201-04-02
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia rejected allegations that building one of Africa's biggest hydropower dams would leave 200,000 self-sufficient people reliant on aid.

Rights group Survival International (SI) said last week the dam would disrupt fishing and farming for tribal people, among them the Kwegu and Hamar tribes, and a group of charities have launched an online petition against the dam.

"We have made an extensive survey," government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said late on Thursday.

"Highly renowned, independent experts have assured that the construction of the dam in no way causes concern for people living around there," he said. He did not name the experts involved in the survey.

An SI researcher who did not want to be named told Reuters last week the dam would ruin the economy of those living near it.

"It will end the annual flooding some rely on to make the land they farm fertile, and for tribes who rely on fishing, it will deplete stocks. They will need aid."

Shimeles said the project had the backing of neighbouring Kenya, despite SI claims its construction could threaten the livelihoods of 300,000 people there.

The dam is being built on the Omo river, the main source for Kenya's Lake Turkana.

"Various concerned bodies, including the Kenyan parliament, have endorsed the Ethiopian government's plans and have openly criticised the position pursued by these NGOs to prevent the construction of the Gibe III dam," Shimeles said.

Salini Costruttori, the Italian firm building the dam, this week also dismissed the accusations of rights groups saying the project would not cause drought or block the flow of water to the river, but merely redistribute it during the year.

Ethiopia is building the 1.4 billion euro dam as part of a campaign to beat chronic power shortages and become a power exporter.

The dam is expected to generate 1,800 MW, almost doubling the country's current capacity of just under 2,000 MW.

The Horn of Africa nation is negotiating further funding for Gibe III, whose construction began in 2006, with the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Italian government.