Ecobreves – HONDURAS: El Tigre Hydroelectric Dam Loses Support

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Oct 21 2006 (IPS) - The Honduran Parliament voted last week to ask the Executive Branch to “detain” construction of El Tigre hydroelectric dam, on the Honduras-El Salvador border, until the diplomatic conflict between the two countries is resolved. The 1.5-billion-dollar project lost key allies as a result of the skirmish sparked by El Salvador, which claims possession of the Conejo islet, in the Pacific Ocean, which an international ruling says belongs to Honduras.

“El Salvador has jeopardized the construction of a dam that is going to benefit that country greatly, because its energy supply is dwindling. Now the government will have to renew its strategy,” Adolfo Facussé, president of a Honduran industrial association, told Tierramérica.

If it is built, the dam would supply energy to 70 percent of El Salvador.