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dam-l Alert on Bujagali in Uganda/LS
March 20, 2000
Action Alert!
Stop US-based AES Electric, Ltd. from Damming Uganda's Bujagali Falls
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"Future economic prosperity and sustainable water resource management in
Uganda will not lie in huge dams. The way forward is the wise use of
river-based environmental goods and services; not their extinction through
the pursuit of hydropower lunacy."
- National Association of Professional Environmentalists (Uganda)
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Uganda is one of the world's poorest countries, with a per capita GNP of
just US$190 and a position of 163 out of 191 countries in UNDP's Human
Development Index. Approximately 95% of the population does not have access
to electricity, and most could not afford it even if they were connected to
the national grid.
The U.S.-based AES corporation, the largest independent power producer in
the world, proposes to construct a US$520-million dam near Bujagali Falls
on the Nile. The dam would create a socially and environmentally
destructive reservoir, would worsen downstream impacts as it would be the
third dam in the upper Nile, and would drown the spectacular Bujagali
Falls.
After being rejected by Parliament on numerous occasions, the Ugandan
government finally approved the project last fall, and now international
money lenders are reviewing it for possible investment. In January, the
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector investment arm
of the World Bank, began evaluating whether or not, and under what
conditions, it will financially support the project. This appraisal is
expected to begin in April and last about six months, at which time the IFC
could begin to negotiate terms of a loan for the project with the Ugandan
government.
Local environmentalists believe the dam will harm Uganda's chances to
pursue true renewables like solar and wind, and point out that this project
will do nothing to help the majority of Uganda's poor majority. Not only is
this large dam a bad match for the country's needs, but it will have
serious social and environmental impacts as well. Concerned citizens should
send letters to AES and the IFC calling on them to propose more appropriate
energy options for Uganda--ones that protect its natural resources while
also helping the poor majority of its citizens. While it will likely take
up to 6 months for the IFC to decide whether or not to fund the project,
letters now will have the effect of making them take notice of local NGOs'
concerns.
BACKGROUND: PROJECT IMPACTS
The dam would be built 10 miles below two other large dams, the existing
Owens Falls Dam and the Owens Falls Extension Project, now under
construction. The Bujagali Falls project would flood the Nile all the way
to the base of the Owens Falls Dam.
According to AES's own environmental impact assessment, the dam would
permanently displace 820 people, and affect an additional 6,000 by
submerging communal lands, burial sites or portions of their land.
Replacement land for those who would lose homes or crops is practically
non-existent in the area. The record of large dams worldwide reveals that
those displaced will be left permanently poorer as a result of the project.
In addition, the reservoir is expected to increase serious water-borne
diseases like malaria and schistosomiasis. Stagnant pools of water are
breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes and
schistosomiasis-spreading vector snails. Malaria is already the leading
cause of death in Uganda.
The creation of a reservoir could also permanently harm fisheries. The area
around Bujagali Falls supports a substantial number of subsistence and
commercial fisherman, who depend on the resource for both food and income.
The project will permanently submerge highly productive agricultural land
on the river's banks as well as islands of extreme biodiversity. Displaced
peoples will increase the stress on land near the reservoir, resulting in
further watershed degradation and deforestation and a loss in soil
productivity.
The project will also drown Bujagali Falls, a spectacular series of
cascading rapids which Ugandans consider a national treasure. With the true
"Source of the Nile" submerged by the upstream Owens Falls Dam in 1954,
Bujagali has become a popular site for Ugandans as well as foreign
tourists. AES's project environmental assessment dismisses the falls as
"attractive but not exceptional." Tourism around Bujagali Falls has offers
great potential to Uganda's burgeoning tourism industry. Recent figures
show that over 6,000 people raft the Nile each year near Bujagali, and it
is estimated that these tourists spend nearly $4 million a year in Uganda
on ancillary activities not related to rafting. The dam will snuff out this
income, much of which goes directly to local communities.
LOCAL ACTIVISTS WORK FOR BETTER ALTERNATIVES
Two groups in particular are leading the charge in Uganda against this
project: a grassroots group called Save Bujagali Crusaders, and the
National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE).
The NGOs say the project will cause the Basoga people, who live near the
falls, to suffer "cultural death." They also note that this project and
other dams proposed for the Nile in Uganda could heighten water conflicts
in the Nile Basin.
AES's Uganda representative, Christian Wright, brushes off local opposition
as an inevitable but manageable feature of large dam proposals. "A project
this size will always have someone taking an issue against it," he says.
AES may be dismissive of local activists' claims against the project, but
it will be hard pressed to show how their dam project will help solve what
some see as Uganda's biggest environmental problem: grinding poverty.
Bujagali Crusader Martin Musumba says, "The real issue in Uganda is not
electricity but poverty. Currently the majority of Ugandans have no money
for electricity, for they are below the poverty line. Production of more
electricity will not reduce use of fuelwood and charcoal until deliberate
programs are evolved to reduce poverty and the cost of power." Musumba,
NAPE and others are pressing for a sustainable fuelwood program as well as
a solar PV program, which could be modeled on Kenya's experiences, which
have been highly successful.
In Uganda, the potential for alternatives to large hydro is excellent, but
has generally been overlooked by major funders. In addition to improving
efficiencies and wastage in the existing system (estimated to have losses
of power of up to 40%), Uganda is favorably endowed for both solar and wind
power.
Solar's biggest advantage is that it does not require connection to the
national grid, which is a huge expense if electricity is to be made
available to the rural population. Emphasizing solar instead of hydro would
also open up good opportunities to collaborate with neighboring Kenya,
whose highly regarded private-sector system of photovoltaic solar systems
have caught the eye of the world. In Kenya, more households get their
electricity from the sun than from the national grid, according to The
Economist. Some 50 local companies now manufacture or assemble PV systems
in Kenya. Unlike the region's big hydro projects, Kenya's solar industry
has developed without significant aid, subsidies or government support,
according to renewable energy experts working in the region.
Activists working to stop Bujagali envision a national energy plan that
takes into account the needs of the poor and emphasizes true renewables
like solar, wind, micro-hydro. In addition, NAPE activists say, "Fuelwood
energy development must also be an integral aspect of any energy plan for
Uganda if it is to be socially relevant to the poor."
They believe a commitment to big hydropower now may preclude Uganda from
pursuing such a path, and are convinced it will come at the expense of the
rural poor, as have all of Africa's large dams.
"Future economic prosperity and sustainable water resource management in
Uganda will not lie in super or huge dams," the activists write in a
submission on the Bujagali project to the World Commission on Dams (now
reviewing the worldwide development record of large dams). "With Bujagali
saved, the country would have one of the most attractive cascades of
nature-based tourist sites. The way forward is the wise use of river-based
environmental goods and services; not their extinction through the pursuit
of hydropower lunacy ... or forced development that leads to extinction of
bio-cultural diversity."
REQUESTED ACTIONS:
What you can do:
- Write to AES urging it to preserve Bujagali Falls, and invest in energy
projects that will help the majority of Ugandans. Such projects might
include demand-management and energy conservation measures, and wind and
solar power. Tell them that because the cost of extending the national
electricity grid to those without power (who are mostly in remote rural
locations) is prohibitively expensive for Uganda, the AES claim that this
project will bring power to the poor does not hold water.
- Explain that the many functions of a freshwater ecosystem like the Nile
-- as a source of rich fisheries, forests, natural water filters, and
reservoirs for groundwater storage -- would be seriously impaired by the
continued damming of the river. Destroying these riverine ecosystems by
building more large dams will cause serious problems for Uganda in the long
run, at great economic and environmental cost. Tell them that sustainable
human development depends on healthy ecosystems. The prudent course,
therefore, is to invest in less harmful energy projects.
- If you own AES stock (NYSE symbol: AES) or are invested in a fund that
has significant AES stock holdings, note that fact in your letter and state
that as a shareholder, you are interested in seeing AES follow its stated
principals of "social responsibility" and "to serve the electricity needs
of the world." If they are truly interested in serving Uganda's electricity
needs, they will work to find ways to help the majority of Ugandans who
cannot afford power from expensive, centralized electricity projects like
large dams.
- CC your letter to the International Finance Corporation, which is
currently deciding whether or not to fund the project, and the Overseas
Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), which may also be approached for
financing. Or better yet, write a separate letter to the IFC, reminding
them that the World Bank's overall goal for Uganda is to reduce poverty,
and that its Country Assistance Strategy prioritizes projects that will
help reduce poverty. Tell them that this project does not reduce poverty
directly, and in fact may shut out investment in better options like
small-scale solar or micro-hydro. Remind them that the economic advantages
from dams in Africa do not "trickle down," and in fact have left the rural
poor poorer across the continent.
ADDRESSES:
AES:
Dennis Bakke, President and CEO
Roger van Sant, Chairman of the Board
AES Corporation
1001 North 19th Street
Arlington, VA 22209
Ph: (703) 522.1315
Fx: (703) 538.4510
AES Bujagali Project Director: Bob Chestnutt
AES Nile Power
18 Parkshot
Richmond
TW9 2RG United Kingdom
Telephone: (011 44) 208-334-5300
Fax (011 44) 208-334-5327
E-mail: bujagali@aesnilepower.com
International Finance Corporation
2121 Pennsylvania Av. NW
Washington, DC 20433 USA
IFC Bujagali project contacts: Glen D. Armstrong - Head, Environment and
Social Review Unit (email: garmstrong@ifc.org); Ronald B. Anderson -
Principal Environmental Specialist (email: roanderson@ifc.org)
Kirk Robertson
Executive Vice President
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
1100 New York Avenue, N. W.
Washington, D.C. 25027
Email: krobe@opic.gov
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE SEE THESE WEBSITES:
Save Bujagali Crusade: http://www.uganda.co.ug/bujagali
International Rivers Network: web: http://www.irn.org (for
Bujagali-specific information, go to
http://irn.org/programs/safrica/others.shtml)
AES: http://www.aesc.com; project-specific site: http://www.bujagali.com
This Global Response Action was issued in support of and with information
provided by Save the Bujagali Crusaders and National Association of
Professional Environmentalists (both Uganda), and International Rivers
Network (US).
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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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