|
Dam protest leaves four dead in Sudan
Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com
June 14, 2007
Four people were killed and at least 10 wounded when police dispersed a group of dam protesters in Sudan, reports Sapa-AFP.
The domestrators had gathered to protest a dam in the Kijbar region. Local press said that police fired on protesters as they tried to attack construction equipment being used to build the contested dam.
Sapa-AFP reports that the protesters fear that their lands will be confiscated.
The protests are not the first over a dam in the warn-torn country. To the south, Chinese contractors are building the Merowe dam, a hydroelectric project on the Nile River that will displace more than 50,000 people and inundate historical sites in Sudan. The government has recently agreed to pay compensation for the displaced, though only after a similar shooting left 3 dead and more than 50 wounded.
|
Photos of the potentially affected region in Sudan. Photo by David Haberlah.
|
"The Merowe Dam will have serious environmental impacts on the Nile Valley, the lifeline for Northern Sudan," said Peter Bosshard, Policy Director of International Rivers Network (IRN). "The project violates Sudan's Environmental Protection Act and all internationally accepted environmental standards. The Merowe Dam could not be built in most other countries, and is a test case for the commitment of leading hydropower companies to the minimal standards of environmental stewardship. The companies that are developing the project should suspend construction until the serious environmental impacts have been adequately addressed."
IRN has warned that the Merowe Dam could worsen already poor health conditions in the region.
Comments?
News options
News index | RSS | Add to MyYahoo!
Advertisements:
Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing
| |
|
MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
CONTENTS
POPULAR PAGES
T-SHIRTS
Madagascar Wildlife
Dancing lemurs
Don't fall asleep the sloths will eat you
Sucking on this frog may make you insane
CALENDARS
Mount Kenya
East Africa Safari Wildlife
Kenya's Turkana People
Peru
African Wildlife
Alaska
China
Madagascar Chameleons
CANVAS BAGS
Hallucinogenic frog bag
Madagascar wildlife bag
|
|
