By Charles K. Mark
Undersecretary of Planning in the Ministry of Finance and Planning dismissed concerns that South Sudan is being blocked from generating hydropower.
Benjamin Ayal Koyongwa said the government will construct dams for power generation when the need for industrialization arises, dismissing concerns that the country is being blocked from generating hydropower.
Mr. Ayal stated that dam construction is a policy decision that the government will decide upon, referring to it as a matter of priority.
“If we start investing in the energy sector where we need electricity, we will have no option but to build dams, not only a dam but dams,” Ayal said.
He spoke on Thursday during the release of the Country Focus Report by the African Development Bank.
The undersecretary said that no country can be stopped from industrial development, as it requires power, and no one influences any country from doing so.
“There is no country that industrializes in the history of humanity by using generators. Let nobody lie to us. Nobody uses generators,” he stated.
For his part, Professor John Apuruot Akec, the Vice Chancellor of Juba University who is a vocal environmentalist who believes academia has a responsibility to support innovative research for developing homegrown solutions for hydropower.
“We are launching the Institute of Water Studies and recently they finished a visit to Uganda where they visited the Water Institute. Again, we are coming to the flow program that will allow us to be able to manage the use of water,” Prof. Akec said.
The Electricity sector is very underdeveloped with about 70 percent of South Sudan’s populace depending on traditional biomass fuels such as wood fuel, charcoal, crop residue, and animal dung to provide their cooking and heating energy needs.
The River Nile which flows through South Sudan offers numerous opportunities for hydropower generation, from large plants to small hydropower units.