Save Lake Turkana: Brief Since Last Demo
Posted on January 14, 2010 by Saidimu Ole ngais
I would like to give you a brief since the last demonstration.
We had a demo in Kalokol and a small one in NBI in March 14th 2009.During this demonstrations we appealed to the donor community to stop funding for the Gibe III dam due to lack of an assessment with all indications showing that the filling of the Gibe III dam would have affect the ecology of Lake Turkana and eventually contribute to:
1. Killing the fish due to an increase in alkalinity levels at the lake
2. tamper with the ecology which would affect the vast flora and fauna at the lake
3. Affect livelihoods of communities that solely depend on the lake for survival
4. Reduction of lake levels would lead to shrinking of the lake which affects known borders thus leading to territorial wars among already vulnerable communities.
5. And as more research is done, there are questions on the actual filling up of the dam or a possible leakage which would be disaster for the communities.
In a nut shell the Environmental Impact Assessment was a sham, and we were demanding an Environmental Social Impact Assessment.
After months of lobbying, the International Financial Institutions (IFI’s), have given an ear but now the GoK seems to now be the problem. Certain officers seem to have a personal agenda with the dam as they do not want to listen to any questions and when questions are raised, people are threatened and thrown out of meetings.
We therefore want to pass certain messages to the GoK
1. We appreciate the Mau issue being tackled, but as Citizens of Kenya the lake communities, also have an environmental issue that the GoK cannot ignore
2. As indicated by the MD of Kengen in the Standard Newspaper on 29th Dec 2009, Kenya has other sources of energy why is the GoK concentrating on this dam instead of investing in high potential of wind, solar and geothermal?
3. One dam was shut down in 2009 due to drought and the current power shortages are due to reliance on hydro power so why is the GoK going out to invest in hydropower when its own energy problems are brought about by reliance on hydropower?
4. The Gibe IV and V dam are in planning so if the GoK only needs power from Gibe III and it has an effect on the lake, can you imagine what Gibe IV and V will do to the region?
5. Is the GoK considering the instability that currently goes on in the region as it makes its plans?
6. As an individual who originates from around the lake, we already have 98% poverty level, why would the GoK want to plunge us further into poverty.
7.We are tired of mega projects that are mainly white elephants, where are the documents for Gibe III as this is another project with many questions. Including, They say it will be cheaper energy, what exact rates will it be as what is cheap, when the power has not even been produced.
8. The GoK does not consider the effects of Climate Change in the issue of Dams.
Therefore friendsl, I ask you to join us in this fight, as a woman like the women who have to go far distances in search of water. As a man who is the bread winner of a livelihood that is being wiped out. As a Kenyan who is proud of the world’s desert lake. As an environmentalist who realizes Mau and Lake Turkana are all issues that affect the environment. As a Human rights activist that realizes that all cases are equal be it Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret or Loiyangalani. And as a Human being out to do right by others.
Edmund Burke said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
