Uproar as Uganda pursues plan to dam waterfall in national park
Waterfalls elsewhere along the Nile have dried up and vanished in recent decades in the wake of major hydropower ventures in Uganda. AFP
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The government announced in late November it would allow an international consortium to explore the feasibility of a 360-megawatt hydro plant in Murchison Falls National Park, a protected zone boasting wetlands of international importance.
Murchison Falls (Uganda). The boat edged as close as possible to the deafening surge of water roaring over Murchison Falls, giving tourists a hair-raising shot of one of Africa's awesome and terrifying natural spectacles.
Tens of thousands visit northwest Uganda every year to marvel as the force of the Nile crashes into a jungle-clad ravine. But a proposal to build a hydroelectric dam nearby has caused an uproar, and debate over the merits of development at all costs.
"I don't agree with putting a dam on the Murchison Falls, although I agree with the efforts at looking for development investments in whichever area that might be," said Ugandan tourist Paolo Kyama after gaping at the 43-metre (141-foot) cascade.
"And reasons for my reservations about Murchison is that it is a very unique tourist attraction."
The government announced in late November it would allow an international consortium to explore the feasibility of a 360-megawatt hydro plant in Murchison Falls National Park, a protected zone boasting wetlands of international importance.
The decision stunned conservationists, who just three months earlier had been celebrating after the government abandoned the contentious project following a sustained protest by tourism operators, green activists and local communities.
The new proposal looks at damming Uhuru Falls, a smaller cascade nearby, not Murchison Falls as originally envisioned, the government said.
Uhuru Falls is adjacent to Murchison Falls on the Victoria Nile, separated by a narrow rocky strip. It was formed in 1962 when powerful floods cut a second channel just upstream.
"We cannot just say no, or yes, without a feasibility study. So everything must be backed up by science," said Tourism Minister Godfrey Kiwanda of the policy reversal.
"What made cabinet rescind its position of just not saying no? It was basically that let's back our no or yes with science," he told AFP.
- Disappearing falls -
The feasibility study will be led by Bonang Power and Energy, a little-known South African company that was enlisted for the first proposal.
