Chief of intelligence, FM to head to Addis Ababa for GERD talks

BY

-

Sun, 26 Aug 2018 - 02:43 GMT

BY

Sun, 26 Aug 2018 - 02:43 GMT

A general view of Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam, as it undergoes construction, is seen during a media tour along the river Nile in Benishangul Gumuz Region, Guba Woreda, in Ethiopia March 31, 2015. AFP.

A general view of Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam, as it undergoes construction, is seen during a media tour along the river Nile in Benishangul Gumuz Region, Guba Woreda, in Ethiopia March 31, 2015. AFP.

CAIRO - 26 August 2018: Egyptian high-profile officials will head to Addis Ababa for the ongoing talks about the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Monday; two days after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed revealed a delay of the construction of the dam.

Egyptian Chief of Intelligence Abbas Kamel and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will travel to Ethiopia to send a verbal message from President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to Ahmed, said spokesperson of Foreign Ministry Ahmed Abu Zeid in a statement on Sunday.

“The visit aims to follow up the Egyptian-Ethiopian relations, the means of their enhancement, and the updates of the Renaissance Dam negotiations in light of the efforts exerted to implement the 2015 Declaration of Principles and the outcome of the last meeting held in Addis Ababa in May 2018,” the statement read.

The meeting will tackle the establishment of a joint developmental fund for infrastructure between the two countries and Sudan, the statement added.

In a press conference in Addis Ababa on Saturday evening, the Ethiopian prime minister expressed his disappointment at the performance of the Metals and Engineering Corporation (MetEC) for lagging the project far behind.

“We have handed over a complicated water dam project to people who have not seen a dam in their life and if we continue in that direction, the project may never see the light of day,” he was quoted by The Reporter.

In case you missed it...

Ethiopia's Abiy Ahmed blames military contractor for GERD delay

CAIRO - 26 August 2018: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Saturday blamed the military-based local contractor, Metals and Engineering Corporation (MetEC), for the delay in the construction of a multi-billion dollar Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), according to the Ethiopian "The Reporter."




Ethiopia started building the GERD in May 2011, immediately after the Egyptian January 25 Revolution. Cairo expressed its concerns that the dam might affect its share of 55.5 billion cubic meters of Nile water. Negotiations among the three countries; Egypt Sudan and Ethiopia, were suspended for three years. However, talks resumed in 2014 and a Declaration of the Renaissance Dam Principles Charter tackling the management of the dam with written guarantees was signed. According to the charter, the dam’s reservoir cannot be filled without the approval of both Egypt and Sudan.

The current debate between Egypt and Ethiopia on GERD is a technical one, according to Mamdouh Mohamed Hassan, the head of the Central Department for Technical Cooperation at the Nile Sector of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation.

Egypt demanded that Ethiopia fills the dam’s reservoir in 5- 6 years and asked Ethiopia to abide by the Nile water quantity flow in filling the reservoir to “avoid any significant damage on the downstream countries.”
Additional reporting by Samar Samir

Comments

0

Leave a Comment

Be Social