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With the project reaching 73 percent completion, Ethiopia announces that it is adhering to planning to fill the dam starting in July this year.
Borkena
By Barnabas Shiferaw
May 11, 2020
Ethiopia’s Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Sleshi Bekele (PhD), announced today that Ethiopia will proceed in accordance with its original plan and will begin filling the Ethiopian Great Renaissance Dam (GERD) in July. Construction of the dam reached 73 percent (with civil works at 87 percent) and this is enough to start the fill.
The Minister made a presentation today at a meeting of the GERD technical committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, which also includes, among others, Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen, General Adem Mohammed, Chief of Staff of the Army, Gedu Andargachew, Minister Of Foreign Affairs. Affairs, and former Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, who is also a water engineer.
It was also revealed at the meeting that Ethiopia has prepared a document in response to the complaint that Egypt submitted to the United Nations Security Council last week. It was also reported that both Egypt and Sudan refused to review the document detailing the execution of the filling work, although they had previously expressed agreement with the timing of the filling.
A report by Wazema Radio, the new document that Egypt and Sudan have refused to review, is actually more suited (compared to Ethiopia’s previous plans) to their interests. According to Wazema, the dam would take more than 10 years to reach its maximum capacity according to this new document. The document also guarantees that filling will not take place in the second year if, due to drought in Ethiopia, the total annual flow of the river does not reach 31 billion cubic meters.
Sudan reportedly fears pressure from the United States and Egypt will require more detailed information backed by numbers and be allowed to participate in the administration of the Dam to ensure that everything is done in accordance with the agreement.
Regarding the Washington platform, in which the United States, Egypt and Sudan had reached an agreement without Ethiopia, it was decided that Ethiopia will not return to it until the platform is open for discussion.
However, according to Wazema radio, although some members of the diplomatic team who negotiated on behalf of Ethiopia have expressed fear that returning to the Washington table will only generate more pressure (on Ethiopia) and controversy, the general opinion among members of the The team is that not returning to the table could be very harmful and that it is best to return to the table and do everything possible to reach an agreement that protects the national interests of Ethiopia.
Wazema also reported that there is a consensus among the members of the delegation that the negotiation should be led by the Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Sleshi Bekele, and not by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gedu Andargachew, who is newer in the process has limited diplomatic experience and was rather reserved in the last round of the negotiation. Furthermore, the Minister of Water should take the initiative because the negotiation involves a lot of what is technical. It has been suggested to add new members who are capable diplomats as a solution to the diplomatic deficiency that the team could face as a result of having the Ministry of Water at the forefront of the negotiations.
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