Celebrations short-lived as Amazon dam work restarts

A HUGE Amazon dam opposed by environmentalists, Indians and the director of hit movie Avatar is back on track.

Campaigners, including filmmaker James Cameron, had celebrated last week after a court delayed construction of the 11,000-megawatt Belo Monte hydro-power station.

But yesterday officials revealed a judge in Brazil's federal capital Brasilia on Friday reversed the decision to suspend contract bidding and an environmental licence for the 7 billion project.

Federal prosecutor Renato Brill de Goes, acting on behalf of dam opponents, said an appeal would be filed, but he did not say when.

He also questioned why the dam was put back on track so quickly, just a day after the suspensions were appealed by Brazil's government.

Cameron asserted that government pressure played a role in the quick court reversal. "When you have entrenched interests and billions of dollars, that's a big steamroller," Cameron said from Washington after spending a week in Brazil protesting against the dam.

Brazil's electricity regulator resumed plans to hold an auction on Tuesday to pick a consortium to build and operate the dam and sell electricity to the nation.

The original decision halting the dam came on Wednesday, when Cameron was visiting a small city near the dam site, accompanied by members of Amazon Watch, a San Francisco-based group that works to protect the rain forest and the indigenous people living there.

In a statement, Amazon Watch said: "The battle is not over. We are committed to supporting Brazilian indigenous peoples who have vowed to fight to stop the Belo Monte dam."

Environmentalists and indigenous groups say Belo Monte would devastate wildlife and the livelihoods of 40,000 people who live in the area to be flooded. They also argue that the energy generated by the dam will largely go to big mining operations, instead of benefiting most Brazilians.

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has repeatedly insisted that the dam is essential, and says it will provide clean and renewable energy to feed increasing demand. Brazil's economy was the eighth biggest in the world last year, according to new CIA figures