Somalia (1988)

Abstract

Dr Steve Brandt , University of Florida, invites me to take part in an environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Jubba valley in Somalia in October 1988. The Somali government plan to build a dam just north of Bardera on the Jubba River in order to generate hydro-electric power for the capital Mogadishu . The Jubba rises in the Ethiopian uplands and flows south through western Somalia to the Indian Ocean. It is the only perennial river in Somalia. The EIA is needed to secure World Bank funding for the project. I set forth with two camels, a rock drill and a small team of Somalis to walk from Bardera to Luq , a river distance of about 500 km. Inspecting side valleys for alluvial deposits brought the total survey on foot to nearly 700 km. The absence of high-level alluvial silts in the side valleys within the limestone gorge traversed by the Jubba River convinces me that the proposed reservoir will never reach the level required to generate much power. I discover the two main freshwater snail vectors of the Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia) liver fluke parasite within recent flood sediments in tributary valleys, and become concerned that the proposed reservoir will spread disease through the valley. I take a dugout canoe across the river and explain my worries to a team of Somali engineers, and later to their Minister in Mogadishu . A flock of savage African bees attacks my Somali counterpart Kamil and me while we are drilling inside a limestone cave to obtain a dripstone sample for analysis. At the end of our long journey a sudden downpour blows most of our small tents down. During this downpour a small monkey adopts me. The country falls apart soon after my departure and my former camel men are killed in a raid on their village.