
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 4, 1993                   TAG: 9312040004
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BRASILIA, BRAZIL                                LENGTH: Short

HUGE AMAZON DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS TO HALT

Brazil will stop pursuing gigantic development projects in the Amazon and turn instead to smaller-scale efforts that are less harmful to the environment, President Itamar Franco announced Friday.

Franco's policy met with immediate opposition from leaders in Amazon states, who called for more mining and forestry.

Franco's new policy is his first regarding long-term Amazon development that takes environmental protection into account.

Environmentalists have attacked the government for spending huge sums on dams, bridges and roads that destroyed the rain forest, then fell into disrepair.

by CNB