05 02 14 International Rivers press release – World Bank Indefinitely Postpones Inga 3 Project

 As proposed, the Inga 3
Dam would generate power for mining companies
and the South African market,
not for the more than 90 percent of the
DRC population that has no access to
electricity. In a letter to the
World Bank, a coalition of 12 Congolese NGOs
asks that the needs of the
local population be prioritized in a
comprehensive assessment of the
country's energy needs and options. If the
Inga 3 Dam were to go ahead,
they state, at least 50 percent of the power
generated by the dam should
serve the energy needs of the
population.

Danny Singoma, the Executive Director of the NGO CENADEP,
comments: "The
project assumes that the revenues from the power exports will
benefit
local people. These kinds of development have never worked in our

country, where there is so much corruption and no accountability to the

citizens by those in power."

The DRC has a large potential of clean
local energy sources such as
solar and micro-hydropower. Rudo Sanyanga, the
Africa Director for
International Rivers, comments: "Decentralized energy is
the only
feasible way of meeting the energy needs of the majority in such a
vast
country with limited capacity for maintaining huge infrastructure. It
is
time to move quickly to develop these resources, rather than destructive

mega-hydro plants."

In a briefing paper, International Rivers
documents how the
Environmental Impact Assessment that would be carried out
under the
proposed World Bank grant falls short of good international
practice and
the Bank's own guidelines. Most importantly, the Bank has
indicated it
is not prepared to assess the cumulative impacts of the 11 dams
and 6
hydropower projects that are planned under the Grand Inga scheme. Such

short-sighted approaches to dam cascades have caused the death of

critical ecosystems by a thousand cuts in the past.

Peter Bosshard,
the Policy Director of International Rivers, says: "The
proposed Inga 3 Dam
fails to reduce energy poverty and protect the
environment in the DRC. The
World Bank should use the project's delay to
fundamentally reconsider the
value of Inga 3 and prioritize the clean
local energy solutions that are
more effective at reducing energy poverty."

The Inga 3 Dam is the first
phase of the giant Grand Inga Project on the
Congo River, the largest
hydropower scheme ever undertaken on the
planet. Inga 3 is projected to cost
$12 billion and have a capacity of
4,800 megawatts if completed. The US
budget bill that was passed by
Congress in January instructs US
representatives in multilateral
development banks to oppose large hydropower
dams such as Inga 3.

Further information:

. Background information on Inga 3: www.internationalrivers.org/node/8211
. Letter from 12 DRC NGOs to the World Bank:

www.internationalrivers.org/node/8221
. International Rivers briefing paper on the
environmental flaws of Inga
3: www.internationalrivers.org/node/8222

Media contacts:

. Rudo Sanyanga, Africa Director, International Rivers,
Pretoria, (m)
+277 6842 3874
. Peter Bosshard, Policy Director,
International Rivers, Berkeley, (o)
+1 510 848 1155 x 320, (m) +1 510 213
1438
. Danny Singoma, Executive Director, CENADEP (Centre National d'Appui au

Développement et à la Participation Populaire), Kinshasa, +243 990 023

637, +243 818 451 405 (preferably in French)
. Taty Maniania, Executive
Director, Jeunes Volontaires pour
l’Environnement  (JVE-DRC), Kinshasa, +243
814 676 480, +243 991 801 640
(preferably in
French)