This would happen if Alan Garcia´s administration grants Egasur (Southern Amazon Electrical Generation Company), based on Brazilian capital, a concession to build the power plant and a reservoir covering 37,800 hectares, according to a report published by news agency Inter Press Service (IPS).

The article, called “Brazilian Dam Would Put Peruvian Jungle Under Water” quotes a study carried out by the Civil Society for the Construction of the Puno Trans-Oceanic Highway, which estimates that in that region the project would affect 10,000 people.

EGASUR is a Brazilian consortium made up by the private OAS group and the Brazilian government’s Eletrobras Furnas, and has announced its plans to invest over 4 billion dollars to build the Inambari Dam for an installed capacity of 2,200 megawatts.

In response to the threat of irreversible environmental damages in one of the richest areas of the continent in terms of biodiversity, the Peruvian communities that will be displaced expressed their concern, among other things, because of the fact that the energy produced by these plants will be used in Brazil.

Community radio Juliaca, from Puno, gathered the testimonies of the local population, who estimate that 80 per cent of the energy generated will be used in Brazil. They also said that this country has a “negative record” in terms of these joint projects, for instance, the Itaipu Dam shared with Paraguay.

The leaders said that so far neither the company nor the governments have explained how the displaced communities are going to be relocated and how compensations will be paid.

“In Puerto Manoa, one of the first towns in Puno slated for relocation, graffiti seems to shout "No to the Inambari project!" Signs on houses, most made of wood planks with zinc roofs make the residents’ opposition clear”, according to IPS.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattsh...