Ethiopia Never Delays Construction Of GERD For A Minute

The Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE) said the ongoing construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will never be delayed even for a minute, WIC Reported.

Water, Irrigation and Energy Minister Alemayehu Tegenu told WIC that any question intended to delay the construction of the dam has never entered into consideration and will not again. 

“We are putting in place some of the recommendations forwarded by the international panel of experts. But we never accept any idea to delay the construction of the dam,” he said.

In the final report released last May, the panel stated that the dam won’t have significant effect on downstream countries but will on the contrary benefit them.

Alemayehu also deplored Egyptian government officials’ recent idea to complain the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s construction case to the UN Security Council.

“They can take it or leave it. It is up to them but nothing will be changed as far as the dam is concerned. They did not consult us on the issue so we do not bother about it,” Alemayehu said.

“It is not clear why the Egyptian complain about it since the dam never holds water. The water flows after generating electricity,” Alemayehu said.

“Whatever the result would be, Ethiopia will not hesitate to scale up its development to ensure food security of its people by using its water resources,” he noted.

“The dam is not only planned to benefit Ethiopia but all downstream countries,” he added.

Commenting on the new Egyptian Constitution which indicated the existence of an article that declares for the utilization of Blue Nile to be as it was previously, he said it is an acceptable since it forbids Ethiopia’s right of using the Nile water.

“No one accept this unjust article and it never hinders Ethiopia from using its share. Ethiopia will not interfere in the constitutional affairs of Egypt but we do not accept the colonial treaty. The article is the continuation of the colonial treaty which denies Ethiopia’s right on Nile River while it is contributing 86% of the water flow,” he said.

Egyptians must know that they will not have any options other than believing in equitable and fair share and use of the Nile water, Alemayehu said.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is being built on Ethiopia’s Blue Nile River. The 4.2 billion US dollars dam will benefit agricultural and power interests in the region.

Source: Walta Information Center (WIC)