Transcript UGANDA EXPERIENCE WITH LARGEDAMS PAST PRESENT By

UGANDA EXPERIENCE WITH LARGEDAMS
PAST PRESENT
By
F.C Oweyegha-Afunaduula
Chairman
Uganda Nile Discourse Forum
( UNDF)
Paper at the Workshop on Dams on the Nile Lessons Learnt and
Future
Perspectives Organized by Sudan National Discourse Forum
(SNDF)
with the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) Capacity Building and
Stakeholder Involvement (CBSI)
in Khartoum, Sudan, 19-21st January 2008
INTRODUCTION
• New Belief that large dams are critical to
promoting Environmental Security, Democracy,
Peace, Justice, Integration, Cooperation,
Poverty reduction, Social Development of the
poor, Abating Climate Change and Achieving the
UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
INTRODUCTION CONT……..
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The New Enlightenment Large Dam
Development Dynamics
Terrorism
Organized Crime (e.g. Political corporate Crime)
Shared Responsibility/Understanding
Environmental Sustainability
Dialogue Among Civilisations and Cultures
Complexity and Unity of Knowledge
(Consilience)
RECENT TRENDS IN REGIONAL
DEVELOPMENT DYNAMICS
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Nile Basin Initiative Process
East African Community Process
New Partnership for African Development Process
All committed to large (Water and Energy) Infrastructure
Development
• The Omega plan for Africa 92003) Embracing
Globalisation wholesale to catch up with the Developed
World.
• AU Summit on Agriculture and water (Sirte, Libya, May
2004)
RECENT TRENDS CONT…..
• African Ministerial Conference on Hydro Power
and sustainable Development (Sandton, RSA,
March 2006), endorsed need for sustainable
Development of Infrastructure and to Address
Environmental and Social issues appropriate
• Joint Effort by AMCOM, FEMA, AFRECA and
AMCEN to implement actions on Environmental
issues
RECENT TRENDS CONT…..
• Seminar for Eastern and Southern African
Countries on “Major Water Infrastructure
Development in Africa: Balancing Economic,
Environmental and Social Aspects for
sustainable outcomes”
(EAC/SADC/AMCOW/NEPAD, 25-27 July 2007,
Mbabane, Swaziland)
THE WISE COUNSEL RELATING TO
LARGE INFRASTRUCTURE
• Development Projects should not come at
expense of the poor (ICOLD, 1997)
• The people directly affected by a Project should
benefit most (ICOLD, 1997)
• The Social (and Environmental) Impacts of
Large Dams are an integral part of their
performance (WCD, 2000)
• Large Dams and Modern Irrigation Projects have
increased the vulnerability of people especially
the poor (World Bank, 2000)
• Construction of (Large) Dams in indigenous
peoples’ Territories has been a story of broken
promises damaged livelihoods drowned cultural
sites and spiritual loss (June, 2004)
THE COMING LARGE DAM BOOM IN
AFRICA
• Well over 50 new large Dams were under way in 2006
on major Rivers
• Uganda planned to build a Cascade of Dams on the Nile
long ago
• The quick-fix, fast track Bujagali is under construction
(Non-sequential, Ignoring civil society concerns and EIA,
SEA Flaws)
• Limitation of declining water levels in Lakes and
Rivers/Climate change
• Corporate Government circle of security
• Multi-stakeholder process absent; despised in many dam
project processes
UGANDA’S EXPERIENCE WITH LARGE
DAMS
EXPERIENCE WITH OWEN FALLS DAM
• Quick fix, fast track
• Colonial decision-making process
• Technical choices only
• No Environmental Impact Assessment
• No consideration of social, cultural, political,
spiritual, ethical, moral and environmental issues
• No consideration of hydrological/climatic futures,
poverty reduction, integration , democracy,
justice, human rights
OWEN FALLS DAM EXPERIENCE
CONT…..
• Promised 180MW of Electricity but at its prime
average production of 160MW
• Electricity affordability issue ignored, preferring
electricity Accessibility
• Only 1% of the population accessed Electricity
EXPERIENCE WITH OWEN FALLS
EXTENSION DAM
• Same as in case of Owen Falls Dam
• Acres International of Canada, which had
offered technical advise in Owen Falls Dam
Process, was found to have engineered data
• Acres had also been involved in the great
bribery scandal in the Lesotho Highlands Water
Project
• Water levels in Lake Victoria plunged by more
than a Metre soon after the project was
commissioned in 2003
• Promised 220 MW but only 40MW realised
EXPERIENCE WITH BUJAGAALI DAM
A: BUJAGALI 1
• Essentially politically engineered project
• Highly Controversial
• EIA as symbolic exercise
• Initial Construction cost (of $ 500m) Inflated by
twice as much (Prayas, 2002)
• Investigated by World Bank Inspection Panel for
violation of World Bank safeguard policies
BUJAGALI I EXPERIENCE CONT…..
• Promised 250MW but World Bank and
International Finance Corporation found it could
only produce 172MW under prevailing
environmental conditions then
• To be Economically viable 65% of its Electricity
would have to be exploited to a ready market.
• Acres International involved
• Issues of peace, security, justice, human rights
etc not integral to its process
B: BUJAGALI II
• Essentially a Revival of Bujagali I
• Highly Controversial
• Construction cost well over $ 850m yet promised
electricity remained 250MW
• Recently investigated by both World Bank and
African Development Bank
• Quick-Fix, Fast Track, Non-sequential Dam
process
• EIA and social environmental assessment as
exercises in environmental and development
symbolism
BUJAGALI II EXPERIENCE CONT…..
• Estimate of only maximum of 65MW in current
Environmental realities
• Many limitations such as its design not being
integral to the project process and ignoring
current Environmental realities
EXPERIENCE WITH OTHER LARGE
DAMS
• Mainly Dam Plans
• At least 10 other Dam plans
• Karuma to start in 2009; cost of $ 450m for
250MW of Electricity
• Kalagala Dam for 450MW but Kalagala Falls
touted as offset for Bujagali as well!
FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
• Uganda Government has chosen large Dam
way to Development
• Favourable global investment Environment
• WB has released $ 360M for Bujagali II
• WB has $42b in large infrastructure mainly in
Africa
• New partnership between World Bank and China
FUTURE PERSPECTIVES CONT…
• Japan has just announced it has $ 2.2 billion for
development in Africa; likely to support large
dams
• New religion of large infrastructure development
as a strategy for abating climate change,
reducing poverty, building democracy, achieving
MDGs, etc
CONCLUDING REMARKS
• New Enlightenment on Development
• Putting issues of Human Rights, Democracy,
Justice, Peace, Security at Centre of
Development process
• Inter-relating issues of Environment, Human
Rights, Democracy, Justice, Peace, Security
• Balancing social, Economic, Environmental,
Political, Technical, Ethical, Moral and other
Aspects in major Infrastructure Development for
sustainable outcomes
• Making integration, cooperation, conflict
resolution, abating climate change, poverty
reduction and achieving MDGs critical
development choices
CONCLUDING REMARKS CONT….
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Dam Safety issues
Complexity
Multi-stakeholder involvement
Environment cultural diversity, spiritual diversity
for sustainable development
• Development effectiveness and human content
• Shared responsibility for more secure World
CONCLUDING REMARKS CONT…..
• Environmental sustainability as essential in
sustainable security, peace, human rights,
strengthening rule of Law, justice building,
democracy building.
• Freedom and Dignity
• Understanding/Dialogue of Civilisations/Cultures
• From simplicity to complexity
• Dialogue between civilisations and cultures
CONCLUDING REMARKS CONT…..
• CONSTRAINTS
- Monolithic choice of large Dams as the only
legitimate way to development
- Corporate Government circle of secrecy
- Disdain for culture and spirituality
- Virtually no large Dam is built with the new
enlightenment as part of the planning and
implementation process
CONCLUDING REMARKS CONT…..
- Common outcomes of large Dams:
Disconnection of Rivers, Mass Destruction,
Clash of Civilisations, Terrorism, Ethnic
Cleansing, Cultural, Spiritual and Biodiversity
Desertification, Conflicts, Climate change, Daminitiated Floods, Impoverishment of majority poor
WAY FORWARD FOR UGANDA
• Embrace new enlightenment as a new
development and survival strategy
• Radical paradigm and attitudinal shift needed to
balance environment, development and human
needs (i.e. Environment before development)
• Respect for Biodiversity, cultural diversity and
spiritual diversity as a development concern
• More emphasis on small hydros and other
alternative energy sources to deliver Electricity
to the majority
WAY FORWARD FOR UGANDA CONT….
• Target people’s confidence and involvement as
critical elements in development
• Reduce Presidentialism in large Dam decisionmaking
• Target Democracy, Human Rights, Peace,
Security, Justice, Equity
• Embrace WCD’s Guidelines on Decision-making
in Dams and Development
• Embrace Dams and Development Dialogue
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THANK YOU