Construction of Belo Monte resumes

28 August 2012


Work on the construction of a large dam in Brazil can resume after protests from indigenous groups and environmental campaigners halted work at the site.

Brazil’s Supreme Court has overturned an earlier ruling that ordered construction of the dam to stop until indigenous people could testify before the country’s Congress.

The Belo Monte dam project is being built across the Xingu River and will include an 11 GW hydropower plant – the third largest in the world after the Three Gorges and Itaipu. Work on the dam started in 2011 but it has been strongly opposed by local groups because of the impact the project could have.

Legal action by opponents to the project lead to work stopping at the dam in October 2011, but that ruling was also overturned. Belo Monte is an important element of Brazil’s Accelerated Growth Programme (PAC).

The latest ruling by the Supreme Court overturns that of a regional federal court, which agreed with indigenous groups that they had the right to air their views on the project in Congress.

Belo Monte will flood an area of 500 km2 and displace 16 000 people, according to the Brazilian government. Environmental groups believe that up to 40 000 people would be displaced.

The project is being built by a consortium led by Brazilian energy group Chesf, which in 2011 awarded major supply contracts to Alstom, Andritz and Voith.




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