Despite extending the construction deadline by two months, Ruth Nankabirwa, Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, said the Nyagak III Power Dam project in Zombo district would be completed by September. The minister said this during a weekend building site tour.
The ministry’s official reports indicate that After construction, the 3.5-megawatt dam in the West Nile Sub-region was expected to generate an extra 6.6 megawatts, but it has now been delayed a third time due to finance issues with the principal contractor, Dott Services Limited.
Nankabirwa stated that the dam will be ready for commissioning in two months only if the government releases Shs28 billion to the contractor.
“I am impressed by the progress of the work despite the fact that, as a government, we have not been able to fulfill our part of the grant that we are supposed to release. The developer has continued to find ways of borrowing money and making sure that work does not stall,” said Nankabirwa.
“I pledge that I will continue interacting with the Ministry of Finance to make sure that what the President promised when touring the West Nile region to release the remaining money, which is about Shs28 billion, is released,” she added.
Furthermore, Nankabirwa urged the locals to have patience, noting that the government and the contractor were working nonstop to increase the sub-region’s power connection.
However, Vijay Kumar Reddy, the resident engineer at the power dam site, said critical works at the plant have been completed, with over 94 percent of them finished.
“We have completed construction of the dam and surge works. What is ongoing is hydro and electrical mechanics, and we hope we are provided with the funds to complete the works,” he said.
In April this year, during President Museveni’s four-day visit to West Nile, irate people booed Minister Nankabirwa as she gave a status report on the power dam project. The residents complained that they had had enough of the Energy Ministry’s hollow promises. The connection to the national grid from Olwiyo station is long overdue.
The proposed 6.6 MW Nygak III Small Hydropower Project (SHPP) is located on the Nyagak River in Paidha Sub-county, Zombo District.
