Nineteen environmental conservation organisations have written to World Bank directors urging the World Bank agency not to fund the proposed AES Nile Independent Power (NIP) project at Bujagali. The Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have also demanded that the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) which AES signed be released for public debate. The NGOs in their May 29 letter to the WB officials said, “the project is too flawed to go ahead as planned as it does not respond directly to the core needs of the majority of Ugandans”. The NGOs, both local and international, argue that the project will “seriously” impact on fisheries along River Nile including “very rare species”. They said the project does not meet guidlines and recommendations of the most recent World Commission on Dams (WCD) report. The NGOs stated that a number of European lenders have declined to fund or give guarantees for the project. They said Proparco, a subsidiary of hte Agence Francaise de Development declined to fund the project over corruption while the German Development Bank (DEG) refused to fund the project due to “unanswered environmental concerns”. According to the NGOs, the UK based Exports Guarantee Department shunned the project due to “unacceptable financial risk arising from the Ugandan power sector”, while the Swidish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA) termed it “unfeasible”. The NGOs argue that only a small elite can afford electricity, adding that a 1996 Energy Sector Manangement Assistance Program report “Uganda Energy Assesment” says that national coverage will not be strengthened to cover non- grid areas in the next 20 years. AES’s Public Relations Officer, Sarah Birungi, said her company presented all relevant documents to the bank and the public. Birungi told The Monitor June 16, that the summarised version of the PPA can be viewed on AES’ website.