Leaders of the 200,000 member Ngöbe-Bugle autonomous territory in Panama won a battle last month in their campaign to cancel the 28-megawatt Barro Blanco dam on the edge of their lands when an independent oversight body found major flaws in the awarding of loans for the project. The Independent Complaints Mechanism of FMO and DEG, the Dutch and German development banks which together lent US$50 million for the $130 million project, found in a report issued May 29 that the banks disregarded international standards when the loans were extended to Genisa, the facility’s Honduran builder. The report says the banks failed to ensure that affected communities had been consulted about the project. It also states that the dam’s environmental and social-action... [Log in to read more]