ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (Daily Nation) — A high-level Kenyan delegation arrived on Tuesday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to investigate the alleged adverse environmental impact of the country’s Gibe III hydro-power dam project on Lake Turkana in the Rift Valley province.
The delegation of 14 officials and experts are drawn from Kenyan Environment Ministry, Office of the President and KenGen company.
Ethiopian authorities received the team at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. The delegation is scheduled to meet its Ethiopian counterparts on Wednesday.
The team is also scheduled to visit the Gibe III dam site. The delegation has been assigned to investigate the situation on the ground and to submit a report to the Kenyan government.
Following strong protest against the dam project, World Bank and the European Investment Bank, which the Ethiopian government hoped would fund the project, have refused to get involved.
State-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation, which owns the project, is looking to the African Development Bank (AfDB) for financial assistance. AfDB is yet to announce its final decision on whether to finance it or not.
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FORUM | 3 Comments
That is an issue of poverty. Ethiopia has to have its own right to manage the nation’s natural resources. This should not be an issue for Kenyan’s investigation.
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June 2nd, 2009 at 10:03 PM
Weyane doesn’t have a plan to work on the Omo project right now, they will take the money and run. They are a bunch of Rats.We will deal with the Kenyans when we get the rightfull Ethiopian Government not looters.
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June 3rd, 2009 at 12:55 AM
I agree with Anonymous above. Yesterday was Egypt and Sudan. And Now Kenya? I have lived in the area for a couple of years in the 60′s. The whole area that stretches from Lake Turkana all the way to Wollega is very fertile with endless arable land and thick forest. I remember getting lost in one of the forest with two of my ‘city slicker’ colleagues not too far from we used to work and live. But all that vegetation was wild blessed with coffee, timber, coriander and many other wonderful fauna. It rains most of the year (at least then) and that was the only source of the needed moisture. My heart used to ache seeing both Gibe and Gojeb rivers just flowing by untapped into a far distance lake. I remember a group of engineers doing survey work for development. These two rivers belong to the people of Ethiopia including Kafichos, Oromos, Kulo Kontas and the rest of us. The water is needed for irrigation and generating hydro-electric power. I have read articles on this very website about the shortfall of electricity all over the country. I don’t really care who does it. It will have far-reaching benefits for most of the population. Nuclear power plant is out of question.
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June 3rd, 2009 at 6:13 PM