After Ethiopia announced the completion of the second filling of the Renaissance Dam, Sudan responded to this step. Today, Monday, the Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources reiterated its firm position in Khartoum’s rejection of Ethiopia’s unilateral measures and policies of imposing a fait accompli and ignoring the legitimate interests and serious concerns of its partners in the Nile River.
She also stressed that the best alternative to this Ethiopian approach, which will only harm the distinguished historical relations between the two countries and peoples, is to continue negotiating in good faith to reach a binding and comprehensive legal agreement that preserves the interests of all parties and addresses their concerns, in particular the safe operation of the Roseires dam.
It’s not too late
In addition, she stressed that she is confident that it is not too late, and that “reaching the desired agreement is very necessary, possible and available if the political will is available.”
She added, “We assure our citizens that the responsible authorities have been working for months to anticipate and take appropriate technical and administrative measures to reduce the actual and potential negative effects of the unilateral filling for the second year in a row.”
“We reduced the effects of the filling”
An official at the Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation had told Al Arabiya earlier today, Monday, that the measures taken by Sudan had reduced the effects of the second filling.
He pointed out that Ethiopia was unable to reserve the amount of water previously announced.
In addition, an Ethiopian minister said today, Monday, that his country has completed the second filling phase of the huge Renaissance Dam that it is building on the Blue Nile, in a move that has already angered Egypt.
Second filling completed
“The second filling of the Renaissance Dam has been completed and the water is flowing,” said Seleshi Bekele, Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy of Ethiopia, today, Monday.
“This means that we now have the necessary quantities of water to operate the two turbines,” he added on Twitter.
Earlier, today, Monday, the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation said that the second filling of the Renaissance Dam “will be completed within a few minutes.”
Egypt refused the move
On the other hand, Egypt announced that it had received an official notification from Ethiopia that it had started filling the dam’s reservoir for the second time, and Cairo confirmed that it categorically rejects this step.
Egypt sees the dam as a serious threat to its supply of Nile water, on which it depends almost entirely. Sudan also expressed concern about the safety of the dam and its impact on dams and water stations.
Long-running diplomatic efforts have not been successful in settling the dispute between the three countries.
