Water ministers from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia are meeting in
Addis Ababa to continue talks on the controversial Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam (GERD).
The ministers on Tuesday
visited the dam's construction site and were on Wednesday to hold
closed-door discussions over the filling and operation of the GERD, the
most controversial of the issues.
Egypt has long been opposed to the dam
over fears that it would reduce water downstream. Sudan, on the other
hand, seems to be convinced that the giant reservoir would regulate the flow of water and prevent flooding.
“It
is not abnormal to have differences among us. These differences may
present challenges, but they also open opportunities for cooperation on
regional integration, poverty alleviation, among others,” said Mr Mutaz
Musa, Sudan's minister for Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity.
His
Egyptian counterpart, Dr Mohamed Abdel Aty, said his country was
disappointment over delays to conduct a joint study that had been slated
to start in February.
“We are facing a crucial
situation, as we signed the contract with the consultancy firm in
September 2016. The commencement date was 15th February 2017 and until
this moment we are not able to approve the Draft Inception Report…This
visit gave us insight regarding the development on the ground related to
GERD, which requires urgent actions in order to conclude the
discussions, adoption of the draft inception report and finally empower
the assigned consultant to complete the requested two studies in due
time,” he said.
The
studies had been recommended by the International Panel of Experts
(IPOE) that was established in May 2012 to address the concerns of
downstream countries --Sudan and Egypt -- regarding the safety and
impacts of Ethiopia’s 1,870 metre-long and 145 metre-high dam.
So
far, 60 per cent of the GERD project is complete, according to
Ethiopia’s minister for Water, Irrigation and Electricity Seleshi
Bekele. The dam is expected to hold 74 billion cubic metres of water.
Dr
Seleshi stressed the need for cooperation in the filling and operation
of the dam as one of the 10 principles the three countries agreed on in
March 2015 in Khartoum.
“If we focus on the actual pros
and cons of GERD, without linking to other complicated issues around
Nile discourse, the issue we have would be simpler and I urge you to
focus on the pending, but most important issues,” Dr Seleshi said.
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