Talking to protestors who staged a demonstration in front of the offices of World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) here in the federal capital, Acting Country Director of WB, Abid Hassan said that the bank would not provide funds for projects where interests of the masses were not taken into account properly.
Abid Hassan also assured the protestors that the present government has not requested the bank to finance construction of Kalabagh Dam. If the government applied for financing, the World Bank would consider it as per its laid down guidelines, he added.
The bank would also thoroughly examine the environmental and other issues relating to the construction of mega water reservoir, Hassan assured.
Meanwhile, representative of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Tahir Khan asked the demonstrators to present their demands in writing and the bank would consider them sympathetically.
Earlier, the protestors through a resolution demanded of the World Bank for the inclusion of Sindh's viewpoint in Water Strategy Paper prepared by the bank.
The protestors representing 16 organisations from Sindh also demanded of the bank not to finance the controversial dams, as it would deprive the people of Indus delta from their livelihood. They also demanded of the bank not to finance any controversial dams and water project in the country.
They were chanting slogans against the government and Kalabagh dam and warned the government to stop the political blackmailing over the KBD.
SANA ADDS: Hundreds of victims of mega water projects from across the country held a protest demonstration outside the offices of the World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) here on Thursday and demanded that the two institutions must withdraw all funding for future water projects.
The demonstration was led by activists of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) who had travelled from the delta and coastal areas of Sindh, and also included representatives of people's organisations from the Kacchi Canal, Greater Thal Canal, National Drainage Programme, Mangla Dam and Ghazi Barotha Hydropower Project.
Other organisations present on the occasion were Action Aid Pakistan, the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, and the People's Rights Movement.
The demonstrators presented a memorandum to both institutions. The Acting Country Director of the World Bank, Abid Hassan, met with the protestors and received the memorandum, insisting that the World Bank does not support projects that violate its own policy guidelines with respect to environmental and social impacts.
However, upon being told of the gross social and environmental disasters that have resulted from numerous water projects, and the futility of the inspection process that is supposed to be a means of impartially investigating policy violations, the acting country director had no response.
Similarly ADB representatives were told that their funds had contributed to the acute problems being faced by hundreds of thousands of victims. The protestors pointed out that this entire process was taking place under the guise of 'development' but the process was entirely undemocratic and protected the interests of multinational capital and the Pakistani ruling class.
The protestors warned that their protests would continue if the ADB, WB and other international financial institutions continue to fund anti-people projects that are approved by diktat. They stressed that they would resort to more and more civil disobedience as is the case in DG Khan where local communities have physically prevented construction on the Kacchi Canal from continuing.
The protestors said that the ADB and WB are complicit in the drying up of deltas and the immense ecological damage that has been caused to eco-systems in Sindh and the Siraiki belt. Further IFI-funded projects are causing massive social dislocations and demographic imbalances that will be the cause of long-term conflict.
They said that the IFIs are just as responsible as the government of Pakistan for the increasing threats to the federation. Finally, PFF representatives announced that their protest movement would continue with a public meeting on Friday 30th December at the Lahore Press Club on the issue of deep-sea trawling.