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DEVELOPMENT: Troubled Waters Between Honduras and El Salvador

Thelma Mejía* - Tierramérica

TEGUCIGALPA, Jun 15 2006 (IPS) - The construction of El Tigre dam on the Lempa River, which forms a border between Honduras and El Salvador, has unleashed a wave of contradictory opinions. Some claim there will be a loss of sovereignty over natural resources, while others say the resulting reservoir will prevent another war between the two countries, this time over water.

The first efforts towards building this 1.5-billion dollar hydroelectric megadam, which would be 100 metres tall and flood 72 square kilometers, began three weeks ago. And border communities are demanding more information and greater participation in decisions on the project’s scope.

The idea to build the dam, which will have the potential to supply energy to 70 percent of the Salvadoran population, emerged in 1991. But it was not until Apr. 16, 2006 that Presidents Manuel Zelaya of Honduras and Antonio Saca of El Salvador formalised the decision.

Carlos Orbin Montoya, Honduran representative to the Central American Economic Integration Bank (BCIE), believes the project comes “at a good time, because the border demarcation has already been finalised” between the two countries, “and the aim of the dam is to produce new forms of clean energy.”

“The two countries should arrive at a consensus. I tell the dissonant voices that they shouldn’t oppose it just to oppose it. This project will be complete in a couple of years; there is time for dialogue,” Orbin Montoya told Tierramérica.

In 1969, Honduras and El Salvador engaged in a 100-hour border skirmish that caused economic losses of more than 20 million dollars on the Honduran side, according to official figures. Known as the “soccer war”, it came to a head in the context of a match between the two countries’ national teams.

The dispute led the two countries to turn to the International Court of Justice at The Hague, in the Netherlands, which in 1992 ruled in favour of Honduras, granting it two-thirds of the land under dispute and ensuring Honduran land access to the Pacific Ocean.

Since then, the border demarcation process moved ahead slowly, and was finally completed on the same day that the presidents announced their support for beginning construction of the El Tigre dam.

The dam and reservoir would be located in the departments (provinces) of western Honduras, and on the Salvadoran side it would be in the northern department of San Miguel, according to preliminary projections.

The first to be surprised by the dam construction announcement were the border villages in the western Honduran departments of Intibucá, Lempira and La Paz, which staged protests along the border and in Tegucigalpa, the capital. The reservoir and flooding are projected to affect at least six Honduran communities. And no plans have been made for their relocation.

According to Salvador Zúñiga, of the Honduran Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations (COPINH), the megaproject would displace some 20,000 people, although the government estimates put the total at around 5,000.

“We are ready to engage in dialogue, we are going to provide compensation, but now we are in the preparatory studies that will lead us to ongoing consultation with the affected populations of both countries and community leaders,” said Jacobo Hernández, the Honduran commissioner for implementing the project, alongside his Salvadoran counterpart, Eduardo Zablah.

In El Salvador, civil society organisations like the National Council of Rural Workers (CNTC), say the dam will cause food insecurity, displacement and unemployment in their communities.

Víctor Rivera, a member of the Council, said construction of El Tigre is an affront to the human rights of Hondurans and Salvadorans alike.

The potential negative environmental effects of the hydroelectric dam are also at the centre of concerns. “The only two environmental impact studies that exist are in the hands of El Salvador and nobody here has seen them,” Honduran ecologist Rigoberto Sandoval said in a conversation with Tierramérica.

But he does not believe in demonising the project. “El Salvador has serious water problems, and this dam will not only solve these, but could also help us avoid a war over water,” he said.

Nevertheless, Honduras should obtain copies of the documents in the hands of El Salvador, said Sandoval. “Those who are most interested in the project should provide an environmental impact study and conduct good negotiations in which the installations of the dam are not built on the Salvadoran side, but on ours,” he said.

Mario Ponce, a Honduran expert on farm issues, agreed that the water problems are so serious in El Salvador that “we need to think about how to prevent future conflicts” over that resource.

For Salvadoran ambassador to Honduras, Sigifredo Ochoa, the dam is an opportunity that will reinforce “the integrationist spirit” of the two countries. “It is an endeavour that will allow us to overcome obstacles, including those still existing with respect to the border,” he told a local press conference.

Adolfo Facussé, president of the National Association of Industry (ANDI) in Honduras, said the body fully supports construction of the dam.

“It should be debated further, all possible information should be obtained and we should study similar experiences in the countries of South America, because El Tigre dam is, for now, the best option for Salvadorans,” he said.

(*Thelma Mejía is a Tierramérica contributor. Originally published June 10 by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.)