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DAM-L Kenya Dam protest letter/LS (fwd)

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 13:56:51 -0800
To: irn-safrica@netvista.net
From: Lori Pottinger <lori@irn.org>
Subject: Kenya Dam protest letter/LS
Sender: owner-irn-safrica@netvista.net

 From an NGO working on Sondu-Miriu dam in Kenya.

STATEMENT OF PROTEST TO JAPANESE GOVERNMENT

Dear Mr. Kono,

It is with sadness and deepest regret that the people of Nyanza have
learnt that the Japanese Government is scheduled to disburse shortly,
money for the second phase of the Sondu-Miriu River Hydro-Power
Project in Kenya.
The first disbursement from your government caused a lot of grief and
loss for members of the community who were affected when the
government, through the Kenya Electricity Generating Company started
civil works in 1999 in Nyanza.
We are appalled that a second disbursement is being made without
consulting members of the affected community about their views of the
first funding activities. This project has characteristically
proceeded without community consultation.
We have heard that Japanese officials have been at Sondu-Miriu and
met with community members. We wonder who these so-called "community
members" are yet we members of the community have not been accorded
the priviledge of meeting with the Japanese Government and officials.
We only see Japanese people driven in big convoys of cars and given a
conducted tour. The so-called community members they speak with are
people who have been given procurement contracts for the project
implementors and do not come from the affected communities. Their
interest is self-evident.
We would like to appeal to the Japanese Government to hold on to
their purse until adequate consultations are held with members of the
community.
About 200,000 men, women, and children adversely affected by the
project have consistently appealed to the Kenya Government and the
Japanese Government to meet with them to comprehensively discuss and
find solutions to the following issues:
1. Affected community members have been made poorer by the project
2. The project implementors lied to the community about the effects
of the project.
3. The project is not sustainable because it does not plan to provide
for the affected community electricity it generates from community
land.
4. The first phase of the project has already destroyed the environment.
5. Fishermen upstream of the project have lost their sole source of
livelihood and income.
6. The river is polluted because of waste water and sewage discharged
at the various office and camps sites.
7. Community members have not been compensated for loss of their land
and sources of income.
8. No single member of the community was resettled by the project.
9. Consultants and members of the Japanese government visiting the
project area have never been allowed to talk with the affected
community members.
10. No health centers have been set up to carter for members of the
community being afflicted by water-borne and dust-borne diseases as a
result of the project.
11. There is no alternative source of drinking water for community
members affected by the diversion of the river.
12. The cultural site, Odino Falls, will be destroyed once the river
is completely diverted.
13. The community is against the diversion of the river because this
will interfere with the eco-system.
14. The habitation of wildlife in the Koguta forest is being
disrupted as a result of trees being felled for use in the project.
15. The Lake Victoria basin is being laid barren because the project
is encouraging large scale sand harvesting for constructions at the
expense of agriculture.
16. Serious erosion will occur downstream at the floodplains of
Nyakwere because of the project which has promised not to control the
floods.
17. The people dependent on floodplain agriculture are afraid there
will be adverse impact on their food supply because of loss of
nutrient and soil salination.
18. The threat to the safety of people near the power house,
including a secondary school with over 200 children, has not been
investigated or explained to the community.
19. The community is totally against rampant corruption by project officers.
The community has been patient despite numerous ignored requests to
meet with the project implementors, JBIC officials and Japanese
embassy officials here.
We are kindly requesting members of the Japanese Government to come
meet with the affected community before disbursing funds for this
second phase.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan Odima
Sondu-Miriu Community Advocacy Group
Africa Water Network, Kenya

Argwings Odera
Project Co-ordinator
Africa Water Network , Kenya

Pireh Otieno
Programmes Officer
Africa Water Network , Kenya

Endorsed by:
Lori Pottinger
Director, Southern Africa Program,
International Rivers Network , USA

Satoru Matsumoto
Director,
Mekong Watch, Japan

Ikuko Matsumoto
Director, Development Finance and Environment Program,
Friends of the Earth - Japan, Japan

Cc: Mr. Kiichi Miyazawa, Finance Minister
        Mr. Takeo Hiranuma, Minister of International Trade and Industry
        Mr. Fukushiro Nukaga, Minister of Economic Planning Agency
        Mr. Hiroshi Yasuda, Governor, the Japan Bank for International
Cooperation
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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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