Honduran Indians are furious with the Dutch development bank FMO because it is part financing a hydro-electric power plant in Honduras which is violating human and property rights.

The FMO was set up in 1970 by the Dutch government to ‘promote sustainable economic growth in developing nations’. The state has a majority interest in the bank.

Last February, the FMO signed a contract with the Honduran construction corporation DESA to part finance a planned hydro-electric power plant on the Gualcarque river, the Volkskrant reports.

The river is used for irrigation, fishing, bathing and watering cattle by the indigenous Honduran Indians who have been fighting against the power plant since 2010.

The Honduran Society for Indigenous Organisations COPINH has now sent a letter to the FMO demanding that it withdraws its investment in the plant.

The FMO denies that a majority of the local population is against the construction and says the project will contribute to the development of the area, the Volkskrant says.