Human barricade stops dike project

Human barricade stops dike project

ANGELES, Philippines (Reuter): Screaming villagers scuffled with Philippine police yesterday to stop work on a dike to defend a bustling commercial city from mudflows from volcanic Mount Pinatubo.

Residents of seven villages near the project site said the 9.5-kilometer long dike might save Angeles city, but it would turn their villages into catch-basins for mudflows and wreck their homes.

About 50 policemen armed with assault rifles tried in vain to push away dozens of protesters who had blocked the entrance to the project, preventing a convoy of workers and equipment from going in.

The villagers stood their ground, forcing police to fall back. The planned 10 meter high dike is intended to prevent mudflows from Pinatubo reaching Angeles, site of the former U.S. Clark air base, which the government has turned into an industrial complex.