DAM

DAM

The project’s aim is to document the construction of the damn Gibe III, once completed it would be the largest hydroelectric plant in Africa. This construction is going to change Omo River’s (UNESCO world heritage site) geography and ecosystem, damaging local communities who live of farming and get benefit from the river floods. The project is important because wants to denounce how local communities human rights and local ecosystem are compromised. On April 2010 Zenawi, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, gave 4,8 billion of euro to Salini Construction Company and started the dam construction without consulting with local population, without environmental and social impact assessment and competitive bidding. The expected budget for the construction is about 1.4 billion of euro and does not include any mitigation and compensation measures for damaged population. The Ethiopian government considered the dam a patriotic issue so citizens have been requested to sign a national loan to build it with Ethiopian funds. The cost of the dam corresponds to the 15% of annual Ethiopian GDP. University studies highlighted that the dam will have a huge impact above the delicate ecosystem of the region, it will modify the seasonal floods of Omo river, reducing the down-river lake's volume drastically. If the natural flow and its rich silt deposit are reduced, local communities' economy will collapse: lack of food and insecurity for more than 400.000 people, almost 20 ethnic groups, that live in South West Ethiopia and North of Kenya.