Enviromentalists blame power shortage on dams

Oct 08, 2004

IN the wake of rampant load-shedding, the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) has called for the shutting down of one power station on River Nile in order to increase the water level.

By Harriette A. Onyalla
IN the wake of rampant load-shedding, the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) has called for the shutting down of one power station on River Nile in order to increase the water level.

Lamwo county Member of Parliament and member of NAPE, Eng. Hillary Onek has said the power produced from Nalubaale and Kiira power stations had dropped from 180 mega watts to 160 because the two dams were overcrowding the river.

“The terminals of one power station should be shut. Only one dam should be used. The terminals of the two dams are overdrawing water from the lake causing the water level to drop drastically. To maintain the amount of power generated, the water levels should be maintained,” Onek said during a press conference at the International Conference Centre, Kampala on Thursday.

Onek, who is also a water engineer dismissed reports that the drop in the water level of Lake Victoria by two metres was caused by the recent drought.

“Designs of dams and their output are not based on seasons. The hydrologic flow of River Nile has been studied from 1899 to date, and a severe drought of over six months can only cause half a metre drop in the lake’s water level. The level has dropped because the reservoir has been tampered with by the two dams,” he said.

Makerere University don and environmental activist, Oweyegha Afunaduula attributed the rampant load-shedding to inefficiency in the management of electricity not lack of dams.

“Some people are implying that building Bujagali Dam will solve all our energy problems. All we need is Government’s re-examination of the energy sector. We should not fear to look boldly into the future and sort out loses caused by misleading consultancies, corruption and narrow policies which do not take in alternatives,” he said.

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