Sudan says talks on controversial Ethiopian dam 'stall'
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Sudan says tripartite talks on the controversial Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) have stalled as the three countries involved -- Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt -- have failed to reach "an acceptable formula" for the continuation of negotiations.
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Water Resources of the three countries held a virtual meeting on Sunday, the second in eight days, under the auspices of the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ms. Naledi Pandor, but reached a deadlock, Sudan said.
The Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported that Ms. Pandor had expressed regret over the deadlock and said she would refer the matter to current AU chairman and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa "to take the necessary measures". The AU is the sponsor of the negotiations.
SUNA quoted the Sudanese Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Professor Yasir Abbas, as saying that Sudan requested a change in the methodology and ways of the negotiations.
Sudan also called for the expansion of the role of the experts "to enable them to play a basic role in facilitating the negotiations and narrowing differences, especially after the constructive bilateral meetings with the experts (on Saturday) on the need to set clear terms of reference" for their role.
Prof. Abbas said they "could not continue in this circular discussions indefinitely", given the direct threat that the GERD, being built on the Blue Nile, posed to Sudan's Roseires Dam, whose storage capacity is less than 10% of the capacity of the Ethiopian dam, if it is filled and operated without an agreement and a daily exchange of data.
He said Sudan had presented a strongly-worded protest to Ethiopia and the AU on Ethiopia's decision to continue filling the dam for the second successive year next July with 13.5 billion cubic meters of water regardless of whether or not an agreement was reached.
Prof. Abbas said that the Ethiopian minister of water resources, in a letter dated 8 January, 2021, to the AU, Sudan and Egypt, stated that his country was not obliged to notify the downstream countries in advance of filling and operating procedures and exchange data with them.
He said this matter "constitutes a serious threat to the Sudanese water installations and half of the population of Sudan".
Ethiopia on its part said the Chairperson of the AU Executive Council proposed for the three countries to have a three days of bilateral meetings with the AU designated experts to be followed by a trilateral meeting and report the outcome to her office.
The Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) said while Ethiopia and Egypt agreed with the proposition, Sudan declined compelling the closure of the meeting.
ENA said the delegation of Sudan last week insisted on having bilateral meetings with AU assigned experts rejecting trilateral meetings of the parties.
ENA quoted a statement by the Ethiopian Foreign ministry as saying, "Ethiopia undertook to cater for the concerns of Sudan on dam safety, data exchange and other technical issues. In this respect, Ethiopia took the initiative to immediately establish an effective and reciprocal data exchange mechanism."
Tensions among the three countries over the dam began to rise after Ethiopia announced last year that it had started filling the reservoir.
Ethiopia has said the dam is essential for its development, while Egypt and Sudan worry about access to vital water supplies from the Nile.
According to a brief by the European Parliament, successive negotiation rounds between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt about the filling and operation of the GERD have ended in stalemate.
This new dam, built by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile (the Nile's main tributary), will bring into operation Africa's largest hydropower plant.
It is expected to secure access to electricity for the majority of Ethiopians, to foster economic development and to provide revenues from the sale of surplus electricity abroad.
For its part, Sudan expects the new dam will not only help regulate the flow of the Nile and prevent devastating floods but also provide access to cheap energy. However, it fears the new dam will hinder the yield of its own dam – Roseires – situated within a short distance downstream.
Egypt too is worried about the potential impact of the new dam on its own Aswan High Dam, and that it will give Ethiopia control over the flow of the Nile and reduce the fresh water available for Egyptians.
-0- PANA MA 11Jan2021
