Summary of April 16, 2004 discussion with Alcan

Location: Alcan headquarters, 1188 Sherbrooke W., Montreal, QC

Present: Alcan’t in India – Abhimanyu Sud
Independent filmmaker – Angad Bhalla
Alcan – Jeremy Jonas (Bauxite and Alumina), Joseph Singerman (Media Relations) and second representative from Bauxite and Alumina

What ALCAN claims:
- Only up to 200 families will be displaced by this project and are due the full resettlement and rehabilitation package.
What we know:
- Over 40 000 people could be displaced due to the mine’s direct and indirect impacts. (Estimates based on independent research)
- Even villages that lose 75% of their cultivable lands rendering them virtually landless are NOT considered displaced by the company’s estimates. (Study conducted by TARU, New Delhi.)
- 63% in the area is un-chartered or not technically in privately owned by individuals though it is used as a common agricultural resource by the local population. (TARU.)

What ALCAN claims:
- The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been cleared by the local government and is available publicly.
What we know:
- To date there is no available record of any public hearing organized with the local people on the EIA as required by law.
- Several independent journalists and concerned citizens groups have been denied access to this EIA by company officials and the local government.
- 90% of villagers are dependent on agriculture and streams originating from the hill proposed for the mine. Stream flow that provides irrigation for many surrounding villages would be severely impacted. (TARU.)

What ALCAN claims:
- Elected representatives of 23 of 24 “project affected” villages passed an official motion in support of this proposed mining and refining project.
What we know:
- To date there is no available documentation regarding this motion of support – such as where the meetings took place and who attended.
- In October 2003 the five elected leaders representing ALL 24 “project affected” villages signed statements of opposition to the project
(view the statements for yourself)
- In December 2000 the elected village councils representing 22 of 24 villages passed an official motion in opposition to the project.

What ALCAN claims:
- ALCAN is waiting to decide whether it goes ahead with the project until it receives the full report of an inquiry into the December 2000 killings of three village activists by police.
What we know:
- Officials of ALCAN’s partner company in India have made statements that construction on their joint project UAIL will begin after elections in May 2004 are complete.
(cf. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/615107.cms)

Read Alcan’s official statement here.