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dam-l Epupa Decision Looms/LS
>From The Namibian, Sept. 18, 1998:
Dam decision looms
CHRISTOF MALETSKY
NAMIBIA and Angola will meet at the end of October to make a final
assessment of reports submitted by the consultants working on the
feasibility
study of the controversial Epupa hydro-electric power dam in the Kunene
region.
Reports have already been submitted by a subcommittee from the two
countries.
The Namibia-Angola Permanent Joint Technical Commission (PJTC)
meeting has been set down for October 29-30 in Windhoek. It is
likely to be
the last meeting to make final recommendations to the two Governments.
Deputy Director in the Ministry of Mines, Fernando Vahekeni, said the
meeting was expected to take place but did not want to go into
detail about it.
When the PJTC met in Windhoek last time, it pinpointed some shortcomings
in the report by the consortium of consultants - Namang - comprising of
Namibian, Angolan, Swedish and Norwegian companies and said there it was
necessary to verify some facts before the project could finally be
concluded.
"With due consideration of the problems ... the PJTC was not in a
position to
discuss the matter of the selection of the single site (Epupa or
Baynes) for
implementation as envisaged.
"Instead, this topic has been postponed for discussion and
formulation of the
final recommendation to the two governments at the next PJTC meeting,"
the joint chairmen of the PJTC, Siseho Simasiku (Namibia) and Armindo
Gomes Da Silva (Angola), said at the time.
"The major shortcomings related 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 the Supervision Committee
for the Feasibility Study (SCFS), and other organisations such as
the World
Conservation Union (IUCN) and the Norwegian Water and Energy
Administration Directorate (NVE) which were specifically requested by the
PJTC.
In spite of the statement, sources claimed that the two governments were
locked in a war of words over whether the controversial scheme should be
constructed at the Epupa or Baynes site.
Inside sources claimed that while Namibia wanted Epupa, their Angolan
counterparts were keen on the Baynes site and that everything had to
do with
"international politics".
"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,"
a source
told The Namibian.
The Angolans are believed to be keen on the Baynes site because it
will mean
they will have a good chance of obtaining international funds to
renovate the
Gove dam inside Angola which was damaged during the civil war and has
not been repaired since 1975.
"It will also mean that development will come to the Huambo area - which
has been a battle field - but everything will depend on the peace
process in
Angola," noted a source.
It is well known fact 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 possible other sites. In sharp contrast
the Epupa
site is regarded as a prestige site by Namibia.
Namibia also cites the faltering peace process in Angola, and the
millions of
dollars needed to repair the Gove dam as factors in favour of the larger
Epupa site. New fighting was reported in the Gove area last week.
The Epupa site is seven kilometres downstream from the falls and is
likely to
displace some 700 Himba people as well as flood the falls. The area
flooded
at the Baynes site, some 40 kilometres downstream from the Epupa falls,
would be 94 square kilometres while Epupa would cover more than 250 sq
kilometres.
The consultants pinpointed Baynes as the best option in October 1996 but
Epupa was controversially included in a move that cost the taxpayers
of the
two countries N$3 million.
Also:
Epupa up-date
September 18, 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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