Guyana: the Kali'na people fight against the installation of a power station next to a village
Mount Itoupé in the Amazonian park of Guyana.
(Illustrative image) © Franck Leconte
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
In Prospérité, a small village in French Guiana, the Kali'na, one of the six Amerindian peoples of Guyana, have entered into resistance against a mega-project for a power plant which is to be built less than two kilometers from their village.
A delegation was in Paris this week to try to carry their message to the highest summit of the State.
She was notably received by the elected representatives of Nupes in the National Assembly.
Advertising
Read more
On October 24, the gendarmes landed at dawn in the village of Prospérité to arrest their customary chief Roland Sjabeur.
Unheard of in Guyana, explains the deputy of the Democratic and Republican Left Jean-Victor Castor: "
The history of Yopoto is the first time that a prefect has authorized himself to go to a village, to stop a helmet , a customary chief, a Yopoto, this is the first time this has been done.
There is a red line that has been crossed.
Today, even if there was a tiny margin of maneuver to find a way to negotiate, it is no longer possible.
»
"
Tranquility
"
And yet Roland Sjabeur and the Kali'na are not opposed to the project itself.
A hybrid power plant which aims to supply up to 10,000 homes using solar panels and a brand new hydrogen energy storage system.
What they want concretely: “
From a concrete point of view, we are quite simply looking for tranquility in our village, for that, this project must be moved elsewhere.
»
Why less than two kilometers from the village?
Why install this plant less than 2 kilometers from the village, without any consultation when French Guiana covers more than 83,000 km2?
This question, the Kalin'a and their customary chief therefore came to ask it in Paris, while on the spot, the hour is with the confrontation.
►
To read also: A new gold mine project in Guyana puts biodiversity at risk, according to NGOs
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Guyana
France