By Peter Orengo
The Ethiopian government has denied that a project along Omo River could kill Lake Turkana, in response to a story carried in The Standard last month.
The article, Ethiopia’s Dam Project Could Kill Lake Turkana, carried an expert view that the multi-million construction of a hydroelectric plant along Omo River was a threat to the lake.
Ethiopia is midway in the construction of the dam on River Omo, which also supplies 80 per cent of the lake’s waters.
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Yesterday, a statement from the Ethiopian Embassy termed the story "outrageous" and said construction of the dam had the blessing of the Kenya Government.
"Ethiopia is not using the waters of the Omo River for irrigation, which could possibly have affected the water levels of Lake Turkana. It is simply building a dam to be used for power generation," it read in part.
Since August 2006, Kenya has been negotiating with Ethiopia for a power supply deal.
In the statement, Ethiopia said it was speeding up the expansion of the power infrastructure.
