3 August 2004
Michael
Hanley
President and CEO, Alcan Bauxite and Alumina
Senior Vice President, Alcan Inc.
1188, rue Shebrooke Ouest
Montreal Quebec
Fax: (514) 848-8115
Dear Mr. Hanley,
Thank you for your letter dated 2 July 2004 reiterating the position Alcan presented
at the meeting in your office June 16th,
2004,
As expressed by our volunteers present, Alcant in India was extremely
dissatisfied with the results of our June 16th meeting.
Prior to the meeting representatives of both Alcan and Alcant in India
had made a verbal commitment further reflected in your
personal email correspondence to share the evidence that supported our respective
positions regarding the Utkal project.
Alcant in India had previously provided Alcan officials signed statements of
elected officials representing all 24 officially
affected villages and on June 16th provided a copy of the independent environmental
assessment conducted by TARU of Delhi.
Alcan was to provide the Utkal Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and some
documentation supporting its claim that
village representatives supported the project. On June 16th, you did not provide
us with one piece of evidence supporting your
claims regarding the minimal environmental and social impact of the project
or the strong village support therefore. The EIA
was denied on account of its approval having expired three years earlier. The
documentation of village support was not provided
on account of it not having arrived from India, despite your commitment to provide
this documentation three months earlier.
Alcant in India has taken the position that any constructive dialogue
cannot progress without transparency on the part of Alcan
regarding evidence for the companys claims. On June 16th 2004 you made
the following commitments regarding the sharing
of information:
1. Alcan will provide documentary evidence supporting its claims that elected
representatives of 23 of 24 officially effected
villages are in support of the project. This evidence should include the names
of the representatives consulted and the dates and
locations of such consultations.
2 Alcan will provide the names of all members of the committee to determine
the rehabilitation and resettlement packages for the
official Project Affected Families on Utkal Amulina.
Upon receiving this information by fax and mail and reviewing it, Alcant
in India volunteers will discuss setting up a meeting
with you to continue with constructive dialogue. Until receiving this information
Alcant in India does not feel any dialogue
with you would prove constructive and as such will not commit to any meeting.
We look forward to receiving the information at the soonest possible date,
Regards
Angad Bhalla
Volunteer
Alcant in India
c/o QPIRG-McGill
3467 University St.
Montreal, QC
H3A 2B3
Fax: (514) 398-8976