Kanungu to get power dam
Feb 24, 2009
THE Government has contracted a Norwegian firm, Jacobsen Eleckro AS, to construct a 7.5 megawatt hydro-power project on River Birara on the border of Kanungu-Rukungiri districts.
By Chris Magoba
THE Government has contracted a Norwegian firm, Jacobsen Eleckro AS, to construct a 7.5 megawatt hydro-power project on River Birara on the border of Kanungu-Rukungiri districts.
The project will be supervised by the Uganda Rural Electricity Agency and is in the first phase of feasibility study and environment impact assessment (EIA).
Addressing district leaders in Rukungiri on Friday, officials from New Plan Consulting Engineers (NPCE), a firm contracted by Jacobsen Eleckro to carry out the EIA, said the scheme was part of the 10 mini projects to be built countrywide.
“Government decided to build small hydropower projects because they are free from international politics,†Jova Ndyabarema, an environment officer with NPCE, told district leaders at Rukungiri council hall.
Citing the case of the Bujagali project, Ndyabarema said construction of hydro-electric power schemes on international rivers takes long and may fail because of divergent interests.
She said NPCE would complete the first phase of the EIA and feasibility study by the end of the year.
Ndyabarema said officials from the energy ministry and Jacobsen Eleckro AS would study the reports, after which construction would start.
She noted that the affected people in the project area would be compensated and resettled. “There will be a resettlement action plan and everybody will be compensated. The compensation strategy is better because it is facilitated by NORAD and the World Bank,†she said.
THE Government has contracted a Norwegian firm, Jacobsen Eleckro AS, to construct a 7.5 megawatt hydro-power project on River Birara on the border of Kanungu-Rukungiri districts.
The project will be supervised by the Uganda Rural Electricity Agency and is in the first phase of feasibility study and environment impact assessment (EIA).
Addressing district leaders in Rukungiri on Friday, officials from New Plan Consulting Engineers (NPCE), a firm contracted by Jacobsen Eleckro to carry out the EIA, said the scheme was part of the 10 mini projects to be built countrywide.
“Government decided to build small hydropower projects because they are free from international politics,†Jova Ndyabarema, an environment officer with NPCE, told district leaders at Rukungiri council hall.
Citing the case of the Bujagali project, Ndyabarema said construction of hydro-electric power schemes on international rivers takes long and may fail because of divergent interests.
She said NPCE would complete the first phase of the EIA and feasibility study by the end of the year.
Ndyabarema said officials from the energy ministry and Jacobsen Eleckro AS would study the reports, after which construction would start.
She noted that the affected people in the project area would be compensated and resettled. “There will be a resettlement action plan and everybody will be compensated. The compensation strategy is better because it is facilitated by NORAD and the World Bank,†she said.