Frédéric Dubois is an independent journalist who recently visited the Kashipur region. frederic@cmaq.net.
Montreal, Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - Alcan't controversial decision to close the Solderberg plants in Jonquière, Québec, is an event that affects the lives of many Canadians, leaving a palpable effect on the Québecois economy and the social fabric of working class Québec. It goes without saying that Alcan't practices in other parts of the world are less easy for Canadians to imagine, but imagine we must if we are to come to grips with the far reaching impacts of this Montreal-based multinational corporation.
As one of the largest producers of aluminium in the world based in a region without bauxite, the first question to ask is "where is all this aluminium coming from?". The answer? Jamaica, Australia... And India.
Uktal and its Opponents
In the Kashipur District of Orissa state, on India's East coast, Uktal Aluminium International Limited (UAIL) has been hovering over one of the richest known bauxite reserves in the world for the last 12 years. And where there's 10% of the world's bauxite, Alcan can't be far away: UAIL is in fact a strategic alliance between the Indian firm Indal (55%) and the Canadian giant Alcan (45%).
"UAIL Go Back" reads the graffiti at the entrance to Kucheipadar, a 200 family Adivasis** village near the Baphlimali plateau; beneath the graffiti is a small poster asking that politicians, police and company executives stay out of the village. Distrust in UAIL is distrust in the state, as the concept of India Shining, or progress, technology and economic success, is actively promoted by the Indian government and media as a way to force mega projects on small communities. According to Achyut Das, the director of Agragamee, a Kashipur NGO, "the India Shining paradigm is strongly contested by grassroots groups of Indigenous peoples who are seeking control and management over natural resources".
Resistance to the UAIL project began in 1992, and since 1996, a grassroots group known as PSSP has attracted thousands of villagers from the Kashipur area and worked to raise community awareness around the potential effects of a massive, 100% export based bauxite project. What was meant to be a pre-emptive action has spanned twelve years and become, since the first UAIL incursions, a social movement with international ramifications.
The strength of the anti-UAIL movement, as well as the power of international solidarity can be understood through the events of December 16, 2000, when a battalion of 150 riot police entered the village of Maikanch, on the border of the Baphlimali plateau. Three villagers were shot dead and a number were wounded in violent state repression of human rights. Thankfully, this sad event did register in the international community and saw Norway's Norsk Hydro (originally holding a 33% stake in UAIL) bow to immense domestic pressure and pull out of the project. A judicial inquest followed, but the Orissa High Court has yet to make the proceedings public.
Project Impacts, Privileged Voices
The Baphilimali mountain chain that follows the plateau has a divine status in the spiritual traditions of the Pajora-Khonda people, who articulate this belief through an annual pilgrimage during the Mali festival. Inhabitants from all 42 villages who depend directly on the water, forest and arable land of the plateau take part in this event, celebrating the life-sustaining role it plays in their survival.
Throughout the year, heavy rains cause floods to descend on the villages surrounding the Baphlimali plateau; a volatile situation, which would be further compromised by the massive soil movements necessary for bauxite extraction. The construction of an aluminium refinery would upset the ecosystem further by diverting huge volumes of water, leaving smaller streams to dry up. These are two evident grievances that villagers have against the mega project, which would destabilize their ecosystem and lead to a loss of arable and forested territory.
Then there's the sodium hydroxide that would spew forth from the project at a rate of up to 150 tonnes per day, affecting ecosystem pH to an extent that would decimate surrounding vegetation and natural habitat. Alcan claims to be able to counter their massive pollution output by mixing the sodium hydroxide discharge with red mud, manufactured soil and wood residues. One environmental impact study was conducted by Engineers India Ltd., in collaboration with Indian research centers, but the results of the study were never made public. Alcan rep's claim to have accessed the document, which was apparently circulating in UAIL circles.
UAIL is promising employment for each affected property owning family, conveniently forgetting the many landless families in the area. "In my eyes, it would be appropriate to talk about 'indirect displacement' when we talk about these [landless] groups. They are forced out de facto, and the company takes no responsibility for their "displacement" says Tarjei Leer-Salvesen, a veteran of the NorWatch campaign and a journalist who has been following the UAIL file for the last nine years.
When pressed on the issue of community displacements in the area, Alcan VP of planning and strategy Jeremy Lee Jonas assures that "landowners or not, they will have compensation". This affirmation contradicts Alcan't own numbers, which state that only 147 families will be displaced. While it is possible that this number is fair in respect to the number of families who will be directly forced to relocate by the project, it skims the surface of the masses of Adivasis who depend on the land either as small scale agriculturalists, as landless peasants, by working and using collective lands. UAIL has stated that there are 1750 property holding families, again, this forgets the majority who are working land they do not own. In all, UAIL's numbers sit at 1900 affected families, while Alcan't number stagnates at 147.
Estimates advanced by social movements including the PSSP and Kashipur based NGO's show that 9000 people could be affected directly and indirectly, while NORAD, the Norwegian international development agency has released a report indicating that 60,000 people could be affected by the bauxite mega project.
Bringing the Resistance Home
In Toronto, members of Mining Watch Canada have been following events on the Baphlimali plateau with growing worry, while in Montreal a campaign under the moniker Alcan't in India is mobilizing. Alcan't Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held Thursday, April 22 in Montreal, and Alcan't activist-shareholders were geared up to speak their minds to Alcan CEO Travis Engen, while a demonstration was held in front of the AGM. According to Abhimanyu Sud, spokesperson for Alcan't in India, "it is not for our personal agendas that we're organizing these events, but to bring the voice of the disinherited people of Kashipur into the decision making arena at Alcan".
The Regroupement pour la Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises (RRSE), a Quebec-based group specializing in directing religious groups in ethical investments, has been diverting investments from Alcan for the last three years. Known for their actions against investment in Hydro Quebec, the RRSE has even created an 'Alcan Committee' to follow Alcan't practices with great care, specifically with regards to their projects in India. In regards to Alcan't consultation with Kashipur villagers, "we're seeking assurances, to try and better understand the checks and balances that are being put in place" says Claude Grou, the pastor of St. Joseph's Oratory and a member of the RRSE.
Angad Bhalla, director of UAIL Go Back, a documentary on the community struggles in Kashipur, feels that the villagers have strongly and categorically rejected the bauxite mega project. He states that "On December 29, 2000, a public meeting with the elected representatives of the 24 'officially affected' communities was convened at the will of the state. All 22 elected representatives who were present passed a resolution against the establishment of the UAIL project".
As difficult as it is to get a clear picture of exactly what is happening in Kashipur, it is clear that Indian authorities and Alcan must be pressured to make public the results of environmental and social-economic impact studies. The mega project should not move forward unless local communities, with access to the results of these studies, give the okay.
A last minute bulletin from journalist Suresh Nair, reporting for the Economic Times on April 14, 2004 notes that the "Officials in the Orissa government confirmed that Utkal Alumina International (UAIL) has started rehabilitation and resettlement work at the plant and mining sites".
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**Adivasi is the general term employed to designate the Indigenous people of
India, who follow their own spiritual beliefs, customs and ways of life.