig Alupar, Eletronorte and
Network Group. With Eletrobras memorandum of understanding was signed to
develop projects together. With the National System Operator (ONS) a
memorandum provides for exchange of technology and the philosophy of the
State Grid.

The acquisition of the building is cited by the president as a
demonstration that the country is in long-term plans. "Brazil is
experiencing an economic boom, will host the World Cup and the Olympics
and, more importantly, is a large market. That's what caught our
attention. It is one of the BRICs," Hongxian responds when asked why the
Brazil is the second target of the State Grid foray abroad since it was
created by the Chinese government in 2002. The first was the
Philippines, which has 40% stake in the company that operates the
transmission network in the country, the National Grid Corporation of
Philippines.

In the interview, the first since the arrival in the country, the
executive said that the fears are unfounded denationalization of
industrial equipment with Chinese input, and also comes forward saying
the company has no plans to import cheap labor from China. "It does not
exist. Would be too expensive to bring people and their families to work
here. We want to Brazilians," said Hongxian. "We did not come to destroy
the energy industry in Brazil. We want to work with local partners and
share experiences. No one need worry."

He seems familiar with the concerns surrounding the arrival of an
integrated energy company controlled by the Chinese government and meets
80% of the population of his country with the amazing number of 1
billion consumers (80% of the population of China, including Tibet). The
State Grid has numbers superlatives: it employs 1.5 million workers,
revenues of $ 240.6 billion in 2010 and operates in 88% of China.

The generation capacity in December 2010 was 962.19 gigawatts (GW) -
Brazilian eight times the capacity of 113.32 GW - and that since 2002
has grown at an astonishing rate of 12.39% per year. The State Grid
Corporation of China (SGCC) operates 618,800 km of transmission lines,
and the largest, 1,900 km of lines of 800 kV DC, has no similar in
Brazil. Compared with these numbers, Eletrobras is a medium-sized company.

There are few competition concerns in China to have this power. When she
got the full, in May 2010, some executives interviewed said they were
concerned by the value given the ease of access to the capital of
China's low cost and very cheap equipment manufactured in their own
country, not to mention the extremely low cost of labor.

Hongxian know the fears. And made sure to emphasize during the
three-hour interview that there is nothing to fear. "We came to work
with partners. The State Grid is huge in China but in Brazil is a
newcomer. There is nothing to fear."

And insisted on two points that explain, in his view, need to be better
understood on the company. "We have no subsidy. The Chinese government
does not subsidize companies abroad. And though subsidiaries of state,
they go to countries to act in accordance with local regulations and be
competitive as any other, as equals," he said.

Concerning the acquisition of equipment in the country of origin,
Hongxian states that the account is not so simple. "In China (the
equipment) is cheaper than in Brazil. But in terms of freight, customs
duties and taxes, these products do not become as competitive as they
would if they were on Chinese territory. This is all being studied.
Depending on the product tariffs are 70% to 80% may make it impossible
that such a strategy. "
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UN seeks answers from Ethiopia over giant Gibe III dam

two articles....

http://www.africareview.com/News/UN+demands+answers+from+Ethiopia+over+Gibe+dam/-/979180/1254742/-/p6gaxlz/-/

UN seeks answers from Ethiopia over giant Gibe III dam

By ARGAW ASHINE

Posted Thursday, October 13 2011 at 15:13

One of the working groups under the UN structure, the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), has asked Ethiopia to
respond to an earlier request about the controversial Gibe III hydro
dam project in the next three months.

The committee demanded urgent information from Ethiopian government
about the impact of the giant dam on local communities.

The UN body has written to Ethiopia with its concerns and noted that
previous requests from the UN�s Special Rapporteur on indigenous
rights had been ignored.

The Committee has now called on Ethiopia to submit an official
response by January 2012.

The World Heritage Committee, the UN arm which establishes sites to be
listed as being of special cultural or physical significance, had
earlier called for Ethiopia to "immediately halt all construction" and
for "all financial institutions supporting the Gibe III dam to put on
hold their financial support". (Read: UN calls for suspension of giant
hydropower dam)

Both the Omo Valley, and Kenya�s Lake Turkana, which is fed by the Omo
river, have been recognised by Unesco as World Heritage Sites.

Chain of projects
Gibe III dam is one of a chain of five Ethiopian government energy
projects on the Omo River which flows to Kenya.

China, Italy and the African Development Bank are financing the
construction of the dam which has the potential to generate 1,870
Megawatts.

The World Bank and the European Investment Bank however withdrew from
funding the Ethiopia power projects after the controversy mounted.

But the project manager of Gibe III in a telephone interview told this
reporter that Ethiopia had carried out multiple impact assessments on
the project and government was ready to present the results to either
financiers or other interested parties.

"What I know is that we have environment and social assessment
reports," Ms Azeb Asnake said. She said she was confident Ethiopia
would respond to the UN's demand but that the intention of the request
is "unclear".

The Ethiopian government accuses international minority rights and non-
governmental groups of seeking to interrupt the Horn of Africa's
development. (Read: Ethiopia stands firm on Gibe)

Arrested
Survival International, one of the organisations spearheading the
campaign against Gibe recently said 100 people inside Ethiopia have
been arrested for opposing the dam.

Currently Ethiopia is constructing another dam--said to be the biggest
on the Nile river with a capacity of 5, 225 MW-- at an estimated cost
of around $5 billion.

The project is to be internally funded with Ethiopians in the last six
months having contributed more than $450 million.

Ethiopia was to last week inaugurate a power link with Djibouti in
Djibouti city.

It is also set to export electricity to Kenya and Sudan and hopes to
earn foreign currency.

From Djibouti Ethiopia has targeted revenues of more than $700
million annually.

---------------------------------

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/blog/2011/10/12/un-puts-pressure-on-ethiopia-over-controversial-gibe-iii-dam/

UN puts pressure on Ethiopia over controversial Gibe III dam

by Joanna Eede of Survival International October 12, 2011 Comments

A Mursi boy from Ethiopia�s Omo valley leans on a stick used for
�thagine�, the tribe�s ritual duelling, and stares at the camera. His
upper arms are decorated with beaded cuffs, his face painted with
white clay.

The lower valley of the Omo River is believed to have been a cultural
crossroads for thousands of years, where a vast diversity of migrating
peoples have converged. At least eight different tribes, including
the Mursi people, live in the region and depend on the river, having
developed ecological practices over generations that are intricately
adapted to its flooding cycles.

Today, Survival International has released the news that the UN�s
concern is growing over Ethiopia�s construction of the Gibe III dam, a
vast hydroelectric dam which will block the south-western part of the
river, end the Omo�s natural flooding cycles and joepardize the
tribes� sophisticated flood-retreat cultivation methods.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has
given Ethiopia until the end of January 2012 to provide reliable
evidence that independent assessments have been carried out, and that
tribal people in the region have been properly consulted. The UN�s
World Heritage Committee has also written to Ethiopia, calling for it
to �immediately halt all construction� and for �all financial
institutions supporting the Gibe III dam to put on hold their
financial support.�

Both the Omo Valley, and Kenya�s Lake Turkana, which is fed by the Omo
river, have been recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.

�If the government dams the Omo Valley tribes� water, these peoples
may not survive�, said Stephen Corry, Director of Survival
International.

�There is no singing and dancing along the Omo River now,� said a
Mursi man. �The people are too hungry. The kids are quiet.�
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Myitsone dam: turning point for China's dam builders?

Turning point for China's dam builders?
By Grace Mang
chinadialogue, October 13, 2011
www.chinadialogue.net/weblogs/4/weblog_posts/395

[Grace Mang is an environment and water lawyer who coordinates
International Rivers' China Global Program. Prior to this, she was an
environment and water policy adviser at the Australian Department of the
Prime Minister and Cabinet.]

The Chinese government is now calling for open discussions on the future
of the project. China's foreign ministry spokesperson, Hong Lei, said:
"Relevant matters that have emerged during the implementation of the
project should be properly settled through friendly consultations
between the two sides."

The suspension of the US$3.6 billion Myitsone dam in Myanmar, also known
as Burma, was the result of a long and sustained campaign by the
country's civil society. My exposure to the project began in late 2010,
when local environmental NGOs reached out to International Rivers for
analysis and technical support, but opponents have been waging battle on
various fronts since 2006. Were it to go ahead, the Myitsone scheme
would be the largest of seven planned Chinese-funded dams on the
Irrawaddy River and the biggest hydropower scheme in all of south-east Asia.

For the Kachin people, the ethnic group living mainly in the hills of
northern Burma, the Myitsone dam presents a threat to their cultural
heartland. For environmental NGOs, concerns have focused on the
significant and irreversible changes the Myitsone project and six other
dams proposed as part of a 13,000-megawatt cascade, would inflict on the
Irrawaddy delta, Myanmar's rice bowl. An environmental impact assessment
commissioned by the energy firm behind the project, China Power
Investment, and carried out byMyanmar NGO the Biodiversity and Nature
Conservation Association (BANCA), recommended in 2009 that the Myitsone
scheme be reconsidered.

Aung San Sui Kyi's public appeal to save the Irrawaddy River in August
2011 catapulted the campaign onto the international stage. It also
signified that, in Myanmar's changed political landscape following last
year's election, there is now a strong national coalition against the
Myitsone dam. At a government workshop on the environmental impacts of
the project on September 17, an intended public display of confidence
for the project broke into a debate on the pros and cons, and many
ministers came forward and questioned whether Myitsone Dam was in fact
in the national interest.

But it would be unwise for China to seek a reversal of the suspension
and deny Burmese civil-society groups their first major achievement in
over 20 years. The decision is an indication of the desire of Myanmar's
new government to distinguish itself from the past. To what extent
reform in Myanmar will calibrate with genuine democracy and political
freedom remains unclear. Nevertheless, China Power Investment should not
put itself on the wrong side of history by working against the will of
the Burmese people. Mistakes can be costly, but that is no reason to
ignore the lessons. China Power Investment and other Chinese overseas
dam builders such as Sinohydro, Gezhouba and China Three Gorges
Corporation, would be wise to dissect the Myitsone project and learn
from it. Myitsone is one of around 300 overseas dam projects in 78
countries in which Chinese dam builders and banks are involved. Amongst
this number are mega projects proposed on vital rivers such as the
Salween in Burma, the mainstream of the Mekong, the Nile in Sudan and
the Omo in Ethiopia, all fiercely opposed by communities and civil
society groups, who say that the social and environmental costs are too
high.

Myitsone brings into focus the need for Chinese companies to deal with
key weaknesses in their current business model. Key questions dam
builders should be asking themselves are: how can they effectively
engage civil society groups in the countries they work? Are there
untenable projects, like the Myitsone dam, in their portfolio that
should be reconsidered? And how can they better manage their overseas
political risks through company policies and procedures? In finding the
answers, Chinese dam builders do not have to start from scratch.
Sinohydro, China's and the world's biggest dam builder has developed a
draft environmental policy which if adopted and implemented would make
it a leader in addressing the concerns and grievances of affected
communities and civil society in the host countries in which Sinohydro
works.

As for the Myitsone dam, hopefully it will not now be remembered as
south-east Asia's biggest and most destructive project, but rather a
mark of the strength of Myanmar's civil society and the beginning of a
new Myanmar.
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Bui Hydroelectric Project faces shortage in funding

Typical problem with large dams is cost overruns, and Bui is not
exception. This is also a project that has not been properly evaluated
for how climate change will affect it; should drought hit Ghana again,
this is likely to become a very costly white elephant project indeed.

------------------------------------

GHANA : Bui Hydroelectric Project faces shortage in funding
www.hydroworld.com/index/display/news_display.1518282731.html

Tendersinfo News
October 11, 2011

The Bui Hydroelectric Project (BHP), which is anticipated to produce
some 400 mega watts of energy for the nation, requires extra financing
worth some $168 million, according to a pertinent document.

As per the document, the project had a monetary shortage chiefly due
to the unexpected impact of international financial crises along with
unexpected necessary works. The BHP, which was anticipated to be worth
some $622 million, was financed with a concessional credit of $263.5
million, a Buyer s Credit of $298.5 million from the Chinese
government and EXIM Bank respectively with a $60 million funding from
the Ghana government. These global events resulted in the inadequacy
of the budget provided for some line items in the Engineering
Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract and therefore a shortfall
totalling $168 million, stated the document.

The document divided the extra expenses under three main categories:
Price Contingency, Physical Contingency and Other Items. Energy
Minister Dr. Oteng Adjei had stated on October 6, 2011, that as part
of our continuing efforts to expand generation capacity to 5,000 MW in
the medium-term, additional capacity of 265 MW will be ready by the
end of 2012 through the completion and commissioning of one unit of
133 MW out of the 400 MW Bui Hydroelectric Project by December 2012.
The chief parts of the Bui Hydroelectric Power Project are a Roller
Compacted Concrete (RCC) gravity dam having a 5-bay spillway, and 3
penstocks in the middle of the dam; an energy generator at the edge of
the dam on the left bank; two rockfill saddle dams on the right bank;
a switchyard; 276 km of transmission lines; and a permanent bridge
downstream of the dam, as per the document. The project, separated
into two stages of execution, started from August 2007. Chinese
company Sinohydro Corporation is the contractor with the Bui Power
Authority involved in a monitory capacity.
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China rules out Brahmaputra diversion

China rules out Brahmaputra diversion
BEIJING, The Hindu, October 13, 2011
Ananth Krishnan
www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2532283.ece

Technical difficulties, state relations cited as reasons

A top Chinese Water Resources Ministry official has ruled out any plan
to divert the Brahmaputra river's waters to tackle water shortages, even
as hydropower industry groups have renewed calls on the government to
lift a suspension on dam projects on the river's fast-flowing upper and
middle reaches to address a power crisis.

Jiao Yong, Vice Minister of Water Resources, said at a briefing here on
Wednesday that China had no plans to divert the Brahmaputra, or Yarlung
Tsangpo as it is known in Tibet, considering "technical difficulties,
environmental impacts and state relations," referring to India's
concerns. Every year, Mr. Jiao noted, 166.1 billion cubic meters of
water from the Brahmaputra flows outside China's borders.

Mr. Jiao's comments come amid calls by some Chinese experts for a
rethink on the Western diversion plan to tackle water shortages in
China's arid north. In recent months, some Chinese hydro-engineering
experts, such as Wang Guangqian of Tsinghua University's State Key
Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, have argued that the
diversion project was feasible with recent technological advancements.

The Water Resources Ministry has, however, voiced opposition both to
diversion plans and proposed hydropower projects to tap the river's
ecologically sensitive upper reaches.

Influential State-run hydropower companies have been campaigning for the
government to kick-start suspended plans for 28 proposed dams on the
Yarlung Tsangpo, leaving the future of the projects uncertain.

The calls for the hydropower dams have grown louder this year, in the
wake of a power crisis triggered by the worst drought in five decades
that struck the Yangtze river this summer.

Mr. Jiao said on Wednesday China planned to harness more than 5,000
rivers over the next five years, and double its annual spending on water
conservation to reach 4 trillion yuan ($ 635 billion) over the next decade.

Zhou Xuewen, chief planner of the Ministry of Water Resources, said most
of the spending — 38 per cent — would be used for flood control and
disaster reduction water and soil conservation projects, with another 35
per cent invested in water-supply projects. The rest, he said, would be
used for farmland irrigation projects.

In June, Zhang Boting, deputy secretary general of the Chinese Society
of Hydropower Engineers, told The Hindu in an interview that a power
shortage this year meant that China had "to build more hydroelectric dams".
'Technology sufficient'

He disagreed with the assessment from the Water Resources Ministry that
building hydropower projects on the Brahmaputra river's upper reaches
posed technical difficulties. The technology, he said, was "sufficient",
except in the "Great Bend" of the river, where the Tsangpo turns towards
India — a terrain, he said, where "it is difficult to put in equipment."

Despite the difficulties, Sinohydro, a major State-owned hydropower
company, has put up a proposal on its website for a 38-gigawatt plant at
Motuo, near the Great Bend, a project which Mr. Zhang said could save up
to 100 million tonnes of coal.

Hydropower projects, he said, unlike diversion plans, would not affect
India, although many experts say even large run-of-the-river dams, such
as the one proposed at Motuo, could impact downstream flows.

Last November, China began damming the Yarlung Tsangpo for the first
major hydropower project on the river, a 510 MW run of the river project
at Zangmu, which will come into operation in 2014.
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China, Myanmar to "properly settle" dispute over dam, Burma seeks to repair China ties

China, Myanmar to "properly settle" dispute over dam

Mon Oct 10, 2011, Reuters
Original Link:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/10/china-myanmar-idUSL3E7LA0AA20111010

China and Myanmar have agreed to "properly settle" a dispute over
Myanmar's suspension of a dam built and financed by Chinese firms as a
Chinese leader hoped "friendly consultations" would bring a solution to
ensure cooperation and stable ties.

Myanmar's new civilian president, Thein Sein, suspended the $3.6 billion
Myitsone dam in northern Myanmar on Sept. 30 after weeks of rare public
outrage over the project in the reclusive and repressive country also
known as Burma.

The shelving of the project, agreed by Myanmar's then ruling generals in
2006, was also an unprecedented challenge to China's extensive economic
interests in Myanmar, which has long been shunned by the West because of
its poor human rights record.

Last week, China called for talks over the dam, which was being built
mainly to serve China's growing energy needs but had become a symbol of
resentment in Myanmar over China's influence.

Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, visiting China as a special
envoy of Thein Sein, met China's Vice President Xi Jinping, who is
expected to be China's next president, and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

The two ministers "agreed to properly settle matters" related to the
project, and both sides pledged to increase cooperation, the Xinhua news
agency said, citing the Chinese Foreign Ministry, without giving details.

"On the problems that have emerged during the course of cooperation, (I)
hope both sides, through friendly consultations, will seek a proper
solution to ensure China-Myanmar cooperation in various fields and a
healthy and stable development of relations," the Foreign Ministry
quoted Xi as saying in a statement on its website.

It was the first meeting between officials from China and Myanmar since
the project was suspended.

The seniority of the officials involved in the talks and the speed with
which the meeting was arranged apparently underscored the importance
that China places on the project.

The dam at the confluence of the Mali and Nmai rivers, whose waters flow
down into the central Irrawaddy river basin, would flood an area about
the size of Singapore.

Many people in the area, which is close to the border with China, as
well as environmentalists, have opposed it.

Chinese officials have called the project environmentally safe and a
boon to development in Myanmar, struggling with poverty and isolation
after years of military rule.

Myanmar's vice-president, Tin Aung Myint Oo, will visit China this month
to discuss the dam, a senior Myanmar official said on Friday.

In recent years, Myanmar's leaders have embraced investment from China
as a deep and lucrative market for the former British colony's
energy-related resources and to counterbalance the impact of Western
sanctions.

While China and Myanmar have close economic and political ties,
including the building of oil and gas pipelines into southwestern China,
there are also deep mutual suspicions.

Thein Sein became president after elections late last year that
officially restored civilian rule in Myanmar after nearly 50 years of
military rule.

He is due to make his first state visit to another important neighbour,
India, from Oct. 12 to 15.

(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Burma seeks to repair China ties
Financial Times
By Leslie Hook, October 7
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ca6d6302-f008-11e0-bc9d-00144feab49a.html#axzz1aOnxqqAM

Burma is to send a vice-president to China in an effort to soothe
tensions after the suspension of a $3.6bn Chinese-backed dam in the
country cast a shadow over ties between the normally close allies.

News that Tin Aung Myint Oo will visit Beijing came as Chinese state
media launched a defence of Beijing�s investments in Burma with The
People�s Daily, a state-run newspaper, accusing foreign media of
stirring up public opinion against the scheme.

China, the world�s biggest consumer of energy and commodities, has huge
energy and infrastructure projects in resource-rich neighbouring
countries, including Burma, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Laos. In several
cases neighbours� opposition to Chinese influence has been growing,
particularly in the countries that contest Beijing�s claims to territory
in the South China Sea.

China's strategic interests in Burma range from hydropower to mining to
natural gas, and Beijing is also Burma�s biggest lender. But last week�s
surprise decision to suspend construction of the Myitsone Dam - which
the government said was based on public opposition to the project -
underscores growing anti-China sentiment in the country and could be a
warning sign for other Chinese interests in Burma, analysts warn.

"The Burmese regime feels that we have to balance Chinese clout," said
Aung Zaw, editor of the Irrawaddy Magazine. "There is a growing fear of
Chinese influence... They realise they have been heavily dependent on
China for so long."

Earlier this year, US diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks revealed
that Burmese officials secretly chafed under China�s influence and hoped
that closer ties with the US might serve as a buffer against Beijing.

Recent political reforms have led to louder criticism of Chinese
investment in Burma because the space for debate has been slightly
expanded, analysts say.

The suspension of the dam project by Burma�s authoritarian government
came after rare demonstrations in the country�s biggest city, Rangoon,
and was welcomed by de facto opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and
others as a sign of reform in the country.

Beijing has been a key ally for Burma at the United Nations Security
Council, and has previously used its veto power to block resolutions
against the regime. In return, China has been in prime position to tap
Burma�s natural resources, particularly the large offshore gas fields
that were the subject of a bidding war between China and India. China
has poured capital into the country, investing $10bn in Burma during the
2010-2011 fiscal year. New loans worth $7.4bn have been announced during
the past two years.

The suspended Myitsone Dam, which lies close to the Chinese border and
was already under construction, was being developed by China Power
Investment, a state-owned Chinese power group and funded by Chinese
loans. The dam was the first of seven scheduled to be built on the
Irrawaddy River, and would have provided China�s Yunnan province with
much-needed electricity.

Beijing�s most strategically important project in Burma is a set of oil
and gas pipelines that will run from the Bay of Bengal into southern
China, providing access to oil shipments from the Middle East without
sending oil tankers through the Straits of Malacca and the South China
Sea. The pipelines will also ship natural gas from Burma�s offshore gas
fields into Southern China, creating a key source of revenue for the
Burmese government.

Analysts say the pipeline project, being built by China�s largest oil
producer CNPC, and other large hydropower projects in Burma could be
next in line as anti-China sentiment grows.

The pipeline project has faced opposition from activists as well as
local ethnic groups, particularly in the Shan State, where a
decades-long military conflict between the Shan and the Burmese is ongoing.

Chinese energy and infrastructure companies have been paying increasing
attention to community relations and political risks in their overseas
projects, following the high-profile evacuation of Chinese workers from
Libya earlier this year.

CPI said the Burmese government decision was "very bewildering" and said
a large amount of money had already been spent on construction preparation.

"If suspension means construction halt, then it will lead to a series of
legal issues," said CPI president Lu Qizhou in an interview with state
media.
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Ethiopia arrests 100 tribals over dam /Survival

http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7758

Ethiopia�s �bulldozer� government arrests 100 tribal people over dam

6 October

Survival has received reports that around one hundred Ethiopian
tribespeople have been arrested and jailed for opposing Ethiopia�s
controversial Gibe III dam.
Plans for the dam and irrigated land plantations nearby are gathering
pace, along with rising repression and intimidation to any opposition.

A policeman reportedly told one indigenous community that the
government was, �like a bulldozer, and anyone opposing its development
projects will be crushed like a person standing in front of a
bulldozer.�

Ethiopia is leasing out large tracts of tribal lands in the South Omo
region to foreign and state run companies for the growth of sugar
cane, crops and biofuel plantations. These will be fed by water from
the dam.

But a climate of fear is growing in the region as opposition to these
leases is being brutally suppressed by the country�s secret police and
military.

Survival has learned that security forces are encircling and
intimidating indigenous communities whose grass huts are built on the
land proposed for development.

Those with criminal records over the last ten years are being
arrested, and anyone caught voicing opposition, beaten or threatened
with imprisonment.

There are also reports of women being raped, and herds of cattle stolen.

Survival�s Director, Stephen Corry, said today, �The Ethiopian
government and its foreign backers are bent on stealing tribal land
and destroying livelihoods. They want to reduce self-sufficient tribes
to a state of dependency, throw all who disagree into prison, and
pretend this is something to do with �progress� and �development�.
It�s shameless, criminal, and should be vigorously opposed by any who
care about fundamental human rights.�
The 100 arrested at the end of September were from the Mursi and Bodi
tribes.

The Lower Omo Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It contains two
national parks, and is home to approximately 200,000 agro-pastoralists.

One Suri pastoralist said the Gibe III dam, and tribespeople being
driven from their land, signaled, �the end of pastoralism in southern
Ethiopia.�
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