Press Responses - May 13, 2005

Dams Could Win OECD Support
Sanjay Suri

BONN , May 13 (IPS) - The OECD took a controversial decision Friday to consider loans for large dams on favourable terms.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a grouping of 30 rich nations, took a provisional decision to consider loans for hydropower projects that could be repaid over 15 years in place of the present ceiling of eight-and-a-half years.

The OECD at present allows 15-year repayment for nuclear power projects. The decision Friday brings hydro projects on a par with repayment terms for nuclear projects.

The provisional decision is subject to discussions between OECD officials and experts from several disciplines over the next six months.

Non-governmental organisations want the experts and officials to particularly consider the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams (WCD).

Press Responses: September 19, 2007

Stop 'rogue' Canadian mining operations abroad, MP urges

Mike De Souza
CanWest News Service

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

OTTAWA - The federal government should immediately crack down on the unethical and destructive practices of Canadian mineral extraction companies that profit from weak laws and regulations in developing companies, NDP foreign affairs critic Alexa McDonough said Wednesday.

CAO - Review of Marlin Mine - August, 22, 2005

Internal Review Slams World Bank over Lapses at Guatemala Mine - Backgrounder

August 22, 2005

A forthcoming report by the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), a body responsible for conducting internal reviews at the World Bank’s private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), identifies glaring deficiencies in the due diligence the institution conducted for a controversial new gold-mining project in Guatemala. The project, currently under construction by Canadian company Glamis Gold in Guatemala’s indigenous western highlands, has been surrounded by controversy and conflict since before the IFC approved $45 million in support for the project in June 2004. In January of this year, a forty-day protest by local villagers worried about the mine’s potential environmental impacts ended in bloodshed as security forces clashed with protesters, resulting in one death and dozens of injuries.

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