Amazon local communities hold project at bay (AJEnglish)

Published on 28 Jun 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish

Work on part of a huge hydroelectric dam being built in the Brazilian Amazon has been halted by a tribal protest. One hundred and fifty indigenous people from five different tribes are going into day 8 of an occupation of a work area at the Belo Monte Dam construction site, saying promises made to them by thebuilders and the government have not been fulfilled. While the government says the dam will bring much needed clean energy, with minimal social andenvironmental impact, the infrastructure cuts right through a channel and blocks the natural flow of the Xingu River. A judge denied the builders' request for the indigenous to be forcefully evicted. Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo reports from the Belo Monte construction site in Brazil.