Group says power project will increase poverty
By MARK KAPCHANGA
Posted Thursday, October 7 2010 at 12:14
China has been urged to withdraw the funding of the now controversial
construction of Gibe III hydropower dam in Ethiopia.
Through a petition by a group calling itself the Friends of Lake Turkana
(FoLT) to the Chinese ambassador to Kenya, it is argued that once the
project is implemented, the 240-metre high dam will compromise "a very
fragile and unique ecosystem" which is identified as a protected area.
According to FoLT chairperson, Ikal Ang�elei, the filling of the
reservoir will block the south-western part of the Omo River,
threatening the livelihood of more than 200,000 people living in the
lower Omo valley.
"If the natural flood with its rich silt deposits disappears,
subsistence economies will collapse leading to food shortage," said Ms
Ang�elei.
Documents accessed by the Daily Nation show that Industrial and
Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is underwriting a $500 million contract
which was awarded in May 13 to Dongfang Electric Corporation for the
dam�s turbines and electro-mechanical works.
Although ICBC has not publicly announced the loan, the bank�s official
confirmed last month that the financial agreement between the Bank and
the Ethiopian government was signed in July.
Friends of Lake Turkana believe that ICBC has committed to funding this
"destructive" project without its due assessment and impact.
"The Chinese government should reconsider funding this project until we
obtain a fair hearing and authoritative legal conclusions about shared
waters under international law," read part of the petition.
Ms Ang�elei alleges that so far no independent assessment of the
environmental and social impact from the Gibe III Dam has been
undertaken, despite the advancement in the putting up of the venture,
the largest energy investment project ever implemented in Ethiopia with
a $1.7-billion price tag.
An environmental impact assessment auditing of the project by a team of
researchers from Europe-based CEE Bankwatch Network reveals that in
2006, the Ethiopian government set up an Environmental Monitoring Unit
whose goal was to monitor the environmental impacts of construction and
operation of project.
Fishermen on Lake Turkana. Groups say the Gibe 3 dam would lead to the
ecological and economic collapse around Lake Turkana and would increase
conflicts in this volatile region.
However, the unit is said to have had limited capacity and at the same
time no power to enforce compliance with environmental safeguards.
While the monitoring team appreciated that the dam will have devastating
effects on the lake, the researchers alleged they cannot "actively
pursue the issues of hydropower dams due to legitimate concerns of
government persecution."
Rick Graetz, a researcher at the University of Montana said that the
proposed dam on the Omo River will have major destructive impacts on the
Lower Omo River Basin�s fragile semi-arid environment.
"The Gibe III project will have major trans-boundary impacts
specifically in northeastern Kenya where both the Omo River and Lake
Turkana are located, and in the Ilemi Triangle of southern Sudan," said
Dr Graetz.
If completed, the project will produce more than 1,800 MW of
electricity, some of which will be exported to Kenya, Sudan and Djibouti.
Kenya alone is expected to import more than 500MW to help solve the
recurring power outages.
According Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation, more than 200 MW will be
exported to both Djibouti and Sudan.
Moreover, a feasibility study is underway to consider exporting 50 MW to
Yemen through Djibouti, Somalia, Eritrea and Egypt.
Ethiopia expects to earn $407 million annually from these exports.
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