It Doesn’t Matter if Ecuador Can Afford This Dam. China Still Gets Paid.
A
giant dam was supposed to help lift Ecuador out of poverty. Instead,
it’s part of a national scandal, and a future tethered to China.
CreditCreditFederico Rios Escobar for The New York Times
By Nicholas Casey and Clifford Krauss
Now,
only two years after opening, thousands of cracks are splintering the
dam’s machinery. Its reservoir is clogged with silt, sand and trees. And
the only time engineers tried to throttle up the facility completely,
it shook violently and shorted out the national electricity grid.
This
giant dam in the jungle, financed and built by China, was supposed to
christen Ecuador’s vast ambitions, solve its energy needs and help lift
the small South American country out of poverty.
Officials had warned against the dam for decades. Geologists said an earthquake could wipe it away.
The Reventador volcano spewing ash near the dam.CreditFederico Rios Escobar for The New York Times...
