Parliament Divided over Bui Dam

Accra, June 14, GNA - Even though all the sides in Parliament welcome and support the establishment of the Bui Dam as an alternative back- up to the country's existing energy sources, they are sharply divided on the creation of a separate Authority to administer its operations.

While the Majority are stuck on the creation of the Bui Authority as in the case of the Volta River Authority (VRA) for the Akosombo Dam, the Minority, led by the National Democratic Congress are of the opinion that the creation of a new Authority would lead to the depletion of human resources of the VRA and unnecessary competition and duplication of roles.

The Minority also warned government not to mortgage cocoa production for the payment of the Chinese loan, which has been contracted for the Bui Dam.

These sentiments were expressed when the Bui Authority Bill was taken through the second reading in Parliament on Thursday. The Bui Authority Bill was laid before the House on March 23, 2007 by Mr Kobina Tahir Hammond, Deputy Minister of Energy and later referred to the Committee on Mines and Energy for consideration.

Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, NDC-Tamale South was emphatic in his argument that government had earlier listed the VRA as the body to handle hydro dam activities in the country and must be left to do so. He noted that the VRA has immense experience in terms of human and material resource in handling the hydro dam projects and will be well placed in meeting the demands of the Bui Dam.

Mr. Iddrisu was also against the proposition by Parliament that the repayment of the loan would be done through annual cocoa beans sales of 30,000 metric tonnes.

"This is wrong and misplaced since we do not have to mortgage cocoa beans for a loan when we can find other durable alternative means." Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, Minister of Works and Water Resources said it was wrong for anyone to create the impression that government had missed out on a project that had been on the drawing board for so long spanning several governments.

"There is nothing amiss in the process. If there is anything at all, it is that government has proved itself as transparent in its activity." The New Juaben North NPP MP urged his colleagues to fully support the Bui Authority Bill, saying, "we should be happy that at long last, the project is coming on."

Dr Kwame Ampofo, NDC-South Dayi took his colleagues through a schooling on the dynamics of hydro energy production, noting that at a certain time in the nation's history thermal complementation was a better option since water resources were depleting fast.

He said the NDC did not go ahead with the project at the time because there was the need to diversify energy generation capacities because of the situation prevailing at the time.

He admitted that the establishment of the Bui Dam by itself was not a "bad idea", "but we have to ensure that the right thing is done," adding that, "the previous regime did not do anything wrong. "We must all agree that but for the energy generation mix by the NDC in the past, the entire country would have been in the dark."

Mr. Edward Doe-Adjaho, Deputy Minority Leader said the Bui dam would no doubt be supported by all, "the only problem I have with it is that we do not need a new authority to handle it.

"I am of the opinion that the VRA would be depleted and since we do not have enough human resources to manage a new Authority, we should allow VRA to manage the Bui Authority."

Mr Joseph Henry Mensah urged the House to support the Bill arguing that it was important to establish a new Authority to look at the operations of the Bui Dam.

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Deputy Majority Chip Whip mentioned the companies operating dams on the Mano River in Liberia and Sierra Leone, noting that "they operate separately and there is no problem or competition between them."

The Report of the Committee on Mines and Energy said the construction of additional hydro power station would enable the country meet part of its energy requirement for development. It said the additional energy would enable the country meet its energy needs of industries, increase productivity and expand avenues for the employment of human resources.

The Bui hydro electric dam, when constructed would add a total of 400 megawatts of energy to the existing generation. Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, Minister of Energy on his part thanked his colleagues for their support and explained that the repayment of the 600 million Chinese loan would not be made only through cocoa sales, but through tariffs and government of Ghana funds.

He also opted for a compact Bui Authority, unlike the VRA that would be focused on its core business. 14 June 07