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dam-l Epupa dam/LS

>>The Namibian
>>June 1, 1998
>>Survival raps dam 'decision'
>>CHRISTOF MALETSKY
>>SURVIVAL International has expressed concern over reports that the
>>Namibian and Angolan governments have decided to go ahead with the Epupa
>>dam project after funds for its construction phase had been secured.
>>Survival said the reports came despite the overwhelming opposition of
>>the Himba people, who face being flooded off their lands and losing
>>their sacred sites.
>>"Throughout the debate on the Epupa dam project, the Namibian Government
>>has shown little willingness to listen to or take seriously the Himba
>>opposition to the dam. Rather the Government seems obsessed with
>>building the dam, despite the fact that both the World Bank and the
>>European Union have expressed strong reservations about its viability,"
>>Stephen Corry, Director of Survival, told The Namibian.
>>A number of well-placed sources last week told The Namibian that the
>>Government had chosen the large dam site at Epupa falls rather than the
>>Baynes Mountain option and that an undisclosed amount of funding for the
>>construction phase had been secured.
>>They also said Government was reported to be determined to keep their
>>plans under wraps as long as possible.
>>Corry, whose group campaigns for the rights of minority tribal groups
>>around the world, said the Himba had been a remarkably resilient and
>>successful pastoral people.
>>Their skill in managing their herds has enabled them to live through
>>war, famine and drought and it would be tragedy now if this distinctive
>>and viable way of life was destroyed for a development whose benefits
>>were so doubtful, he said.
>>Government has denied that it has already 'made up its mind' on the
>>planned hydropower scheme, but did acknowledge that a number of
>>financial institutions were expressing strong interest in the project.
>>Director of Energy in the Ministry of Mines, Paulinus Shilamba,
>>commented last week: "That is news to me. As far as I know the site has
>>not been decided upon. It will only be done after the final report has
>>been tabled by the consultants and it has been discussed by the PJTC."
>>He added that Government had been "inundated" with calls from financial
>>institutions around the world who wanted to lend money for the
>>construction phase, but that they had been told to wait until after a
>>final decision had been made.
>>According to the Mines official, consultants were still busy
>>incorporating input from different stakeholders, including Government,
>>into the findings of the final feasibility report.
>>The final report will then be handed to the Permanent Joint Technical
>>Commission, which will add further recommendations before the report is
>>handed to the Angolan and Namibian governments for a final bilateral
>>decision on whether or not to build the dam.
>>ends
>>

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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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