Why not jail responsible dam engineers?
Jeremias Andrade Carrera
13 Oct 2009
Re: San Roque’s profits
Dear Mr. Ceralde:
Your questions are very correct and to the point. Let us assume for a moment that the entire dam is like an airplane that is intended to do something good for the public, and at the same time can cause massive catastrophe if not operated properly.
The $1.19 billion dollar dam, which costs way above the price of an airplane and can cause more destruction should therefore be operated CAREFULLY than an airplane. To operate it properly it must have a variety of reliable dam safety and risk management instrumentation LIKE AN AIRPLANE that indicates among other things like geotechnical conditions, hydrologic and hydraulic factors, etc, etc.
These instrumentation are standards for large dams and I assume that the San Roque dam must have these instrumentation to be relied upon by the operator such that any operational procedure such as waiting until the critical level is almost reached before release that will cause massive loss of life and property downstream is not only a mere operational error or negligence but a pure and simple criminal negligence.
If a driver of a mere vehicle can be charged criminally for unintentionally killing someone on the road, why not those operators who are supposed to uphold a higher standards because they are “PROFESSIONALS”.
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