VOA标准英语2010年-Omo River Dams in Ethiopia: Blessing o

“Ethiopia will accomplish the construction at any cost whether donors¹ continue funds or not.”

The giant Gibe² III dam, now being built on the Omo River in southwestern Ethiopia is a boon³ for some, a problem for others.

Supporters say it will provide electricity for millions of Africans.  But others, like the British-based human rights group Survival International, say it will have a devastating⁴ effect on an estimated 200,000 people living in the area of the dam.

The Gibe III will curb⁵ the Omo’s season floodwaters, which provide water and silt⁶ to enrich local farmland.
The damage caused by the Gibe III dam could be far reaching, according to Lindsay Duffield campaigner at Survival International.

 Survival/Serge Tornay
A massive hydroelectric dam threatens the tribes of the Lower Omo River, Ethiopia
 “The Omo River is the primary source of Kenya’s famous Lake Turkana, which supports the lives of 300,000 people who pasture their cattle on its banks and fish there.  The dam will threaten their survival too,” she says.

Survival International is spearheading a campaign to stop the building of the Ethiopian dam and is urging the African Development Bank and other institutions to stop funding the project.

The Ethiopian government, on the other hand, says criticism of the hydroelectric project is fabricated and “far from reality.”  The National Security Advisor⁷ to the Ethiopian prime minister, Abay Tsehaye, is quoted as saying the ongoing⁸ campaign against the Gibe III dam is an “empty attempt of some interest groups who do not want to see Ethiopia march towards development.”

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has repeatedly stressed that no outside pressure would stop the Ethiopian government from completing the construction of the dam.  “Ethiopia will accomplish the construction at any cost whether donors continue funds or not,” he said.

Upon completion, the $1.7 billon, Gibe III power project will have capacity to generate up to 1,870 megawatts of electric power, potentially enabling Ethiopia to export power to neighboring countries.

 Survival International
The Kwengu tribe of the Lower Omo river will be threatened by the massive hydroelectric Gibe lll dam under construction, Ethiopia.
 

“The Ethiopian government is entirely⁹ unconcerned about the tribes living in the lower Omo Valley.  It is not interested in consulting with them properly at all,” says Duffield.  She says in 2009 the local regional administration for the area surrounding the Gibe III shut down a number of community associations, making it virtually impossible for the tribes affected¹⁰ to discuss their views of the dam.

The Ethiopian government further says Gibe III, aside from generating enough electricity to power the country several times over, will increase the safety of the downstream peoples by preventing the giant floods that sweep away livestock¹¹ and people.

The criticism is “unfounded and unreasonable¹², [and] aimed to meet self interest under the pretext¹³ of the agenda by putting political and diplomatic pressure on the country, thereby¹⁴, to seek money from donors,”says the national security adviser¹⁵ to Prime Minister Abay Tsehaye.

 Survival/Serge Tornay
Nyangatom girl with little sister carrying her calabash after watering the family herd¹⁶. Kibish, Lower Omo, Ethiopia.
 The Ethiopian government says with the construction of the dam it plans to boost the current 2,000 megawatts hydropower generation capacity to 8,000. “It’s important to point out that electricity generated by the dam is not going directly to Ethiopia,” Duffield says.

“A great deal of it will actually be taken across the border to Kenya because the governments have already made agreements.  This is not an electrification¹⁷ project for the benefit of the people who are living in the area.  When all is said and done, the tribes of the Omo Valley who are going to be affected by this dam are going to get precious little benefit from it,” Duffield explains.

Supporters say the Gibe III and other large hydroelectric dams provide cheap and efficient “green” energy that can supply electricity to millions.  Duffield says the proponents¹⁸ have failed to explore other options first, like small scale hydropower dams, wind and solar power.

“A choice has been made to build what will be Africa’s tallest dam without considering the effects it is going to have on the people who live immediately downstream for it,” Duffield says.

Industry associations and lending institutions say they have retooled¹⁹ their evaluation²⁰ procedures for large hydro dams and have started to apply new construction guidelines developed by a discussion forum²¹, the World Commission on Dams. 
S.I.
Lindsay Duffield Campaigner Survival International
 In 2000, the commission issued a report saying decisions to build large hydro-electric dams must be guided by indigenous²² people’s free, prior and informed consent to the project.  “[It was] a great move on the part of the commission at that time, but at this moment not clearly being applied²³ to the Gibe III project in Ethiopia,” says Duffield.

She credits the World Bank for taking more account of environmental and social issues in its planning and for establishing a complaints procedure for affected tribal²⁴ communities.  But what the World Bank hasn’t done, she says, is to adequately implement²⁵ the standard of free, prior and informed consent, which she says is absolutely vital to tribal people all over the world.  “If they don’t have this very basic standard, which the World Bank should endorse²⁶, the results could be very devastating,” Duffield warns.

Upon completion, the Gibe III dam will be the second largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa, also providing electricity to needing neighbor countries.  The dam wall will be 240 meters high, the tallest dam in Africa, and create a 150-kilometer-long reservoir.  Salini Costruttori, an Italian company, started construction work on the project in 2006.  Gibe III is due to be completed in 2012. 

1 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 gibe   

n.讥笑；嘲弄

参考例句：

• I felt sure he was seeking for some gibe. 我敢说他正在寻找一句什么挖苦话。
• It's impolite to gibe at a foreign student's English. 嘲笑外国学生的英语是不礼貌的。

3 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

6 silt   

n.淤泥，淤沙，粉砂层，泥沙层；vt.使淤塞；vi.被淤塞

参考例句：

• The lake was almost solid with silt and vegetation.湖里几乎快被淤泥和植物填满了。
• During the annual floods the river deposits its silt on the fields.每年河水泛滥时都会在田野上沉积一层淤泥。

7 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

8 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

12 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

13 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

14 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

15 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

16 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

17 electrification   

n.充电，电气化；起电；电化；带电

参考例句：

• Electrification of the countryside--yes, that, too, is impressive. 是的。农村电气化也是了不起的事。 来自演讲部分
• After electrification, it will readily stick to a wall or a ceiling. 起电后，它立即吸附到墙壁上或天花板上。 来自辞典例句

18 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

19 retooled   

v.（给…）更换工具， （给…）更换机械设备( retool的过去式和过去分词 )；改组，革新

参考例句：

• The company will be retooled after the incorporation. 合并之后的公司要进行重组。 来自辞典例句
• Each time the product changes, the machines have to be retooled. 每次更换产品，就得重新装备机器。 来自辞典例句

20 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

21 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

22 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

23 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

24 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

25 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

26 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。