Discussion is taking place at World Bank’s Office in Almaty
The third session on share of information and discussion of the results of evaluation of the proposed Rogun HPP project with civil society opened today, February 12th, in the World Bank’s regional office in Almaty.
As reported by the WB Office in Tajikistan, Tajik delegation is headed by the President’s Adviser on Economic Affairs Farrukh Hamraliev.
According to the source, the World Bank has set up video and telephone communication with its regional offices in Ashgabad, Astana, Bishkek, Dushanbe, Kabul and Tashkent and invited representatives of civil society.
Meetings will be dedicated to discussion of various aspects of safety of the dam and water resource management issues, including different variants of the proposed project’s design.
The participants are scheduled to look at the hydrology report and the right bank geological survey presented by the consortium of consultants led by Coyne & Bellier.
Apart from these two documents, session participants will be provided with latest information on the following topics: seismicity – methodology and survey approach; modeling of the use of water reservoir – methodology and boundary conditions; flood management – methodology and survey approach; project plans for alternative heights of the dam; geologic conditions of the entire construction site; comparing expenditures for resettlement and infrastructure for alternative heights of the dam.
Tomorrow, February 13th, countries of the region are scheduled to discuss interim results of assessment of the Rogun project at the governmental level.
First consultations on Rogun project, in which WB experts and representatives of governments from countries of the river basin, including reps of civil society, were involved, were held on May 17-19, 2011 in Almaty. The second meeting took place in Almaty on November 7-8 last year.
According to WB, such consultations between representatives of countries of the region with participation of Bank’s experts are expected to be carried out at all key phases of the process of evaluation.
WB funds two key evaluation surveys of Rogun HPP – evaluation techno-economic survey and assessment of social impact of the project.
As a result of the international tender, which was supervised by the WB, Techno-Economic Survey is carried out by the consortium led by the Coyne & Bellier company (related ontract was signed on February 8, 2011) while the Swiss Poyry carries out the assessment (related contract was signed on March 25, 2011).
Uzbekistan opposes construction of Rogun HPP saying that the dam threatens its water supply and the region’s environment. Tajikistan rejects Tashkent’s claims saying that there are some other stations operating in the region with the same dam type, which have shown their sustainability in the course of the past 40 years.
