The Caiapo Indian Tuira can get her machete ready. The federal government
should license, in 1999, the concession for construction with private
capital of one of the country's most controversial dam projects -- the
Cararao Dam, rebaptized Belo Monte, projected for the Xingu River whose
lake will flood part of the Caiapo reserve. In 1989, Tuira became a symbol
of the resistence of Indians and ecologists to the dam, after rubbing a
machete used by woodsmen in the Amazon across the face of Jose' Antonio
Muniz Lopes, then-Planning director of Eletronorte, the state company
responsible for the project. International reaction against this project
and five other dams planned for the Xingu River caused the World Bank to
cancel financing for dams in the Amazon.
"Belo Monte Dam, with 11,000 MW projetcted installed power, is one of
nine hydroelectric dams which should be licensed in 1999 to private
investors. In all, the projects total 15,040 MW of capacity and should
require investments estimated to be $12.2 billion reais (about US$11.5
billion)", informed Jose Mario Abdo, director of the National
Department of Waters and Electrical Energy (Dnaee), the organ which
regulates the electric sector. The Belo Monte concession is part of
those projects which by 1995 had not been started by electrical
utilities and were cancelled to be relicensed. In agreement with
Eletronorte's original project , Belo Monte Dam should cost around $7
billion, according to 1989 estimates.
Dr. Sauer, a professor at the Institute of Electrotechnology and Energy
(IEE), which is dedicated to accompanying electric sector projects,
investments needed to construct the dam could reach US$20 billion. The
environmental impact study for the dam, carried out by Eletronorte in
1988, says that the dam would have 20 turbines, of 560MW capacity each,
for a total capacity of 11,000 MW. But it would produce firm energy of
only 4,670 MW, due to the drastic reduction in the water level in the
Xingu River during the dry season. Belo Monte's reservoir would be
1,220,000 million square kilometers, with a volume of 14.6 billion
cubic meters of water, according to professor Celio Bermann, also of
IEE. Accroding to Eletronorte's studies, this volume would be
sufficient to flood the lower sections of the city of Altamira, which
had 50,000 inhabitants eight years ago, affecting 1,059 familes in the
city and 375 in the rural area. It is also expected that 35 km of the
BR-230 and 228 km of secondary roads would also be flooded. Also
underwater would be 1,000 sq. km. of rainforests. "This project is
leftover from the dreams of the technocrats, typical of the era of the
dictatorship. It has no political, economic, or environmental
feasibility," criticizes Sauer. According to him, there would be
enormous public opinion against the dam. Besides its environmental
impact, the dam, according to Sauer, is not economically viable, since
its firm energy (the electricity effectively generated) is less than
50% its installed capacity.
The Belo Monte dam would be the first dam in the Amazon financed with
private capital. Eight years ago, there were also projected the Iriri,
Babaquara, Ipixuna, Cokraimoro and Jarina Dams. If these dams are to be
offered as part of the government's privatization program, they likely
will be given different names. Eletronorte promised to remove the
indigenous names from the projects, after the Caiapo's protests.
"Cararao" is the war cry of the tribe.
According to Abdo, the federal government will license later this year
projects with total capacity of 3,000 MW, with projected investments of
$2,23 billion reais (about US$2 billion). For 1998, the plan is to
transfer 14 dams and one thermoelectric powerplant to private
investors, with a total capacity of 3,000 MW, and investments of $4.87
billion reais (US$4.45 billion). For the year 2000, 12 hydroelectrics
will be put up for bidding, with 2,690 MW and a total estimated cost of
$2.61 billion reais (US$2.5 billion).