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dam-l Epupa letter/LS



These two excellent letters are from The Namibian's Letters to the Editor
section, March 12, 1999. Sorry I didn't find them sooner!



      Wind, Solar Power Are Here To Stay

      THE Renewable Energy Sector in Namibia recently experienced a breakthrough
      when the Ministry of Mines & Energy announced that 16 wind turbines
will be
      installed at Luderitz under the guidance of NamPower, with a combined
output of
      about 10 Megawatts. This should effectively cover the electricity
demand of
      Luderitz, which has developed into the economic powerhouse of the South.

      Furthermore the Government's Energy White Paper, which had been
finalised just
      under a year ago, states other forms of energy when assessing their
financial,
      economic and social costs and benefits."

      ¥ "Government will ensure that institutional and planning frameworks treat
      renewable energy on an equal footing with other forms of energy when
assessing
      their financial, economic and social costs and benefits."

      ¥ "Government will facilitate adequate financing schemes for
renewable energy
      applications, and will encourage government agencies,investors and
users to make
      decisions based on life cycles costs of alternative energy options."

      ¥ "Government will promote the use of economically viable renewable
      technologies, as a complement to grid electrification, to improve
energy provisions
      to rural areas."

      ¥ "Government will ensure that funds are made available for rural
electrification
      which will be allocated between grid and off-grid energy supply
options, on the
      bases of their relative social and economic costs and benefits."

      The vision portrayed by our Government and utilities such as NamPower
is on par
      with a global drive towards truly sustainable future and the
generations to follow
      will thank them.

      Similarly in South Africa, a joint effort by Eskom ad Shell has
started with a 30
      000 Houses Solar Electrification Programme.

      There are dedicated Renewable Energy Information Networks in South Africa,
      Botswanan, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and of course Namibia
      that, under severe financial constraints and mostly due to personal
vigilance, are
      compiling and disseminating information, coordinating efforts and sharing
      experiences in the field of renewable energy and related projects.

      The Namibia Development Corporation, under the auspices of the Ministry of
      Mines & Energy, makes a loan scheme available to our rural people
which allows
      them to purchase Solar Home Systems. The interest rate is 5 per cent
and the
      payback period is as much as 5 years.

      People, enterprises and organisation concerned with the protection and
      preservation of our environment have long since agreed that renewable
energy and
      a sustainable lifestyle are the only possible solutions to
desertification, poverty and
      land degradation.

      Now, thee comes the effrontery:

      Some gentleman via national television allegedly made the dismissive
remark to the
      entire Namibian nation that wind and solar power in Namibia will not
provide for
      our needs within the next 30 years. He made this statement, while
trying to support
      the construction of the Epupa Hydroelectric Scheme which, according
to him, will
      commence within this year.

      I did not see this television broadcast and have no idea who this
gentleman is so I
      will address him as Mr X.

      Dear Mr X, are you telling all the people, organisations and Government
      departments mentioned above that they are wasting theirs and
Namibia's time and
      money? That a mono-crystalline solar module solar module with 25 years
      warranty and state-of-the-art wind pumps and turbines are inferior to
a dam which
      is going to flood vast areas of ancestral land, destroy important
fish breeding
      grounds, cost a lot of people their livelihood, will take almost 10
years to fill up
      with water (water which I might add, that has to come from an unstable and
      potentially hostile neighbouring country) and will only cost us N$500
million?

      Are you saying that we should stop playing around and do some real
work for a
      change? Or better yet, that we should just go home and leave the
important issues
      to you?

      Mr X, I realise that my opinion will not give you a sudden flash of
consciousness,
      but I do hope that they will put your name on a big bronze plaque in
large bold
      letter and stick it to the dam so that we can remember who you are.

      ALEX SHIKUTE


      Hands Off Epupa

      SUNDAY March 14 is the International Day Against Dams And For Rivers,
Water
      And Life. It is a day when all around the world, organisations and
individuals find
      ways of expressing their celebration of rivers or their protest
against what is
      happening to the world rivers.

      The Day of Action was inspired by participants at the First
International Meeting
      of people Affected by Dams in Critba, Brazil. They declared: "We are
strong,
      diverse, united and our course is just. To symbolise our growing
unity, we declare
      that March 14 - the Brazilian Day of Struggle against Dams - will
from now on
      become the International Day of Action against Drams and for Rivers,
Water and
      Life.

      Earthlife Namibia demands of the Government of Namibia to recall
their plans to
      construct the Epupa dam. The disastrous effects on the Himba
communities as well
      as the irreversible ecological damages and high financial risks
totally outweigh the
      alleged socio-economic benefits. Now that the outcome of the questionable
      feasibility study is known, a responsible Government should not
continue with such
      plans.

      It is Earthlife's submission that the Epupa plans should be abandoned
because of
      Namibia's reported large reserves of Kudu gas which could satisfy
more than our
      entire electricity requirements, including economic and technological
spinoffs.

      According to international experts, estimated costs of large dam
projects will have
      doubled or tripled by the time of completion. Added to this is the
fact that it is not
      proven policy to put all eggs into one basket.

      In our arid country it is frightening to learn that daily evaporation
from the
      proposed Epupa dam would equal Windhoek's daily water consumption or twice
      the full contents of Hardap dam. This is because of the enormous dam
surface of
      380 sure kilometres at high water level.

      As a result of the apparent disregard of the critique of the "Draft
Feasibility
      Study" Earthlife Namibia intends to organise a public hearing with
local and
      foreign experts on the findings of the "Final Feasibility Study".

      In 1992 the Government of Namibia signed the United Nations Convention for
      Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of Ethnic Minority Groups. The
intended
      construction of the Epupa dam against the declared objections of the
majority of
      the Himba communities directly infringes on the rights of minorities. Such
      fundamental changes to the social structure of the Himba people would have
      irrevocable adverse consequences.

      Earthlife Namibia also appeals to the Government of Angola not to
agree to the
      implementation of this project.

      Earthlife Namibia calls on all Namibians to join hundreds of
grassroots groups and
      other around the world to celebrate the International Day of Action
against Dams
      and for Rivers, Water and Life.

      Water For Life - Not For Death!

      EARTHLIFE NAMIBIA

      WINDHOEK

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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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