March 03, 2007	Saturday	Safar 13, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, March 2: A protest walk was staged by Taunsa Barrage affected people on Friday to urge the World Bank to announce appropriate measures to redress their sufferings and damage that the project has caused to them.

The walk, organised by Sindhu Bachao Tarla and ActionAid, which marked the end of a five-day hunger strike, started from the World Bank office and culminated at the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club camp office at Meloday.

Over 20 community members from the Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur districts, affected by the Tuansa Barrage Emergency Rehabilitation and Modernisation Project (TBERMP) sat at the hunger strike camp and were supported by numerous social and political activists from the twin cities.

Speaking at a news briefing at the press club, Saddan Bibi, Manzoor Mor, Fazle Rab and Mushtaq Gadi of the Sindhu Bachao Tarla said the SBT’s protests against the World Bank-funded project and other mega projects would continue unabated.

“We remain committed to non-violent civil disobedience to demand the protection of our basic freedoms, including the right to livelihood and the preservation of the eco-systems of the Indus River that have supported civilization for centuries,” they asserted.

They said the new WB country representative in Pakistan must realise that the protests would continue and should acknowledge the WB’s responsibility in redressing the damages that the project had caused. “If no such acknowledgment is made, our subsequent actions will culminate in a resumption of our indefinite hunger strike,” they threatened.

“Given that women and children, amongst the fishing and agricultural communities that have been devastated by this project, remain the most vulnerable amongst us, they will lead the next strike,” they announced.

Ms Bibi regretted the World Bank’s refusal to accept responsibility for its role in designing and implementing a project that is beset by technical, social and environmental flaws.

She rejected the assertion of the outgoing WB country representative, John W Wall, that the government of Pakistan was solely responsible for the fallout of the project, while the WB’s role was limited only to the extent of providing funds for projects that were conceived and implemented autonomously by sovereign governments.

“The SBT totally rejects these claims of the WB on the basis that the TBMERP and many other WB funded mega water projects have been the cause of untold social and ecological destruction, and that there can be no question of the WB disowning responsibility for continuing to fund projects that have been proven time and again to be highly controversial,” she said.

Mr Mor said mega water projects, including the proposed Kalabagh Dam and the under-construction Greater Thal Canal, had been clearly denounced by three provincial assemblies on numerous occasions.