Barro Blanco / 14-0002

Complainant: Cacica General de la Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé

Date Filed: April 14, 2014

Last update: 05 October, 2022

Case Status: Closed

The Barro Blanco project is a 28.56 MW hydroelectric project located on the Tabasara River in Panama. The Project Company is Generadora del Istmo S.A. (GENISA).

In April 2014, a complaint was lodged by the Cacica General of the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé, a representative of the indigenous people. The complainant believes the project will have a significant negative impact on their livelihoods and territories.

DEG acknowledged the receipt of the complaint with a letter to the complainants and forwarded the complaint to the Independent External Panel (hereafter: the Panel). The Panel assessed the complaint and determined it was admissible under the criteria of the Complaints Mechanism. FMO had received a similar complaint in May 2014, which was also determined to be admissible under the criteria of the Complaints Mechanism. After consultation with the complainant, GENISA, FMO and DEG (hereafter: the Parties), the Panel decided to assess both complaints as one and conduct a compliance review of FMO’s and DEG’s compliance with their own standards. The Panel performed on site visits and discussions with the Parties and other stakeholders in this complaint.

Based on the information obtained, the Panel judged the level of compliance of DEG and FMO in their final compliance review report. In reaction to this report, the Management Board of FMO and DEG wrote an official Management Response.

During the following monitoring phase, the Panel has issued two monitoring reports and conducted a monitoring visit. The third and final monitoring report assesses developments since the publication of the second monitoring report. In reaction to this report, the Management Board of FMO and DEG published an official Management Response.

With the publication of the final monitoring report, the complaint process under the ICM is closed. As mentioned in the Management Response, DEG is following up on the recommendations made.