The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Chinese defy orders
But the Chinese ignored the letter and continued working without supervision yet as far back as December 18, 2019, the Project Steering Committee had sent a letter to the Chinese contractors of Sinohydro instructing them to stop all inspection and testing of electrical installations at the dam until the defects are satisfactorily corrected.
The Project Steering Committee which comprises technical people such as engineers and non-technical people, is supposed to offer strategic guidance to the project managers.
President Museveni in 2016 appointed former Electoral Commission Chairperson, Badru M.Kiggundu, to lead the Project Steering Committee with Berry as deputy chairperson. The committee has members from the ministries of Energy and Mineral Development, Finance, Planning and Economic Development, and Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and heads of UEGCL and the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company limited (UETCL).
The team issued the order after a joint inspection of the dam and confirmation of the defects on Dec. 02, 2019. The inspection team comprised the Project Steering Committee, UEGCL staff, the government consultant on the project, technically called the Owner’s Engineer –AF Consult Switzerland Ltd, and officials of Sinohydro.
Also, in various back-and-forth correspondences seen by The Independent stretching back two years ago, all groups in the fight appear to agree on one thing: that Karuma Dam has widespread defects and breaches of specifications which if not fixed put the safety, reliability, and durability of the plant at risk.
They are, however, fighting over when the defects should be fixed. Apparently the Chinese contractors, Sinohydro Corporation Ltd, insist that the defects being pointed out cannot compromise the operation and safety of the dam and, therefore, can be corrected during the Defects Liability Period, after the dam has been commissioned.
The main consideration of the Chinese appears to be time and continued delay of handing over the project to the Uganda government.
In a letter to the Chief Executive Officer of UEGCL, Harrison Mutikanga, the Minister of Energy, Mary Goretti Kitutu on June 18 said the Chinese accuse the UEGCL team of “deliberate lack of enthusiasm for the project to be completed on time.”
Kitutu said the Chinese also accuse the government of making deductions on the contracted money, converting the lump sum contract into part payments for only completed work, and refusing to pay for works already done.
Karuma HPP is a US$1.7bn project jointly funded by the Government of Uganda (15%) and a China Loan from EXIM Bank (85%).
Early this year, there were media reports that the Chinese contractor had asked for Shs615bn extra money to work on the completion of the project but the government had refused to cough it. The government reportedly said it would accept extending the project timeline but the Chinese have to bear any extra cost.
Proscovia Margaret Njuki, the Board Chairperson for UEGCL at the time said that was the agreement.
According to Kitutu, however, the Chinese also accuse UEGCL of delaying to approve drawings and methodology, and failing to complete acquisition of land for the transmission lines. The 400kV Karuma – Kawanda line, the 400kV Karuma – Olwiyo line, and the 132kV Karuma – Lira line are being constructed by UETCL.
“You are required to give a response to these issues to my office within one week from now,” the minister told Mutikanga.
The Chinese appear to have a point because when it started on December 16, 2013, Karuma Hydropower Project was supposed to be a 60-month project ending in December 2019. That means that project, which is located on the Nile River in Kiryandongo District in central-northern Uganda, 110km downstream of Lake Kyoga, and 270km from Kampala, is now 10 months late.
Over this period, the commissioning date has been pushed three times.The commissioning of Karuma was extended for the third time in January this year. The date set then was November 2020 and it might pass without the Chinese contractor delivering the Engineering, procurement, construction and commissioned (EPCC) project that was agreed. The commissioning dated had earlier been pushed from December 2019 to July 2020 and later to November 2020.
The delay of the date of commission of Karuma has previously prompted queries from the Auditor General’s office.
A lot of government national development planning has been pegged on completion of the Karuma Dam. Power generated from it is expected to drive the social economic transformation of the country by offering cheaper, reliable electricity for industrialisation agenda and job creation.
According to projections, Karuma’s 600MW will create a huge bump in Uganda’s target of having 1,300MW installed electricity generation capacity by 2023. The Chinese are anxious because, according to them, the physical progress of the project was 98.5% complete as at March 31, 2020.
According to them, the Electro-mechanical works that are causing problems are 18.46% complete out of the 18.79% design quantity.
But as long as the cause of the delay can be blamed on them, then they have to bear the cost of the delay. That is why they want the project to be handed over and they, hopefully, fix the detected defects later.
