State minister for energy Simon D’Ujanga has once again declared that at long last Nyagak Dam in West Nile will be technically switched on on August 15th.
D’Ujanga told Uganda Radio Network that the contractors, Spencon, have assured him that the 3.5-megawatt dam that has been in the works for close to a decade will go on the West Nile grid next month.
The minister has been under the spotlight for announcing a string of deadlines only for them to pass with nothing tangible. Lately, there has been increasing irritation over the delay in completing the dam, whose construction started in February 2006. Then it was said that the dam would be a 2006 Christmas gift for the people.
D’Ujanga, who received a briefing from the contractors, said the dam’s wall, tunnel and power house had to undergo remedial works following shoddy works by the first civil works contractor Sobetra International.
Sobetra, an Italian firm, was removed from the dam located near Paidha town in Zombo district, and replaced by Spencon, but already the money meant for the dam’s construction had gone.
A German development bank, KfW, had to come in to provide more funding, turning the dam into a public-private partnership between the Uganda government and the Aga Khan-owned West Nile Rural Electrification Company (Wenreco), the original project owners.
Minister D’Ujanga said while he appreciates the West Nile people’s impatience, as an engineer and the minister responsible, it is better to wait for a good finishing than hurry and have a faulty dam.
D’Ujanga said he can now authoritatively declare that Nyagak Dam is completed, adding that what is left are the final touches to ensure that all is ok while the concrete also settles. He said technical commissioning of the dam will be on August 15th while the political commissioning will be announced later after consultations with State House and the Aga Khan himself.
D’Ujanga said the next phase would be to extend power to several towns in West Nile including Nyapea, Parombo, Panyimur, Pakwach, Nyadri, Koboko and Yumbe.
The Nyagak Dam, if completed, would be a relief to a region whose progress has been hampered by inadequate power. Currently, Wenreco supplies just three major towns – Arua, Nebbi and Paidha – with rationed power from its ever breaking 1.5-megawatt thermal power plant. Moyo and Adjumani towns are served by utility firm Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited.
