Ecuador – The credit of $900 million awarded by Westdeutsche Landesbank (WestLB) to the OCP Consortium for the construction of the new pipeline has become the center of a strong political controversy in the State of Westphalia in Germany. The German press and local and international environmental movements have echoed the scandal unleashed by the approval of this loan destined for the development of a project that will affect extremely fragile regions and will cause serious environmental impacts in Ecuador.
The illegality of the granted credit has been demonstrated after proving that the project does not meet environmental standards of the World Bank, a requirement that must be met by all projects financed by WestLB.
During the hearing at the Parliament of Westphalia, which took place today to analyze this issue, employees of WestLB admitted that the project does not meet World Bank standards. WestLB employees tried to justify the omission of environmental regulations by stating that the project meets Ecuadorian environmental legislation regarding environmental protection. Ecologists present at the hearing challenged WestLB’s statement. Ivonne Ramos, spokeswoman for Acción Ecológica at the Parliament Hearing, declared that: “the OCP project has violated all national regulations, including constitutional precepts such as the principle of precaution and the obligatory nature of the Environmental Impact Assessment and Previous Consultation before beginning the work.
The irregularities of the process have created a division in the governing coalition in the State of Westphalia, made up of socio-democrats and ecologists: while socio-democrats are interested it ratifying the loan, ecologists press to revoke such a decision. At the same time, political groups that oppose the state government denounce the corrupt decision made by WestLB and support the annulment of the credit. International organizations such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth International and Amazon Watch are following the conflict and have also demanded the credit be revoked.
Meanwhile, the social conflicts in Ecuador provoked by the construction of the OCP continue to worsen. The permanent encampment maintained by peoples of the Mindo community, university students, and ecologists to keep the work from advancing into the interior of the Protective Mindo Nambillo Forest continues to be supported. Contrary to what some news media groups have informed, the campers continue their conviction to remain there indefinitely until they are certain that the construction of the OCP is stopped.
The OCP Consortium also faces various labor conflicts with employees of the Techint Company (builder of the pipeline) who are protesting low wages and bad working conditions under Techint. In addition, the many communities that the pipeline goes through (e. g., Nono, at 12 miles from Quito) have began to take measures of pressure to demand that the obligations endorsed by the company to obtain the approval of the communities affected by the pipeline be met.
Despite the declaration made by OCP’s spokespeople that the delay of the work is due to the rainy season, everything seems to point to the fact that social pressure and the threats against the financing of the project have had an effect on the continuation of the project.
The political situation in the Parliament of Westphalia points to the cancellation of the credit of $900 million by WestLB, which would increase the problems faced by the OCP Consortium to continue the construction of the pipeline. A decision is expected by the Parliament on this matter at the session on Thursday, January 17th, after carrying out internal consultations by each political group that makes up the Parliament.
