Karuma compensation ends in March
Nov 25, 2010
CONSTRUCTION of the $1.3b Karuma hydro-power project will start mid-2011, after the Government has completed compensating the people that will be affected by the dam, the energy ministry has said.
By David Mugabe
CONSTRUCTION of the $1.3b Karuma hydro-power project will start mid-2011, after the Government has completed compensating the people that will be affected by the dam, the energy ministry has said.
Ministry officials assured the local community that compensation would be completed by March 2011, amidst demands from area leaders that the Government compensates them quickly when their property still has value.
James Banaabe, the acting commissioner in the ministry, told the residents of the five affected villages that the compensation money was available in the energy fund and would be given out after the completion of the verification process.
After the verification, the government chief valuer must approve the compensation figures before the over 300 households are paid.
“The law does not allow us to start construction before compensation,†said Banaabe at the Golden Lodge Hotel, Karuma on Wednesday.
The Karuma dam is now under the new Kiryandongo district, but the five villages of Awoo, Karuma, Nora, Bedmot and Akuridia in Oyam, Kiryandongo, Nwoya and Apac districts will be affected.
224 land owners, 103 tenants as well as 327 families will be affected by the 660 megawatts power project works.
Government is determined to have the Karuma power project started to boost the country’s low energy base. Several funding options are being explored including the issuance of an international infrastructure bond and public borrowing through the central bank.
CONSTRUCTION of the $1.3b Karuma hydro-power project will start mid-2011, after the Government has completed compensating the people that will be affected by the dam, the energy ministry has said.
Ministry officials assured the local community that compensation would be completed by March 2011, amidst demands from area leaders that the Government compensates them quickly when their property still has value.
James Banaabe, the acting commissioner in the ministry, told the residents of the five affected villages that the compensation money was available in the energy fund and would be given out after the completion of the verification process.
After the verification, the government chief valuer must approve the compensation figures before the over 300 households are paid.
“The law does not allow us to start construction before compensation,†said Banaabe at the Golden Lodge Hotel, Karuma on Wednesday.
The Karuma dam is now under the new Kiryandongo district, but the five villages of Awoo, Karuma, Nora, Bedmot and Akuridia in Oyam, Kiryandongo, Nwoya and Apac districts will be affected.
224 land owners, 103 tenants as well as 327 families will be affected by the 660 megawatts power project works.
Government is determined to have the Karuma power project started to boost the country’s low energy base. Several funding options are being explored including the issuance of an international infrastructure bond and public borrowing through the central bank.