Peru: Authorities of Espinar demand that the Ruling be enforced

- Conflict over the Majes-Siguas II Project remains latent.

Servindi, October 8, 2010 - "We demand that the ruling be enforced." If this does not occur, we will resort to national and supranational instances such as the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the Latin American Water Tribunal in defense of the water that is rightfully ours," according to the representatives of the Province of Espinar in the Department of Cuzco.

Both Eloy Chancarayauri, Mayor of Espinar, and William Inca, Chairman of the Committee on Water Resources and the Environment, spoke at a press conference which took place on October 6 at the facilities of the CooperAcción Assocation.

Spokesmen of Espinar demand compliance with the court ruling issued in December 2008, ordering an Environmental Impact Assessment and a Water Balance Study to be carried out, and request that the State refrain from entering into binding agreements with the companies awarded the contract.

They stated that it is likely that the population will resume the general strike indefinitely if an agreement is not reached with the government at the roundtable to be held on October 11.

They believed that the statements rendered by Javier Villa Stein, President of the Judiciary, were inappropriate, who, in spite of not directly referring to the Majes Siguas II Project, complained on September 25 that large investment projects would come to a standstill thanks to a judge who only relied on one single dossier.

Representatives of Espinar submitted a petition this week to César Zumaeta, President of the Peruvian Congress, requesting that a complaint filed against Villa Stein before the Supervisory Board of the Magistrature (OCMA) be granted leave to proceed.

This document argues that the maximum representative of justice infringed Section 99 by rendering statements that were jurisdictional in nature, thus violating the independence of the judges in the Majes Siguas II bid and contract case.

The Majes Siguas II Project

The Special Majes Siguas Project was created by means of Executive Order (Decreto Ley) 18970 in 1971 during the military government of General Juan Velasco Alvarado.

The water project consists of supplying and regulating water by transferring it through tunnels and channels of the Apurimac and Colca rivers to the Majes and Siguas plains in the region of Arequipa.

The purpose of the project is to obtain water for agriculture, irrigate up to 60,000 hectares of new land on these plains and generate electricity and other urban, industrial and agroindustrial water uses in order to ensure development at a regional level.

The approach presented by the government is as follows: use a limited amount of water per hectare in order to concentrate on export crops and optimize water infrastructure.

The design of the Majes Siguas II Project consists of regulation, adduction, deviation and distribution works that will be carried out in two stages.

The first stage consists of the construction of the Condoroma dam, the Tuti and Pitay intakes, the Colca-Siguas adduction, the Siguas deviation to the Majes Plain and the distribution system and irrigation infrastructure.

The second step consists of the construction of the Angostura dam, the Agostura-Colca deviation and the Siguas deviation to the Siguas Plain, the distribution system and irrigation infrastructure, in addition to the Lluta and Llucta hydroelectric power stations.

The Conflict in Espinar

The inhabitants of the Province of Espinar in Cuzco oppose the implementation of the second stage of the project because, according to their mayor, Eloy Chancarayauri, the fundamental rights of water access are not being respected.

The rejection is the result of the fact that Espinar would suffer a water shortage due to the construction of the Angostura hydroelectric power station, which will feed the Apurimac River and which is expected to irrigate 46,000 hectares in the neighboring region of Arequipa.

Chancarayauri explains that the Apurimac River is the only means by which the 78,000 inhabitants of Espinar can consume water due to the fact that the other two rivers, the Salado and the Ccañipia, have been polluted by mining activities.

"We only have water for two hours each day," indicates the mayor, adding that this is not the only problem.

"The Apurimac Canyon Irrigation Project, which is already in an advanced stage, would fail together with five other small projects that its municipality, together with the regional government, have been developing," according to the mayor.

William Inca, Chairman of the Committee on Water Resources and the Environment, stated that 50,000 inhabitants engaged in the agricultural and livestock sector would be affected by the lack of the precious water resource.

Meanwhile, the residents of the region of Arequipa insist that the construction of the Angostura dam must continue since they are convinced that this will give their region the boost it needs.

In November 2009, Juan Guillén Benavides, Regional President of Arequipa, together with different social organizations, formed the Citizens' Committee of Arequipa for the Defense and Execution of the Majes Siguas II Hydropower Project.

Likewise, the Social Civil Front in Defense of Water Resources of the Upper Basin of the Apurimac River was established in Cuzco in mid-December of last year.

The situation became tense in 2010 with protests and road closures. On September 17, 2010, the violent confrontation between the inhabitants of Espinar and 500 policemen left two dead. One of the deceased was only 15 years old, and more than 20 were injured.

The inhabitants of Espinar protested because the government awarded the contract on September 13, two days before the date specified, despite the existence of a court ruling issued in December 2008, interrupting the Majes Siguas II Project until an Environmental Impact Assessment and Water Balance Study could be performed.

Project Limitations

The Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), CooperAcción, also believes that these studies must be carried out because "the project does not take into consideration the basin".

The analysist, José de Echave, indicated that "the Apurimac River Basin Council (the upper and lower parts of the river) needs to be urgently established. The main objective of this Council should be to conduct an external assessment of the project, as indicated in the Water Resource Act (Law 29338) and its Regulations (Supreme Executive Order - Decreto Supremo 001-2010-AG)."

Mayor Chancarayauri stated that the Executive Branch was warned of the serious situation in Espinar, but the "government did not want to listen to our demands".

After proving once again that the State is incapable of making the conflict viable, the Office of the Prime Minister decided to set up a High Level Commission on September 24.

The Commission is presided over by Jorge Villasante, Minister of Production, and is responsible for studying the demands of the population of the Province of Espinar.

Meanwhile, the fourth technical committee held a meeting in Cuzco on October 6 and included technical personnel of the National Water Authority (ANA), as well as representatives of Espinar.

The roundtable is currently expected to commence on Monday, October 11.

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Traducción para Servindi de Sylvia Fisher