Ethiopia Launches Power Dam

[AbdiWahab252]

The Poor people of Lake Turkana are going to feel the effects.

Next stop damming the Webi Shabelle & Jubba.


Ethiopia launches new Omo River hydroelectric plant
Mursi woman
Some fear the dam could destroy traditional ways of life

A new hydroelectric plant has been inaugurated in Ethiopia - part of a controversial project on the Omo River.

Ethiopia hopes the cascade of dams will turn it from a country suffering crippling power cuts to a major electricity exporter.

But critics fear there will be consequences for the environment and for people living along the river.

The latest phase, Gilgel Gibe II, has the capacity to generate more than 400 megawatts of electricity.

The plant gets its water through an underground channel from the first Gilgel Gibe hydroelectric project, which is fed by the Omo River.

This is the second plant to be inaugurated in almost as many months.

And a few more projects are in the pipeline to ensure that the power shortages of last year never recur.

The next stage, Gilgel Gibe III, is expected to generate about 1,800MW of power.

Ethiopia's government wants the country to generate its own electricity and export it to the region.

The BBC's Uduak Amimo in Addis Ababa says Djibouti, Kenya and Sudan have already agreed to buy power from Ethiopia.

She says if all goes according to plan, electricity will overtake coffee as Ethiopia's biggest export within the next decade.

[military-mind]

[FAH1223]

Meanwhile, Somalis continue war

[The_Emperior5]

Meanwhile, Somalis continue war

At least 35 die in four days of fighting in Somalia

Posted : Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:03:57 GMT
By : dpa
Category : Africa (World)
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Mogadishu - At least 35 people have died in central Somalia during four days of fighting between rival Islamist groups, a human rights official said Thursday. The pro-government Ahlu Suna Waljama group has been battling insurgent group Hizbul Islam in the town of Beledweyene. More fighting has been waged against Hizbul Islam ally al-Shabaab - which the West says has close links to al-Qaeda - in a nearby settlement.

Both insurgent groups are fighting to topple the weak Western- backed government.

"We have heard from our own sources that at least 35 people have been killed in both towns during the past four days," Ali Sheikh Yasin, deputy chairman of Elman Peace and Human Rights, a human rights watchdog, told the German Press Agency dpa. "The casualties may increase."

Thousands of civilians fled Beledweyne during the fierce fighting, which took place in the streets of the town.

"This was the worst gun battle I have ever experienced," Qadija Abdi Hassan, a mother of five who fled the town, told dpa. "I don't know where to go and how to survive."

Beledweyene was calm on Thursday, but locals were worried that fighting was ready to recommence.

"The situation seems tense, because most of the people fled the town," Mo'alim Dirie Ibrahim, an elder in Beledweyne, told dpa. "Both sides are regrouping to engage in fresh battles. No one has won yet."

Somalia has been embroiled in chaos since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Over 19,000 people have died in the current insurgency, which kicked off in early 2007 after Ethiopian forces invaded to oust an Islamist regime that ruled for six months in 2006.
Copyright DPA