1988. július (161-183. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2
1 ©isím£ Editor: György Krassó * 24/D Little Russell Street * London, WC1A 2HN * Tel. 01-430 2126 (írom abroad 441-430 2126) 173/1988 (E) 17th July, 1988 Qpen Debate About the Danube Dam Spectacular changes came about this week during debates conceming the construction of the Bős-Nagymaros dam. As is well known this ecologically destructive plán which is economically irrational and reflects Stalinist giant mania first surfaced 35 years ago, bút it was only at the end of the seventies that it - in totál secrecy - took its present form. Hungárián enironmentalists have fought against this huge invest- ment plán fór five years and have been joined by the Austrian Greens and the Slovakian Friends of the Earth. However an open debate was prohibited by the Hungárián author- ities and the independent Danube movements were nőt allowed to unité. Bút last year Béla Lipták, an engineer who lives in the United States, founded the Hungárián Environ- mental Foundation which started a wide ranging campaign in Western countries against the realisation of this paln. He collected a great number of protesting signatures and sent them to the Hungárián Republic’s Presidential Council and he gives time to the Hungárián govemment until August to involve Hungárián society in the dam decision otherwise he will announce a tourist boycott of Hungary and Austria, organise demon- strations in all the big cities of the world and - what will be even worse fór the Hungárián government - he will take steps to withdraw Western bank credits and duty concessions from Hungary. In April the Hungárián Ambassador to Washington wrote a letter to Lipták in which negotiations in Budapest were proposedj he accepted. On July llth Iván T. Berend the President of the Hungárián Academy of Sciences received Lipták and Imre Mécs, László Szekeres and János Vargha, the leaders of the Danube movements. During the conference it was agreed that statements made by the Academy of Sciences ín recent years about the dam which had been seized and kept secret should be made public. On the 12th the National Water Gonservancy Investment Company organised a premises inspection in Nagymaros fór Lipták, including joumalists and M.P.s. On July 13th the Ministry of the Environment and Water Supply held a pre3s conference on the site and tried to calm the fears of the environmentalistsj representatives of the independent movements were nőt invited and Lipták was nőt present. When those present went across intő Slovakian territory they were nőt allowed to take the Hungárián Environmental Foundation’ s 26 point plán with them. On the same day the Heti Világgazdaság (Weekly World Economy) published an interview with Lipták and the Hungárián Environmental Foundation’s protesting statement. Béla Lipták gave several lectures including one in the Jurta Theatre on Thursday before more than 800 people. István Molnár an engineer alsó spoke, he talked about the Soviet film "Dyke" made three years ago - it was shown afterwards - about the senselessness of building huge dams during the Stalin éra and includes opinions from workers who are working on similar constructions today who say that the most important task is to stop these irrational and damaging investments. After this Lipták delivered his lecture in which he reported on the history of the Hungárián Danube movements and the Hungárián Environmental Foundation. He convincipgly proved that the Bos-Nagymaros dam was a damaging and mistaken step by showing pictures and diagrams, by giving inter- national comparisons and reading out a 26 point protest, There were a great number of Ministry and Water Supply Office workers in the audience. During the debate afterwards all hell broke loose. Those who represented the official position tried to steer the debate round to speciálist detailed queries bút the audience wanted to hear the opinion of the independent environmentalists who have been silenced fór many years. An inhabitant of Nagymaros said that in recent weeks Austrian machines while drilling rock beneath ground had caused a minor earthquake in ^agymaros and eracks had appeared Subscribers can use or quote the Hungárián October newsletters in totál or in detail as long as the source is acknowledged.
