Mpanga-Site-Visit-Re.. - Cycad Specialist Group

6. As reported by others, the Gorge is indeed a stunning natural landscape and
would undoubtedly, if managed as a tourist attraction, provide more income
and benefit to the local community in the long term than the short term gain
of the hydro electric project. It should be noted that, according to the
contractor, the local population were still negotiating for some of the
generated power to be made available on site and not all transmitted to the
national grid (at present power only reaches as far as Kamwenge) .
7. A new development that apparently had not been part of earlier discussions
or EIA, was the provision of the transmission lines by another contractor
who was obviously not aware or not interested in minimizing impact on the
cycads (photo 13, 14).
Discussion
Photo 13. Power Line route clearing
With the above in mind, it is obvious that after the initial flurry of activity to
prevent uncontrolled damage to this unique population of cycads, economic
pressure on the contractor and lack of supervision, has led to more damage than
necessary. Urgent intervention through emergency funding could resolve the