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Washington D.C.—Under intense pressure from environmental and human rights groups and members of Congress, today the Board of Executive Directors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) delayed a scheduled vote on the controversial $2.6 billion Camisea Gas Project in Peru for one week. IDB officials indicated a “lack of consensus” among directors prevented approval of the project.
The Camisea natural gas project – with reserves of 13,000 billion cubic feet of gas – has already scared off two major investors, Citigroup and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
According to an internal report by the US Export Import Bank, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, proposals to mitigate the environmental impactS of the project are \”woefully inadequate\” and the project will likely lead to landslides, destroy critical natural habitats, and spread diseases among indigenous peoples.
Yesterday a letter was sent from nine U.S. Senators to the U.S. Treasury Secretary and the head of a the U.S. Export-Import Bank, another public institution that is also considering the project. The letter opposes public support for Camisea at this time, and echoes the concerns of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) who also sent a letter.
Reacting to today’s delay, environmental and human rights groups issued this statement:
“Camisea in its current form is risky business and should not receive public financing. The Inter-American Development Bank will need more than a week to solve the fundamental problems of drilling inside an indigenous reserve, massive damage to tropical forests, and threats from an export terminal to the internationally recognized Paracas Marine Reserve. An indefinite delay is necessary to resolve the project’s serious problems and requires leadership from the United States, Japan, European members of the Bank and from Peru’s President Toledo. Delaying the decision by a week will only be window dressing if the Bank approves Camisea without major modifications. One week from now Camisea will still be a disaster. We urge IDB Executive Directors to delay decision as long as it takes to implement modifications sought by Peruvian civil society. We also urge the U.S. Export-Import Bank to reject the $200 million loan to Camisea given the project is in violation of its environmental and social safeguards.”
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