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dam-l Survival Int. on Epupa/LS
>16 March
>Namibia presses ahead regardless with dam
>
>Survival International has denounced Namibia's preparations for a
>hydroelectric dam, which if built will flood the best pasture land of the
>Himba people and destroy their society. Although the $540 million joint
>Namibian -Angolan project has not yet been funded, the Namibian Deputy
>Minister of Mines and Energy, Jesaya Nyamu, has announced that the
>preparatory phase, including the final drawing up of plans, will start in
>mid-1999.
>
>The project will use the water of the Kunene river, which forms the border
>between Namibia and Angola. The two partners disagree over the site of the
>dam: Namibia favours the cheaper option which will drown the famous Epupa
>Falls; Angola prefers a site downstream in the Baynes mountains, which will
>flood a smaller area. The Himba reject both alternatives.They fear the
>destruction of their way of life if the dam floods their pastures and
>gardens and ancestral graves, besides overwhelming them with an influx of
>up to 4,000 construction workers. To quote a statement by Himba leaders:
>'To us, Baynes can be likened to the tail of the cow and Epupa the body.
>Our fear is that if we give the Government the tail we are in fact allowing
>them to wrestle the whole cow from our hands.'
>
>The project is also criticised on environmental grounds. The dam's
>reservoir could evaporate more water each year than the capital city of
>Windhoek uses annually - this in a country with a serious water shortage.
>Meanwhile, enough natural gas and other sources of electric power exist to
>make Namibia self-sufficient.
>
>A Survival International representative commented: 'The Namibian
>government seem determined to push the project beyond the point of no
>return. This would be a disaster for the Himba, while bringing little
>long-term benefit to the rest of the Namibian people.'
>
>ends
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For more information contact:
Virginia Luling
Africa Campaigns Officer
Survival
11-15 Emerald Street
LONDON
WC1N 3QL
TEL: ++44 171 242 1441
Fax: ++44 171 242 1771
survival@gn.apc.org
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Survival is a worldwide organisation supporting tribal and indigenous
peoples. It stands for their right to decide their own future and helps
them protect their lives, lands and human rights.
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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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