Epupa power plan not on yet

A controversial power project planned on the Kunene River is not set to materialise in the immediate future, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday.

Mines and Energy Minister Erkki Nghimtina told the National Assembly that the Epupa hydropower project was not being considered for implementation at present. Nghimtina was responding to a question from DTA politician McHenry Venaani, who asked whether it was true that the Russian Federation wanted to co-finance the multi-billion-dollar project.Venaani also wanted to know whether Angola was hesitant about implementing the scheme because its government feared conflict with nomadic inhabitants on the Angolan side of the Kunene River.The Minister was also supposed to inform the House on whether a new feasibility study for Epupa was under way and how viable the project was, since the European Investment Bank had declined to give a loan for that purpose.”All (further) questions with regard to the Epupa project need no immediate consideration and are not relevant for answering,” the Minister said without replying to the questions.Nor did he explain why Epupa was on the backburner for the time being.Nghimtina stated that Russia was not interested in investing in the Kudu gas project, however .”The reason why not is (only) known by themselves,” he added.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nahas Angula had to explain to Venaani what the visit of the Russian Prime Minister in February was about.Members of the Namibian media were not invited to the meeting but afterwards Russian news agencies reported that Russia had offered to set up a floating nuclear power plant off the Namibian coast and to build small nuclear power plants onshore.Yesterday, however, the Prime Minister merely told Venaani that the meeting with his Russian counterpart was a “courtesy call”.He himself did not attend the meeting at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Angula said, and was therefore “not in a position to confirm the nature of discussions” there.Angula did not mention that such an important issue as nuclear power for Namibia was raised at Cabinet level.Nghimtina was responding to a question from DTA politician McHenry Venaani, who asked whether it was true that the Russian Federation wanted to co-finance the multi-billion-dollar project.Venaani also wanted to know whether Angola was hesitant about implementing the scheme because its government feared conflict with nomadic inhabitants on the Angolan side of the Kunene River.The Minister was also supposed to inform the House on whether a new feasibility study for Epupa was under way and how viable the project was, since the European Investment Bank had declined to give a loan for that purpose.”All (further) questions with regard to the Epupa project need no immediate consideration and are not relevant for answering,” the Minister said without replying to the questions.Nor did he explain why Epupa was on the backburner for the time being.Nghimtina stated that Russia was not interested in investing in the Kudu gas project, however .”The reason why not is (only) known by themselves,” he added.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nahas Angula had to explain to Venaani what the visit of the Russian Prime Minister in February was about.Members of the Namibian media were not invited to the meeting but afterwards Russian news agencies reported that Russia had offered to set up a floating nuclear power plant off the Namibian coast and to build small nuclear power plants onshore.Yesterday, however, the Prime Minister merely told Venaani that the meeting with his Russian counterpart was a “courtesy call”.He himself did not attend the meeting at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Angula said, and was therefore “not in a position to confirm the nature of discussions” there.Angula did not mention that such an important issue as nuclear power for Namibia was raised at Cabinet level.