Bacongo takes P.U.C. to court over Chalillo dam

This morning, the Chalillo hydro-project was once again the centre of legal attention as lawyers representing BACONGO are now saying that government made questionable decisions when it approved the project. Before Justice Christopher Blackman in the Supreme Court, attorney Lois Young Barrow argued that the Public Utilities Commission violated several parts of the electricity act when it endorsed the dam. Young-Barrow was granted judicial review and the commission will now have to defend itself against the allegations. This is the second time the BACONGO group has been granted leave to question protocol used to approve the Chalillo dam. In late February, Supreme Court Justice Abdulai Conteh ruled that BACONGO had produced sufficient evidence to have the court decide if the National Environmental Appraisal Committee, NEAC, complied with the statutory instrument regarding the environmental impact assessment submitted by B.E.L., and to rule whether or not a decision had been made by NEAC and if so, whether their decision is reviewable by the court or any other body. News 5 was unable to reach any member of the Public Utilities Commission for comment on today’s ruling. The exact dates for either of these trails have not been set.