Belizean media tour Mollejon
Say the word “Mollejon” in a crowd and you’re bound to get into a heated debate. B.E.L. is still saying that Mollejon isn’t a done deal, but simply an option worth exploring. Over the weekend, the company invited members of the Belizean press to explore the site for themselves. The trip couldn’t have come at a better time as B.E.L. reps had the much anticipated, company commissioned Environmental Impact Assessment in hand. News 5’s Ann-Marie Williams and cameraman George Tillett file the following report.
Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting
A media outing over the weekend to the site of the Mollejon Hydro Plant in the Cayo District included a tour of the dam, tunnel and powerhouse. Joseph Sukhnandan, Chalillo’s project manager, says this mega project, which promises to provide Belizeans with cheaper electricity supply started out in late 1992.
Joseph Sukhnandan, Chalillo Project Manager
“All the water that flows into the mountain system flows into the river system. The Mollejon hydroelectric facility is designed to use twenty-five metre cube per second. The river as you see it right now is significantly greater than that, so whatever water is not needed by the plant spills over the spill way. The twenty-five metre cube per second goes into the tunnel to the Mollejon power house. So essentially, what you have is a dam here that goes from one embankment of the river to the next embankment. That water is held behind the reservoir, it’s then tunnelled for about two point five miles into the Mollejon plant where the turbines are.”
And Saturday was a good day for the plant as recent rains sent rapid spills back into the river systems. The opposite occurs in the dry season when the facility cannot work.
Joseph Sukhnandan
“First there’s no spill; you can actually see the top of the dam. There’s no water that goes over and there’s no water to go into the tunnel because if you were to take the little water in the reservoir that would go dry. So we basically wait for the water. Either we wait on it to rain or we wait a couple days for it to build up because there’s still a bit of water flow in the river, or we run it only at night.”
And whenever there’s no water here, the company uses diesel engines or buys more power from Mexico. Something BECOL’s public relations officer Dawn Sampson admits will soon come to an end.
Dawn Sampson, P.R. Officer, BECOL
“The energy demand in Belize is growing. We need to be able to make sure that we are in a position to provide Belize with the necessary power that the country will need in the next three to four years. Currently we get almost half of our power from Mexico. There are indications that Mexico could run into some very serious problems if they do not take care of their power supply, if they do not expand their energy supply system. So with that said, it’s almost as if Mexico currently is giving us an extra plate of food, but by next year they might have an extra child.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Some environmentalists are saying that the Chalillo dam will automatically displace the flora and fauna of the area. However, B.E.L. is saying because of the demand for power supply, we must strike a sustainable balance between development and the environment.”
The Environmental Impact Assessment (E.I.A.) of the project has been completed. It quantifies how much of the river is going to be flooded, effects it will have on the forest and how much wildlife will be affected. It documents the adverse predicted impacts such as plant and animal species at risk.
There is no predicted impact on people, tourism, transportation, public safety, water and air quality. However, the E.I.A. shows positive impacts on the labour force, economy, reliable and cheaper power supply. According to Sukhnandan, there’s a plus for residents of flood prone areas also.
Joseph Sukhnandan
“If you remember the 1995 flood, the flood went on Burns Avenue in San Ignacio. The Chalillo dam would control that flood and the water would not rise above the wooden bridge. You would get the same amount of water, but the way the dam would work is that it will hold back the water a little bit longer. It means that the water has time to flow all the way to the sea. You would never see back those large floods that destroy everybody’s crops, houses and so on.
You have tapirs, crocodiles, jaguars and so on. The E.I.A. tells you you’re going to change part of the tapir’s habitat. That’s the conclusion, you are going to change part of its habitat because you are flooding part of the river. The question is if we quantify that, a decision has to be made whether that amount that you flood is large or small…we don’t get into that sort of…we list what the project will do. And when it is submitted to the Department of the Environment, they will make the decision whether that is too much, too little or whatever.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“From a personal standpoint, do you feel that given what the dam will actually do to the environment and the wildlife, the benefits that this will offer, does this outweigh the risks?”
Joseph Sukhnandan
“The project has a significant amount of benefits. The two major benefits are that one, it’s significantly cheaper than any form of generation we can get right now, or any purchase power we can get. It’s a major flood control project, it will provide significant benefits to downstream residents. From my view, those are two major things that consumers want, and from that perspective, yes, the project is worth that.”
It’s now left to the Department of the Environment to study the E.I.A. and determine whether or not the project is worth doing. Ann-Marie Williams for News 5.
Anyone wishing to see the E.I.A. for themselves can either contact the offices of the Belize Electricity Limited in Belize City or the Department of the Environment in Belmopan.
