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dam-l Uganda approves Bujagali Dam/LS
Uganda $500 mln dam gets
go-ahead from parliament
10:40 a.m. Nov 08, 1999 Eastern
KAMPALA, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The Ugandan
parliament on Monday gave the go-ahead for
the construction of a $500 million power dam
on the river Nile by U.S.-based company
Applied Energy Services (AES).
Parliament approved a government guarantee
underwriting electricity purchases from the 250
megawatt dam by the state-owned Uganda
Electricity Board. The approval has paved the
way for the signing of a Power Purchase
Agreement by the government and AES.
``Once we have this and sign the power
purchase agreement with government,
construction of the dam should begin in eight to
12 months,'' AES Country Director Christian
Wright told Reuters. The dam is due to start
producing electricity in 2004.
The dam proposal has come under fire from
environmentalists who sought a court order to
prevent construction, saying it would destroy
beautiful countryside and displace families. The
case was dismissed by a Kampala court in
August.
The Ugandan public currently suffers daily
power cuts, with demand for electricity
outstripping supply by 80 MW at peak times,
and rising at a rate of two percent a month.
An extension to Uganda's Owen Falls dam will
add a further 80 MW of capacity next year.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights
reserved. Republication and redistribution of
Reuters content is expressly prohibited without
the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters
shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the
content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
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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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