CHRONOLOGY/267occasions, the first head of the DOE threatens to resign in
protest against interference from Bank executives in the
independent evaluation of projects.
1976 Pakistan. The Bank finances the building of the Tarbeta
dam, which leads to the forced removal of 300,000 people,
who become homeless.
1978 India. The Bank provides S451 million in financing for the
Upper Krishna dam, which involves the forced removal of
nearly 220,000 people in one of the country's poorest
regions. It has been estimated that the first 100,000
displaced people saw their earnings drop by 50 per cent.
1979 Turkey. The Bank makes its first loan within the framework
of a structural adjustment programme (SAP).
1979 Argentina. The Bank makes the first of three loans totalling
more than S1 billion for the building of the Yacyreta hydro
electric dam on the Parana river between Argentina and
Paraguay. Both countries are controlled by dictatorships at
the time of the first loan, which is spent before building even
begins. Construction lasts more than 15 years, more than
50,000 people are forcibly removed. Corruption is so
extensive that President Menem has called Yacyreta 'a
monument to corruption'.
1979 Philippines. The Bank discreetly withdraws from a project
to build four hydroelectric dams on the Chico river, which
would have involved the forced removal of 100,000
members of the Bontoc and Kalinga tribes. Ambushes of
surveying teams and mass protests and civil disobedience by
the local population - including lying down in front of
bulldozers - lead Prime Minister Varata to declare in 1981:
'One of the four planned dams ... will not be built because the
people are opposed to it.' The experience leads the World
Bank to carry out an internal review of policy on minorities
threatened by development.
1979 Nicaragua. The Bank suspends all loans to Nicaragua in the
wake of the overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship, in place
for nearly 50 years. The Bank only resumes loans to
Nicaragua in 19 9 2, two years after the electoral defeat of the
Sandinistas.
1980 Washington, DC. The Bank establishes its first set of policies
on forced relocation. It requires borrower countries to