BRIEFS: Environment

Hyrdoelectric plants provoke Chiricanos

Eduardo Espinosa/LA PRENSA

Movement: Environmentalists and others in Chiriquí are calling for a referendum on the construction of hyrdroelectric plants.1063177

Opponents of the construction of hydroelectric plants in Chiriquí say they want the national government to hold a referendum to determine whether the majority of the province's residents support such projects.

Juan Bautista Gómez, a Chiricano journalist, asserted that the projects do irreversible damage to the rivers they exploit and to the surrounding environment. But he added that if the majority of the population favored the construction of the plants, he would stop opposing them.

Others fear a referendum will only give the powerful energy companies an opportunity to launch an overwhelming publicity campaign in favor of the plants.

The governor of the province, Virgilio Vergara, believes that energy companies should consult with the public before starting new projects but also remarked that “[r]eferendums aren't the kind of thing that you can organize so spontaneously” and that not all the people opposed to the projects are environmentalists. Some are just troublemakers with money who don't want to see progress in the province.