8 February 2001
Kader Asmal Selected As A "Top Newsmaker" By Engineering News-Record
Leading Construction Magazine Editors Cite Dams Commission Chair Role in Breaking International Stalemate

One of the world's oldest and most prestigious construction industry publications announced this week that it has recognised Professor Kader Asmal as one of The Top Newsmakers 2000 for his role in brokering agreement behind the Report of the World Commission on Dams.

"Increasing controversy over dams has hamstrung their construction," writes the editors of the Engineering News-Record. "But the World Commission on Dams, under the leadership of Kader Asmal, achieved consensus with a clear-eyed, far-ranging study that calls for bringing environmental and community activists into the process of deciding, where, when and whether a dam should be built.

"Asmal successfully presided over the sessions of 12 commissioners drawn from every point on the stakeholder spectrum. The commission's broad base commands respect for its proposed new framework for water and energy-resources management decisions."

In introducing its 25 selections the magazine wrote:

Many people in many ways serve the best interest of the construction industry. The editors of ENR have chosen the following individuals for achievements reported in the magazine in 2000. All of those cited will be honored at lunch and dinner events on April 19, 2001, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.