World heritage site

What has seemingly been overlooked in the dam's construction is the fact that Lake Turkana – the fourth largest lake in Africa, the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake – is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In June 2011, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, in its 35th session held in Paris, France, called for the construction of the dam to be halted pending an assessment and a World Heritage Center monitoring mission to review the dam's impact on Lake Turkana.

However, Gibe III project manager Azeb Asnake has defended the dam saying that impact assessment studies done by the Ethiopian Government and other independent parties show that no damage will take place to the Lake Turkana ecosystem.

"In fact a new study prepared by donors and other concerned parties reveals the opposite findings," she told African Review.com.

"The assessment clearly defined ways the dam will help conserve the areas surrounding the site and will help to control the flow of water that has been a major threat for the people who live along the banks of the river until it reaches the Lake Turkana." she added.

John Munyes, the Kenyan Minister of Labor, who also represents a constituency in the vicinity of the lake, told ChinAfrica they have no problem if the dam is built.

 "Our issue is that they should fill the reservoir slowly, say, over 10 years. If they do it at once, Lake Turkana will lose." Two other MPs from Turkana County, Ekwee Ethuro and Josephat Nanok, argue that there's a need for a comprehensive environmental impact assessment as to what the Gibe III project is all about. Two other dams have been built on the upper part of the Omo and two more are scheduled after this one. Gibe III project began in 2006 and is scheduled for completion next year.

Nanok, Assistant Minister of Wildlife and Forestry, said Kenya should be focusing on green energy, like wind and solar, and perhaps the vast geothermal potential, if it is to save Lake Turkana.

"The people of Ethiopia are not being malicious. They want electricity and they have a river so they should exploit it," noted Dr. Boni Khalwale, Chairman of Kenya's Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. "So, if we go to the negotiating table and tell the government of Ethiopia that instead of producing expensive hydroelectric power, Kenya is currently exploiting the geothermal potential we have in this country and that we would sell that power to Ethiopia at special rates because of regional considerations and the need for international cooperation, they would listen."

Going ahead

Ethiopia has vowed to go on with the $2.11 billion project despite UNESCO's freeze. They have been working on it for the last four years and see no reason why they should stop now.

"No matter what is reported, the project will continue, and financing to the project is certain as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has provided $470 million, and the remaining might be covered by Ethiopia," Misikir Negash, Public Relations Officer for Ethiopia Electric Power Corp., told Fortune, an Ethiopian publication.

UNESCO noted in its report dated May 27, 2011 that Chinese financiers, plus other financiers, have been asked to stop the funding of the project until the issue is resolved.

According to the official website of Gibe III, most of the construction cost of the dam itself is said to be financed by the Ethiopian Government with its own funds.

But Ethiopia's government will have to step in, because if it ignores the UNESCO ban arising from the fact that it is destroying a heritage site, the other heritage sites in Ethiopia may be dropped from UNECO's list. That will reduce the number of tourists and ultimately affect the country's economy.

UNESCO has said that Lake Turkana – which is a serial property made up of Sibiloi, Central, and South Island National Parks – is a major breeding ground for the Nile crocodile, hippopotamus, a variety of snake and fish species, and a key stopover point for migrant waterfowl. The global environmental watchdog said that the changes in the annual flooding influx of the Omo in particular "could affect fish spawning, which would have serious consequences on the lake's food chain and ecology."  

(Reporting from Kenya)