A report by a Peruvian Congressional Commission has confirmed concerns regarding the flawed and inadequate construction of a 500-mile pipeline built as part of the Camisea Gas Project, Peru’s largest energy initiative.
The report vindicates the concerns of watchdog groups which have long criticized the Camisea Consortia’s shoddy practices and reported Camisea’s devastating human and ecological impacts, particularly in the Amazon rainforest. In its first 18 months of operation, the pipeline has ruptured an unprecedented five times.
The Congressional Commission report blames the problems with the US taxpayer-funded project on Peruvian officials and the project companies. It also recommends that an audit of the pipeline by another panel, the Ad-Hoc Audit Committee, be postponed until the administration of President Elect Alan Garcia is in office, to preserve the audit’s independence.
Earlier this month the Peruvian College of Engineers, one of the most prestigious such professional organizations in Peru, resigned from the five-member Ad-Hoc Committee citing, among the many other irregularities in the contract bidding process, the lack of civil society participation and the Government’s heavy-handedness.
“Yet again alarm bells are ringing over Camisea,” said Amazon Watch Peru program coordinator Maria Ramos. “There are major unanswered questions hanging over both the process and the results of this audit. There is no transparency and the public and civil society organizations are being excluded.”
Background
In February 2006, independent engineering consultancy E-Tech International published a report warning that the Camisea pipeline was shoddily constructed by improperly certified welders racing to avoid onerous late fees, totaling some $90 million. The report was co-authored by Carlos Salazar, a former pipeline supervisor for the Camisea pipeline consortium. It was heavily criticized by the Camisea consortia at the time but its conclusions have been confirmed by the congressional committee report.
For a copy of the E-Tech International report, visit:
www.etechinternational.org/projects.htm
For background information on the Camisea project and a copy of the Congressional Commission Report, visit:
www.amazonwatch.org
