Ethiopia’s Hydroelectric Power Generating Dams

 

 

The highly orchestrated international campaign against the construction of dams in Ethiopia has become very sensational beyond limit. Some campaigners went as far as lobbying International Donor Agencies and Banks not to cooperate in the development endeavors of Ethiopia. Surprisingly enough some politically motivated Ethiopian nationals, though few in numbers, are also sympathizing this wretched campaign. Political parties and governments come and go. However, Ethiopia and its peoples will exist for ever. Regardless of who or which political parties build the dams these dams remain to be properties of Ethiopia and serve Ethiopians.

 

Ethiopia has significant natural and human resources. Thanks to its natural resources, it is also referred as a water tower of Africa. Ironically it is also labeled as one of the poorest countries on earth. Ethiopia’s economic difficulties and the related effects such as drought, famine, and poverty have become main news dominating the global media. At a glance, the global media seem concerned and willing to help alleviate the country’s problems whle pouring their crocodile tears. But in reality it is a deliberate act of deception.  More often they blame the government and at the same time talk about the need for food aid. Then the so called developed countries are in a hurry to deliver food aid. Of course this is done with imposition of certain conditions. If they give a fish net to a fisherman they new that the poor will never be dependant on any external food aid. That is why they always give him fish so that he will always be dependant. Whenever, something went wrong in developing countries they deliberately talk about the effect, but not about the cause. For any economic difficulties encountered the blame goes only to the governments and their leaders. In developing countries, governments and leaders are not allowed to perform their duties and responsibilities independently. Unless they are submissive they are threatened by civil unrests and by revolts fueled by the richest nations. The paradox is, if the leaders are submissive they can’t serve their peoples’ interests properly and become subject to take the blame for every problems arising in their countries. In the other hand, if they want to operate independently the roads will be blocked to them. Hand-full of rich and greedy people who stir government policies at a global level are partially responsible for this.

 

In this era of Information Technology, where the prevalence of alternative media came into being, causes of backwardness, poverty, and economic difficulties in most developing nations are becoming public secrete. This reminds me the wise words of George Orwell which goes on by saying “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable and to give the appearance of solidity to pure wind”.  Thanks to this era of IT, visions whispered in the bushes are now being carried by the wind and reach everyone’s ears. Unlike the politicians peoples do not lie. Thus, it is high time that the usual political rhetoric of some developed nations and handful of rich people who secured monopoly of the media should give way to the free voices of peoples.

 

Numerous development activities are being studied and implemented every day in our planet, and the great majority of these activities, particularly those implemented in richer nations, are not mentioned in the global media as a negative outcome. However, Ethiopia’s efforts to ensure a sustainable development, particularly its projects to build hydroelectric power generating stations by utilizing its untapped water resources, have been criticized by many and have become global news.

 

In principle, those who pretend to show sympathy with the economic difficulties of the Ethiopian peoples and those who provide food aid to alleviate the recurrent drought and famine on a temporary basis should support sustainable development efforts of the country such as hydroelectric power generation. Sadly, the opposite is true in reality. The Ethiopian peoples and their leadership have realized that they do not need crocodile tears, but to exert their maximum efforts to improve their development performances in order to properly tackle the problems they are facing, particularly the current quagmire associated with development backwardness.

 

Ethiopia is currently facing acute shortage of electric power due to rapid development activities and ordinary people and the business communities are complaining about it. As a temporary solution the government of Ethiopia, with the meager resources it has, has deployed diesel generators to alleviate some of the problems encountered. Definitely this is a very expensive venture particularly for countries like Ethiopia. Evidently it is one of the duties and responsibilities of the government to solve this problem in a sustainable manner. Hence, it has decided to construct hydroelectric generating plants by exploiting its untapped water resources. Any development activity of a kind can have environmental impact. The question is its significance. As a recent phenomenon, the British Petroleum Corporation for example has incurred a huge environmental damage in the Gulf of Mexico. Surprisingly enough, before assessing the overall impacts of the spill, it has been allowed to drill another well in the same area and no one has complained about it.

 

A strong, stable, and developed Ethiopia is essential for regional and global peace and security, whereas a weak and underdeveloped Ethiopia would be a burden and a source of problems to all.   

 

The government’s development program, particularly the construction of dams for hydroelectric power generation, is highly commendable. It is also a giant stride towards insuring sustainable development benefiting not only Ethiopian but also peoples in the neighboring countries. If such projects are to be criticized the world’s largest dam constructed in China and Turkey with enormous negative environmental impact affecting many down stream countries, and some other dams elsewhere with similar impacts must be criticized. In fact, the heart of the matter for this unprecedented criticism is not the environmental concern alone. It is deep rooted in the long-term resource utilization strategies of developed nations. The prevailing dire situation in the so called poor and developing nations, which is associated with vicious circles of recurrent drought, famine, war, and civil unrest, can be cited as a perfect example. To mention but few, the long, and protracted civil wars in resource rich Angola, DR Congo, and Iraq are parts of this strategy.

 

Finally, I would like to call upon all campaigners in general and some Ethiopians opposing the development of this vital project in particular, to stop for a while, to rethink, and refrain from bold criticisms.