The project will divert water from the Nile to the reclaimed lands in the West Delta region, while the introduction of the private sector for the first time in Egypt could leave small farmers behind.
Over 100 civil society groups from 31 countries are calling on financial backers to withdraw their support from the the controversial Phulbari Coal Project in Bangladesh. The project will displace over 200,000 people, impoverish farming households and cause immense environmental impacts in one of the most fertile regions of Bangladesh. Despite these factors, according to information available on its website, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) remains interested in financing the project after having distanced itself from it earlier this year.
The Director of the Asian Development Bank’s Private Sector Operations Department, Robert Bestani, notified the Bank’s Board of Directors last week that it will take the Phulbari Coal Project in Bangladesh out of the Bank’s funding pipeline.
Civil society groups from South Asia are planning to boycott the Asian Development Bank’s consultation meeting on its safeguards policy update, to be held in New Delhi, India tomorrow. The groups, from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh state that the ADB’s consultation draft, released in October 2007, greatly dilutes the Bank’s earlier policies on Environment (2002), Involuntary Resettlement (1995) and Indigenous Peoples (1998), and is opposed to indigenous peoples’ rights and subverts environmental considerations.
Citing violations of five of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) own policies, non-governmental organizations from around the world have petitioned the ADB to discontinue its pre-appraisal of the Phulbari Coal Project and remove it from the funding pipeline.
Civil society remains concerned about limited public participation and energy planning, risks to Chad-Cameroon pipeline and forest reserves, and expectations that the dam would serve industrial interests.
In a written response to civil society organizations, the World Bank has agreed to disclose its comments on the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the planned Lom Pangar hydroelectric project in eastern Cameroon.
IRN, GVC and BIC have released a report on the proposed Lom Pangar Dam in eastern Cameroon, outlining concerns about the anticipated impacts of the project on the environment and local communities and questioning the selection of the dam as the best way to resolve the country’s energy crisis.