[Bhpbilliton] Fwd: fyi - template letter to WB EDs on INGA hydropower project in DRC

[Andy Whitmore]

  Although there is nothing necessarily to tell you in the blurb, the 
Inga dam is of course the one BHPB is involved in. In the text of the 
letter to the World Bank it says...

"The DRC Government is currently engaging with BHP Billiton to develop 
the Inga 3 Hydropower project in order to provide power to a proposed 
2,500 MW greenfield"

Whit

----------------------- *Forwarded Message* -----------------------
*From:* Elena Gerebizza <egerebizza at crbm.org> <mailto:egerebizza at crbm.org>
*To:* EuroIFInet <euroifi-l at list.ecn.cz>, <mailto:euroifi-l at list.ecn.cz> 
world-bank-and-climate at googlegroups.com, 
<mailto:world-bank-and-climate at googlegroups.com> 
illegitimatedebt-campaign-news at lists.democracyinaction.org, 
<mailto:illegitimatedebt-campaign-news at lists.democracyinaction.org> 
        eurodaddebt <eurodaddebt at googlegroups.com>, 
<mailto:eurodaddebt at googlegroups.com>        eurodadaid 
<eurodadaid at googlegroups.com> <mailto:eurodadaid at googlegroups.com>
*Cc:* Caterina Amicucci CRBM <camicucci at crbm.org>, 
<mailto:camicucci at crbm.org>        Terri Hathaway 
<terri at internationalrivers.org> <mailto:terri at internationalrivers.org>
*Date:* Mon, 10 May 2010 18:06:53 +0200
*Subject: _[euroIFInet] template letter to WB EDs on INGA hydropower 
project in DRC_*
Dear all,

as most of you know the World Bank is among the main promoters of the
expansion of the Inga hydropower project in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC). The project originates back in the 1970s and 1980s and have
been one of the main causes of illegitimate debt accumulation in DRC,
with corruption scandals and development objectives related to the
construction of the first two large hydropower projects on the Congo
river which were never delivered.

The projects - including the long transmission line Inga-Kolwesi taking
the energy produced to the minig region of Katanga for the benefit of
multinational corporations operating there - are now under
rehabilitation, with spiralling costs that have already reached over 600
million USD!

International Rivers together with CRBM and with the contribution of
some Eurodad members have pulled together a template letter and annex
materials that could be personalised and used by groups willing to
contact their WB EDs and responsible Ministries to raise questions on
the ongoing rehabilitation at the time when a further increase of costs
of the rehabilitation have been announced by 300-400 million USD.
This will take the overall cost of the rehabilitation to about 1 billion
USD!

The Bank is currently looking for the extra funding, which may also come
by bilateral donors or other IFIs already engaged in the rehabilitation
(EIB, AfDB?).

Please get in touch with your government and raise all questions around
WB incapacity to make the rehabilitation efficient, as well ass on
responsible lending and borrowing and capacity to guarantee that this
project will actually benefit the poor and provide access to energy to
the 94% of people in DRC who live off-grid. Also, outstanding issues
related to compensation of local communities and former workers who live
in the concession area should be addressed as part of the rehabilitation
before any expansion of the project is undertaken.

On the issue of the expansion of the Inga project (Grand Inga project
will generate around 40.000MW and is expected to cost between 80 and 100
billion USD! ) is also key in the context of the energy strategy review
of the Bank. If you are interested in more coordinated campaigning to
open a discussion on the development impact of such projects, please see
the International Rivers campaign page and get in touch with Terri
Hathaway: terri at internationalrivers.org or Elena Gerebizza:
egerebizza at crbm.org

It will be very useful to get a sense of what is single donors position
on the project, given that Zoellick have expressed support for the
project already in August 2009. Same for the EIB and other financial
institutions which are already engaged in the rehabilitation and may be
among the donors of the expansion of the Inga project.

For more info on the story of the Inga dams, please read the
Counterbalance report "Konrad's Nightmare.The World’s Biggest Dam and
Development’s Heart of Darkness"
http://www.counterbalance-eib.org/component/option,com_datsogallery/Itemid,98/func,detail/id,128/

Please do circulate on the lists the feedback that you have from your
governments and do not hesitate to contact me for further information.

Best,
Elena

-- 
Elena Gerebizza
Development Finance Campaigner
Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale
via Tommaso da Celano 15
00189 Roma
tel. +39 06 7826855
fax +39 06 7858100
www.crbm.org



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