ABSTRACT
The resettlement of the affected population was carried out between 1973 and 1975. A preliminary census of the region carried out by the resettlement team indicated that the Kuna population numbered approximately 1,000-1,500 people, the Embera population, 350-400, and die colonists, 2,000-2,500. While the existence of the reserve implied that the Kuna had to be consulted about the dam and resettlement, the team and the government always assumed that the reserve in no way posed a legal hindrance to the construction of the project. By 1973, however, when the resettlement effort began in earnest, the plan called for removal of all residents in the immediate area of the projected inundation. The resettlement team contracted with the private consulting firm, Asesores Ecologicos, S.A., to do studies of the sites picked by the Kuna. At least two of these, were considered by the firm to be problematic because of poor soil quality in the area and difficulty in access to potable water.
