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South Africa: NGO's Call For A Halt to All New Dam Projects by Farah Khan, The Black World Today - 25 November 2000 South Africa: NGO's Call For A Halt To All New Dam ProjectsBy Farah Khan PRETORIA, Nov 25 (IPS) - While civil society in Southern Africa has welcomed the World Commission on Dams (WCD) report because it did not turn out to be a "whitewash" for the dam industry, they now want business, government and international finance corporations to act on its findings. Among their demands is that all new dam projects be halted to ensure they are in line with the report's recommendations. They also want measures to curb corruption. In Lesotho, a massive corruption case is underway after it was revealed, earlier this year, that major infrastructure companies had bribed officials working for the Lesotho Water Highlands Project. The NGO community also wants multinational corporations, as well, as the international finance corporations working in Southern Africa to ensure that their policies are now aligned with the principles and recommendations of the WCD. Governments in Southern Africa are planning at least a score of new dams as the demand for water, flood management and power grows across the region. Activists say it is even more imperative to implement good dam management practice in such a growth phase. The WCD - which is based in South Africa - earlier this month released a report after a two year global investigation into 1000 dams and found that while the dams have had positive spin-offs for development, they also had dark sides. These include the huge cost overruns and community displacement. They suggest that all past dam projects be reviewed and that future plans be carried out in a consultative manner in compliance with principles and recommendations forged by the South African chair of the WCD Kader Asmal and his team. The key principles or "core values" are equity, sustainability, efficiency, participatory decision-making and accountability. Alongside these, the WCD has made concrete recommendations on how to implement these values. "Just as our journey ends, the real work of translation into action begins," said Asmal at the global launch. In South Africa to present to the Southern African region, Asmal continued the theme of new beginnings for dam development: "We have shown a new and safe route, and extended a hand. As there is no standing still, and no turning back, I hope all people will reach out, grasp it, and cross this river...together." In order to cross the river together, 15 Southern African NGO's met in Johannesburg to decide which aspects of the global report are salient to this region. Liane Greef, a member of the International Committee on Dams, Rivers and People, said they identified water and energy policy; environmental impact assessments, a resettlement programme and public participation as the most important issues facing the region. A woman from the Northern Cape, whose baby was born by the road- side after black labourers were displaced by the construction of the Gariep Dam, presented her testimony for reparation. A community displaced by the construction of the Inanda Dam in KwaZulu-Natal is still without land 14 years after the dam was built. Greef says that South Africa is "morally bound" to implement the recommendations of the WCD because it was the home of the Commission. The workshop heard evidence from Lesotho NGO's on the need to ensure that "integrity pacts" were signed by governments and infrastructure companies, which built dams because of the manifold bribery which took place with the construction of the Lesotho Water Highlands Project. Greef says there was also support for the view that very few projects in the region would have happened if the report's recommendations had been implemented at their genesis. James Worksman, a spokesperson for the WCD, says that Southern Africa will benefit from the recommendations on shared rivers, hydro-power as well as on the role of dams in flood management. This year has seen serious flooding in Mozambique and the northern parts of South Africa. But the most important benefit is that the WCD has found an innovative, inclusive strategy to deal with a vexing developmental saga: dams are important, but can often be damaging and detrimental. The real work now begins in translating its work into action. Asmal threw down the gauntlet to civil society in Southern Africa. "Anyone can simply sit back and tell decision-makers to be sustainable and to be fair. It takes much more work to stand up and show them how."
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