E-mail exchange between Alcan't in India and Alcan - August-September, 2204
Kashipur Solidarity
<alcantinindia@yahoo.com>
To
Michael.Hanley@alcan.com
cc Jeremy.Jonas@alcan.com, Catherine.MacLean@alcan.com
04/08/2004 01:36 AM
Subject : Follow up to June 16th Meeting
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, Alcan't in
India was extremely dissatisfied with the results of
our June 16th meeting. Prior to the meeting
representatives of both Alcan and Alcan't 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.
Alcan't
in India has taken the position that any
constructive dialogue cannot progress without
transparency on the part of Alcan regarding evidence
for the company's 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, Alcan't in India volunteers will discuss
setting up a meeting with you to continue with
constructive dialogue. Until receiving this
information Alcan't 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
Alcan't in India
Subject: Re: Follow up
to June 16th Meeting - Utkal Project
To: "Kashipur Solidarity" <alcantinindia@yahoo.com>
CC: Catherine.MacLean@alcan.com
From: Michael.Hanley@alcan.com Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 16:41:06 -0400
ALCAN CONFIDENTIAL
To whom it may concern,
Thank you very much for your note.
I can assure you that we
are trying to progress as quickly and
responsibly as possible with regard to the matters in question, as part of the
ongoing development phase of this project.
We have meetings scheduled
with our Project Partner during the week of
October 4, 2004, at which time we will be reviewing these and other
matters.
Therefore, I hope we can
be in a position to request a meeting with you
in the mid-October timeframe, in order to continue our constructive
dialogue in a way that meets the expectations you have laid out.
Regards.
Michael Hanley
Senior Vice President, Alcan Inc.
President and CEO, Alcan Bauxite and Alumina