As referenced in the video, there are some things I’d like to discuss about the new dam constructed just downstream of Jinja, Uganda near the town of Bujagali Falls. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time with the actual editing of the video to put my thoughts together just yet. Quickly though, it seems this hydro-electric project was a pretty major fail. Not only is it underproducing the expected amount, but it will surely harm the locals in the surrounding area. The rapids used to provide an important source of income. Tourism was for many people the major source of income (artists, river guides and other athletes, performers, etc.). Not only that, but infectious disease rates for malaria, helminth infections, and waterborne illnesses will all go up as a result of the newly formed stagnant body of water. It used to be fast moving water which could eliminate the possibility for mosquitoes which transmitted malaria to breed effectively and helminth transmitting snails to survive. Stagnant water will now allow fecal coliform levels (bacteria in the water) to raise significantly, since it is an important site at which many people chose to bath. Feces and other waste products will simply remain stationary instead of being cleansed by a moving body of water. This too is drinking water for many locals and hence a raise in bacterial infections such as giardia is to be expected. I wish I could say that there are some positives such as increased electricity supply, but even that seems unlikely. Much of the energy is being exported and since the gov’t officials tends to pocket that money instead of distributing it, local will most likely see very little benefit to this project. Maybe i’ll post more in the future, but for now I just wanted to share some thoughts (expressed by many of the locals whom I talked to while in the area).
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