Q: Could other options of energy resources be more efficient, sustainable, and have less environmental impacts?

A: No! It is not possible to attain sufficient energy from other sources and get other subsequent benefits. The unit cost of producing energy from any other source is also too high.

Q:  What measures have been adopted to mitigate the impact of the dam construction on indigenous inhabitants of the lower Omo River Valley?

A: The major impact associated with the downstream of the dam is raised from the regulation of the river flow both in the dry and wet seasons. The impacts are physical, biological and socio-economical in their very nature.

In the study, the main features of physical aspects testify an imbalance in the present Omo River hydrological regime due to both heavy deforestation in the upper watershed and erratic rainfalls contributing to higher peak floods. Sudden variations of water levels and frequent floods also cause destructive effects on human and animal life, private assets and public infrastructures particularly in the river delta.

The study revealed that huge evaporation losses as a consequence of excessive uncontrolled flooding which further contributes to the current recession of Lake Turkana.

The socio-economic environment has also been thoroughly reviewed by analysing the existing information and data, as well as by utilising specific instruments such as field surveys and questionnaires in order to get a sufficient and clear picture of prevailing conditions of local populations and their settlement patterns, ethnic composition, religious and gender issues, sources of conflicts, income and household conditions deriving from traditional agricultural, animal husbandry and fishing practices, and issues of food security.

One of the project's well identified benefits on water resources is in the possibility to control flooding, thus guaranteeing regularity and yields of downstream human activities, including recession agriculture. (In fact, while large unregulated floods results in severe damages to the downstream communities, severe drought periods, such as the ones occurred in the mid eighties causing famine all over the Lower Omo region).

As such, benefits include a regulatory effect on the hydrologic balance of the Omo River system and Lake Turkana, a diminished impact of unregulated catastrophic events (floods) on riverine human, animal, floral communities, habitats, the possibility to establish infrastructures and human activities, in particular settled agriculture, in many areas previously affected by unregulated floods of uncertain magnitude.

A certain degree of reduction in the river solid transport downstream of the dam is foreseen, particularly for what concerns its coarse fraction component being now trapped in the reservo. A percentage of about 70 percent of the sediment, made up of extremely fine particles will remain in suspension and therefore continue to be carried downstream.

The main mitigation action plans have included a set of physical and managerial measures, standards and guidelines meant to achieve a suitable river flow regulation. The strict implementation will indeed minimise damage to living organisms downstream, as well as permitting local traditional socio-economic activities to perform on the same levels as those prevailing at present, while safeguarding from disastrous floods and years (one in three) of crop failures due to insufficient water levels and uncertain duration of occurrence to guarantee recession agriculture taking place.

The Project Potential Impacts, most of which likely to be fully mitigated by the planned water released in terms of environmental flow, high flow and artificial floods of pre-set duration and magnitude, have also been identified on the natural and human local environment.

The planned river flow regulation includes provisions for a suitable environmental (base) flow, a high pulse flow, and occurrence of controlled flooding. Further, provision has also being made for a set of ancillary mitigation and compensation activities and other developmental actions to be implemented by EEPCo and local Authorities.

The mitigation and monitoring plan has its own cost to implement. The studies have also indicated that the total environmental mitigation, management, monitoring and training cost amounts to Birr 445 million and major part of it (Birr 281.8 million) is allocated for mitigating the downstream impacts. The cost estimate has made adequate provisions for contingencies and it has been considered as a component of the financial requirement of the project.

During the study, the following aspects are also considered as strategy priorities; namely: Gaining Public Acceptance, Comprehensive Options Assessment, Addressing Existing Dams, Sustaining Rivers and Livelihoods, Recognising Entitlements and Sharing Benefits, Ensuring Compliance, Sharing Rivers for Peace, Development and Security

Q:  In what manner were the indigenous communities consulted with regards of decisions to undertake the dam construction?

A: The FDRE Constitution contains a number of articles relevant to the issue of environment in public development projects, and the general environment as a whole. As stated in the national policy, the principal objective of public consultation is highlighted under article 92 of Chapter 10, which could be read:

"People have the right to full consultation and to the expression of their views in the planning and implementation of environmental policies and projects that affect them directly.".

Public consultation, therefore, plays a key role in bringing peoples' participation into project planning and implementation that affects the people directly.

The public consultation process is designed in order to:

·     Inform, and contribute to identifying potential impacts of the project, either negative or positive or both, and prioritize the remedial measures for the identified impacts;

·     Include the attitudes of the community and officials who will be affected by the project so that their views and proposals are mainstreamed to formulate mitigation and benefit enhancement measures;

·    Increase public awareness and understanding of the project, and ensure its acceptance.

A Public Consultation was initiated in 2006, 2007 and 2008 during the initial phase of the Gibe III- Hydroelectric project. As part of this continuous process, a series of public consultations were carried out with federal, regional, zonal, wereda and local officials, institutions,project-affected persons (PAPs), community elders and NGOs level. The overall number of the consultative participants drawn from administrative and community level amounts to more than 1,749, consisting of 203 Zonal and wereda officials, 409 kebele peasant associations council members, 869 community members were consulted and 268 individual household heads were consulted privately.

Discussion and interviews conducted with the local communities and their leaders indicates that their attitude towards the project is positive. Generally, all the consulted groups including local communities and their leaders have positive attitude towards the project. They firmly believe that such project contributes to the attainment of the local, regional and national development goals.

Q:   Are there any further consultations processes planned or under considerations?

A: The next phase of public consultation indicates the future plan of action for conducting a discourse program. As Public Consultation is part of disclosure of findings, consultative meetings and on-going consultations should be built into the project implementation process. Many of the issues that were raised during the consultation will be taken back to the stakeholders in due course of project implementation. Results of the consultation will also be communicated to the stakeholders for feedback on the progress of the implementation of the project. These would give the opportunity to provide the stakeholders with confidence and trust on the project so that their full commitment will be ensured. Thus, the future consultation events will be planned to carry out at different steps, within which various actions and engagement activities will be promoted and addressed. The consultation has identified important issues and provided crucial inputs for the preparation of this Public Consultation and Disclosure Plan (PCDP) for Gibe III Hydroelectric Project.

Q:     To what extent will the Gibe III dam result in the displacement of communities?

A: The project affected Persons (PAPs) in terms of loss of assets and property are a total of 355 households, about 188.94 hectares of land, of which 138.7 is farmland, 47 residential housing units, and 71, 852 perennial crops and other trees.

As a result, one of the most important points to note is that although the Gibe III project is one of the largest hydroelectric projects ever-undertaken in the country, the impact from the reservoir in terms of population displacement is very small. This is because the impounded water will be confined within the gorge of the river far from large population settlement areas.

The cost for implementing the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) is considered as a component of the financial requirements of the project. The total budget required to compensate for the loss of crop land is Birr 11.8 million, perennial crops and other trees is Birr 8.18 million ,for houses and other properties is Birr 3.63 million , while social development plan, evaluation and monitoring will cost Birr 78.5 million. Birr15 million is allocated for the implementation & administration;   contingency is estimated about Birr 117.5 million.

Q:   Will the dam replace the Omo River's natural flood cycle, on which some 200,000 indigenous people depend for flood- recession cultivation and pastoral grazing, thereby potentially causing a major economic collapse in the region?

A: Yes, the dam will replace the Omo River's natural flood. The Omo River natural flood has a large fluctuation due to various reasons such as climate change, degradation in the watershed and variable rainfall in the upper catchment. The dam will store the excess flood and hence a regulated flow will be available during turbine operation hours and environmental flow will be released during the complete stoppage of the plant which is a very rare phenomenon. 

The large storage capacity of the dam also enables the flexible operation of the plant. To maintain the natural cycle, artificial flood will be released through the middle outlets to maintain the recession agriculture. This release will be simulated with the natural flood so that the people can get the best benefit out of it. The availability of continuous flow in the river course will enable the breading of fishes in the lower Omo region, secure the continuation of the cultural recession agriculture practices in the area, secure the revival of grass lands for the pastoralist, and more importantly, protect the area from the frequent floods causing destructive effects on human and animal lives, private assets and public infrastructures particularly in the river delta.

The ethnic groups, Dasenech, Karo, Hamer, Mursi, Murle, Mugugi and Nyangatom, all rely on flood recession and river delta cultivation as well as livestock for their subsistence. It is estimated that some 20,000 families are engaged in flood recession and cropping in the delta, on 12,000ha or so, meaning that 100,000 people could be affected. The annual crop production in the region only lasts for three to six months of consumption while the remaining is dependent on food aid. In addition to provision of continuous flow in the river system, the small scale irrigation schemes proposed in the management plan will definitely improve the agricultural produces in the area.

Q: How many people and communities have been consulted in Ethiopia and   Kenya?

A: The overall number of the consultative participants drawn from administrative and community level was more than 2,000 consisting of 203 zonal and wereda officials, 409 kebele peasant associations council members, 869 community members and 268 individual household heads were consulted through community discussions..

Full consultation has not been made on Kenya's side since it was out of scope of the project. The ESIA studies especially the downstream study report findings, indicate that the inflow to Lake Turkana will not be affected due to the emergence of the Gibe III dam.

Q:    Could the project exacerbate ethnic conflicts in the region?  

A: No, because the main cause of conflicts is water scarcity,  and hence when the Gibe III dam will be operational, the excessive floods will be regulated and a controlled flooding for adequate recession agriculture and grazing will be released in a manner that will revive the flow to stable condition. The current state of frequent drought due to prolonged dry season and excessive floods during wet seasons exacerbates the ethnic conflicts in the region. This is due to the low flow during the dry season and the high growth of population in the area in addition to the degradation of land and over grazing of the available grass land.

The dry season flow of the Omo River will be higher than that of the current conditions due to the regulation and water shortage during the dry season will be permanently solved. The planned mitigation actions indicated on the ESIA studies of Gibe III Dam such as increasing fish farming, animal husbandry and small scale irrigation will stabilize the conflict in the area.

 Q: Why the Gibe III project was awarded to a company without competitive bidding?

A: There are different methods of procurement such as International Competitive Bidding (ICB) (open, which may include prequalification, or short listing), and direct negotiation. ICB procedures for such big projects usually take at least 3 years.

On the other hand, at the time of contract award, Salini Costruttori S.p.A had successfully completed the Gibe I Plant and was already working on GG II and Beles Projects.  Hence, the Ethiopian government had decided to implement this vital project, which at its completion, shall deliver the energy requirements of the country and also generate foreign currency income through export to the neighboring countries, mainly Kenya, through fast track mode.

The basic study of Gibe III hydroelectric project has been initiated, and completed by the Italian company Salini Costruttori SpA. Salini Costruttori S.P.A has been working in Ethiopia for a long time in the energy sector. It has constructed the Gilgel-Gibe Hydroelectric Project (184 MW), which is currently operational, Gibe II hydroelectric Project (420MW) and Beles hydroelectric Project (460MW) which are at completion phase. Salini Costruttori S.PA has a satisfactory accomplishment on all projects it has undertaken in Ethiopia / EEPCo. Salini has initiated the development of the Gibe III Hydroelectric Project (1870MW) and signed an MOU to undertake the preliminary study and basic design at its own expense. 

As per the MoU, the company has submitted the preliminary study and basic design documents to the government of Ethiopia. According to the study, the project which was found to be technically feasible, environmentally friendly and more importantly very timely when energy demanded growth is very intense in the country. Following these facts, the GoE has decided to proceed with the project and price negotiation continued. As to the evaluation of a competent independent consultant, the negotiated cost has been proven to be competitive by all standards and reasonable based on competitive prices of similar projects that were executed between the two parties. When compared with projects currently under construction, the unit cost of energy production (2.86 Euro cents/ Kwh) for Gibe III Plant is found to be low. Moreover, the proposal presented by Salini Costruttori S.P.A found to be in line with EEPCo's /GoE's requirements in terms of technicality, cost and avoiding risks on cost increase on the construction.

After confirming the appropriateness of the contractual documents, contract was signed in July 2006 and further contract amendment has been made on April 2008 due to change of scope of work.

All the above facts had encouraged the Ethiopian government to consider the project as well as the Company. Had this decision not been taken, the implementation process wouldn't have passed the procurement stage and chances of securing finance would have been much worse than the current situation considering the current global financial crisis.