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dam-l Namibia&Angola&Epupa/LS
This is from the July 13 Namibian.
Namibia, Angola at odds over Epupa site
CHRISTOF MALETSKY
THE Namibian and Angolan governments are locked in a war of words
over whether a controversial hydropower scheme in Namibia's Kunene
region should be constructed at the Epupa or Baynes site.
Inside sources revealed to The Namibian over the weekend that while
Namibia wanted Epupa, their Angolan counterparts were keen on the
Baynes site.
"There is more international politics involved now than ever. Both sides
have very strong arguments and claim that the project might as well be
abandoned if neither of them can get their desired results," the source
told The Namibian.
The revelations come in the wake of a decision last week by technical
experts of the Namibia-Angola Permanent Joint Technical Commission
(PJTC) to postpone by a month its official decision on where the dam
will be built.
The source said that one side would have to give in "otherwise people
can forget about the hydropower scheme".
The Angolans are believed to be keen on the Baynes site because it will
mean they will be able to renovate and regulate the Gove dam inside
Angola which was damaged during the civil war and has not been
regulated since 1975.
"It will also mean that development will come to the Huambo area - a
kind of battle field - but everything will depend on the peace process in
Angola," according to the source.
It is wellknown that Namibia is not keen on the Baynes site. The
Government sees it as too small, despite its environmental and social
advantages compared to the other sites considered. In sharp contrast the
Epupa site is regarded as a prestige site by Namibia.
Namibia also cites the uncertain peace situation in southern Angola, and
the millions of dollars needed to repair the Gove dam as factors in
favour of the larger Epupa site..
The Epupa site is seven kilometres downstream from the falls and is
likely to displace some 700 Himba people. The area flooded at the
Baynes site, some 40 kilometres downstream from the Epupa falls,
would be 94sq kilometres while Epupa would cover more than 250 sq
kilometres.
Experts at last week's PJTC meeting said the draft study by a
consortium of consultants comprising of Namibian, Angolan, Swedish
and Norwegian (Namang) was incomplete.
The PJTC will meet again at the end of August in Luanda to discuss
changes to the final report.
A statement by joint Chairmen of the PJTC, Siseho Simasiku (Namibia)
and Armindo Gomes da Silva (Angola), said they found the study
contained some deficiencies that needed to be amended before the final
report was finalised to meet with the requirements of the terms of
reference of the study.
"The major shortcomings relate to the incomplete consideration of
mitigation measures, the lack of a complete proposal for an
environmental management and post construction monitoring plan,
inconclusive work performed on the bilateral agreement and the
non-inclusion of the terms of reference for the phase three work," the
statement said.
The study contained comments on the project by Supervision Committee
for the Feasibility Study (SCFS), and other organisations such as World
Conservation Union (IUCN) and the Norwegian Water and Energy
Administration Directorate (NVE) which were specifically requested by
the PJTC to review the draft report.
In addition, the PJTC said it had recognised that there was a need for
some facts to be verified before the project could be concluded.
"With due consideration of the problems indicated above, the PJTC was
not in position to discuss the matter of the selection of the single site
(Epupa or Baynes) for implementation as envisaged," it said.
Also:
Epupa verdict delayed
July 13, 1998
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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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