[IPSM] Call out for support Alcan't campaign against Alcan's project in India

[Devin Butler]

For the last year Alcan't in India has been moblising aginst a
bauxite mining and alumina refinery in Orrissa India which Alcan
owns 45%.

This project if it goes ahead will mean the loss of the way of life
and livelyhood of indigenous and lowcast people living in 24 villages
will be destroyed.

There have already been three lives lost in the stuggle against this
project.

Alcan't intends to make Alcan withdraw from this project.

On April 22, 2004 at the Alcan AGM, Michael Hanley,
who is Alcan's CEO of Bauxite and Alumina, verbally
agreed to release two key documents to the public:

1) The Environmental Impact Assessment performed by
Engineers India Ltd. in 1995.

2) Some official document proving Alcan's outrageous
claim that 23 of 24 "officially affected" villages in
Kashipur support the mine and refinery project.

When campaigners met with Hanley at Alcan headquarters
in Montreal in June 2004, Hanley refused to release
either of these documents.  Neither of these documents
have been released to date.  Alcan't in India has
refused to meet with Alcan until these documents have
been released.

For more information about these exchanges, you can
visit the Alcan't in India website at
www.saanet.org/alcant

On October 22, 2004, 6 months would have elapsed since
Hanley's verbal agreement.  If the documents are not
released by this date, Alcan't in India will take the
position that the corporation has been deceiving
international civil society, its investors and most
importantly the people in Kashipur regarding the Utkal
case.  Alcan has been totally unable to substantiate
its claims regarding the local peoples' position on
this proposed project and its possible environmental
impacts.

We are encouraging you to send a letter, email, fax or
phone call to Alcan CEO Travis Engen expressing your
concern regarding this matter.  Ideas and forms for
such a communication, as well as all the appropriate
contact information are given below.

In solidarity,
The Alcan't in India team

===============================================

18 October 2004
Travis Engen
Chief Executive Officer, Alcan Inc.
P.O. Box 6090,
Montreal, Quebec H3C 3A7
Canada
Phone: (514) 848-4080
Fax: (514) 848-8162
travis.engen at alcan.com


Dear Mr. Engen,

I have become extremely concerned with the situation
surrounding the Utkal Alumina International Limited
(U.A.I.L.) project in Orissa, India and Alcan's 45%
stake therein. On June 7th of this year, you claimed,
"Alcan has always had a heightened sense of
responsibility to the environment and to our operating
communities."  With respect to the community where
U.A.I.L. hopes to operate, it is hard to find Alcan's
"heightened responsibility."

Alcan has consistently claimed that elected
representatives of 23 of 24 officially affected
villages are in support of the project.  Both written
and video documentary evidence exists outlining that
in fact the elected representatives of all 24
officially affected villages oppose the U.A.I.L.
project.  What kind of responsibility does Alcan have
to a community that does not want the company on its
land?

To date, Alcan has not produced one piece of
documentary evidence to support its claim regarding
the affected villagers' endorsement of the project.
Over 5 months ago, at the 2004 AGM in April President
and CEO, Alcan Bauxite and Alumina Michael Hanley
along with company representatives affirmed a
commitment to make this information public in a timely
fashion. In a June meeting with the group Alcan't in
India, Mr. Hanley claimed that the documentary
evidence supporting Alcan's claims was in the process
of being retrieved.

I believe that 5 months is more than ample time to
obtain documents that if in existence should be on
file at U.A.I.L. offices.  I would hope that by
October 22, 2004, exactly 6 months from when Alcan
officials verbally committed to retrieve it, this
evidence will be made public to further constructive
dialogue on the issue.

If this evidence is not made public by this October 22
2004, I will be forced to conclude that this evidence
does not exist and in turn that, the Utkal project
does not have the support of the 23 out of 24
officially affected villages as Alcan claims.  At this
time I would hope that as Alcan's CEO, you will
protect the company's integrity and publicly
acknowledge in a letter that Alcan may have been
mislead and the project does not have the support that
you originally claimed.

If Alcan persists on making the claim that villagers
support the project despite having no evidence, I will
be forced to conclude that Alcan has been deceiving
the public regarding the U.A.I.L. project. Furthermore
if after 6 months Alcan cannot produce one piece of
evidence to support it's claims, I can only conclude
that it is not sincere about respecting the wishes of
the local people and should not be invested in this
project.  Indeed Mr. Engen, your words and the
company's integrity are at stake.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Sincerely, Address: