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dam-l Norway funds dam rehab./LS
Note the reference to funding for people displaced by Kariba dam in this
story. These people were displaced more than 30 years ago, and are still
worse off than before the dam; the story refers to them getting "tar roads
and boreholes" as "rewards for the people." What a consolation prize!
Norway to fund power scheme
( October 27, 1999 )
Lusaka (Times of Zambia, October 27, 1999) - Norway has committed funds to
kick-off the rehabilitation of three power stations whose total cost is US
$206.5 million.
The Nordic country will soon release 98 million kroners towards the
project. The three power stations to be rehabilitated are Kariba North Bank,
Kafue Gorge and Victoria Falls.
Other financiers are the World Bank ($79 million ), Nordic Development
Fund (NDF, $7 million), European Investment Bank (EIB, $32 million) Development
Bank of South Africa 210 million rands, the Agence Francaise De Development,
Finnish Development Agency, the Government through the rural electrification
fund and Zesco which will cover 10 per cent of the amount. Zesco director of
power rehabilitation Kawana Akapelwa who disclosed this at a consultative
meeting with the donors said the project would start soon.
"We are now in the procurement phase. Implementation will go on soon. The
project will see the distribution of power supply increased to Ndola, Kitwe and
Lusaka," Dr Akapelwa said.
He said the components to be covered included environmental preservation,
improvement of telecommunication service and training of members of staff.
Zesco project manager for the Gwembe-Tonga Development Project Claire
Limbwambwa said Zesco would now proceed to implement the Gwembe-Tonga project
covering nine chiefs and their 400, 000 subjects who were displaced during
construction of the Kariba Dam. More than 540 km of roads covering four
districts will be tarred, boreholes will be drilled for provision of clean
water, schools and health centres will be built as reward to the people.
Ms Limbwambwa said people would be trained to oversee their own projects.
The component will also include the fight against diseases like HIV/AIDS,
bilharzia, cholera, and electrification of the lakeshore from Chipepo to
Sinazongwe. She appealed to donors to assist with the $2 million required to
clear landmines left during Zimbabwe's liberation struggle to ensure the road
rehabilitation programme was on course.
The money was required to buy landmine detectors and detonators. It was
learnt in the meeting that the debt owed to Zesco by the Copperbelt Energy
Company (CEC) would be cleared before the privatisation of the last four units
of ZCCM.
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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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