Colombia’s largest hydro-dam project stirs violence, human rights abuses: report

Colombia’s largest hydro-dam project stirs violence, human rights abuses: report
Aug 1, 2014 posted by Nicolas Bedoya

Colombian human rights and environmental NGO has released a report condemning human rights abuses and violations surrounding the construction of a mega-dam on Colombia’s second largest river.

Colombia was ranked second as the country with the most environmental conflicts in the world by the Environmental Justice Atlas, according to Colombia’s El Pais newspaper.

The group says that the state’s failure to recognize the environmental and social conflicts caused by mining and hydro-projects make the situation much more difficult to solve.

The Ituango hydro project was started in 2008 by the the state of Antioquia’s energy company EPM, along with various international corporations, with the intention of harvesting the Cauca River’s power generating potential. The damming of Colombia’s second biggest river is intended to satisfy 18% of Colombia’s electricity demand by 2022, according to the project’s website.

More:
http://colombiareports.co/water-mega-projects-raising-violence-human-rights-abuses-report/