Egyptian Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Aty: Ethiopia has no political will to sign a binding agreement on the Renaissance Dam.
The Egyptian Minister of Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel-Aty, confirmed that Ethiopia does not have the political will to sign a binding agreement on the Renaissance Dam.
The Egyptian minister revealed new violations committed by Ethiopia against Egypt and Sudan, other than the start of the second filling of the Renaissance Dam, stressing that the Ethiopian side released quantities of silt-laden water last November without informing the downstream countries, which caused an increase in turbidity in drinking water stations in Sudan.
During a meeting held today, Tuesday, with Inger Anderson, Director of the United Nations Environment Program, to discuss the current situation of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam file, with the participation of members of the Egyptian negotiating delegation and representatives of the Egyptian embassy in Kenya, the Egyptian minister reviewed the Egyptian water situation and the size of the challenges facing the water sector in Egypt, foremost of which is the limited The available water resources, the negative effects of climate change, and the unilateral measures taken by the Ethiopian side with regard to filling and operating the Renaissance Dam, explaining that Egypt is one of the driest countries in the world, as it suffers from a lack of water resources at a time when Ethiopia enjoys enormous water resources represented in Rainwater, renewable groundwater and river basins other than the Nile, and the large quantities of water stored in them by dams and natural lakes.
Abdel-Aty stressed that Egypt is not against development in Ethiopia or the Nile Basin countries, but development projects must be implemented in accordance with the rules of international law, taking into account the concerns of the downstream countries. Egypt has already assisted the Nile Basin source countries in building dams in a cooperative and consensual framework. He pointed out that Egypt seeks to achieve cooperation with Ethiopia through a fair and binding legal agreement to fill and operate the Ethiopian dam, in the interest of all.
The Egyptian minister pointed out that his country showed flexibility in negotiating, but it was met with great intransigence on the part of the Ethiopian side, given that Ethiopia does not have the political will to reach an agreement, and it always seeks to evade any obligation it has towards downstream countries.
Abdel-Aty pointed to the effects of the unilateral Ethiopian actions on both Egypt and Sudan, especially if the filling or operation coincides with periods of drought. Severe because the Ethiopian side carried out the first filling process without coordination with the two downstream countries.
For her part, Inger Anderson explained that the Secretary-General of the United Nations stressed the readiness of the United Nations to participate in the path of the African Union to work to support the Renaissance Dam negotiations if requested by the three countries, as the request of Egypt and Sudan was indicated on the importance of integrating international parties (the Union). African Union - United Nations - European Union - United States of America) to advance the negotiation path.
The Source
- alarabiya.net