Dear Editor,
A recent article in SN (‘Bringing Kanuku Mountains water to Lethem, other villages not feasible,’ July 31) has stated that a question had been asked in Parliament about using the Moco Moco hydro dam as a water reservoir. Another question that should also be asked is the safety of this now defunct hydro system, especially the dam, to the residents that live nearby.
Since the collapse of the hydro, due to the instability of the location, all of the equipment and infrastructure have been left to the elements. Many parts are in decay. Atop of the mountain is the dam that contains a large volume of water. This dam is not being maintained so it may be feeling the effects of nature, such as erosion, etc. If this dam is left to the elements isn’t there the possibility that it may one day collapse, similar to the penstock area, because of the instability of the mountain area?
This possibility does not seem farfetched, because the information about the area states that it is very unstable, especially the slopes. Also, the engineers who built the hydro admitted that not much research was done on the structural integrity of the location before the dam was built.
Just below the hydro site lies the Amerindian village of Moco Moco. This village is settled along the banks of the Moco Moco creek, whose headwaters house the hydro. If the dam collapses they would be the ones most affected.
Has our government given consideration to the possibility that an unmanned dam in an unstable location may be recipe for a major environmental disaster? If they have, has regular checks been mandated to ensure that the dam remains intact? Also, are data being collected on a regular basis to validate this information?
Stories abound internationally of failed dams washing out entire villages and creating death and mayhem in the path of the raging waters. It would be very reassuring to know that our government had plans in place to alleviate such a scenario, if there is an assessment that this possibility exists.
At present, however, it seems that the hydro dam has been left to the elements with little or no checks being done to ensure that it is still in excellent shape or that it is not gradually succumbing to the elements of nature.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
