The Sudanese government announced, on Wednesday, that the construction of the Ethiopian “Renaissance Dam” will continue in the absence of a binding legal agreement, which constitutes a “direct threat to Sudan.”
This came from the Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Yasser Abbas, during his meeting in Khartoum with Australian Ambassador Glenn Miles (resident in Cairo), according to the ministry’s statement.
Abbas said: “Sudan is directly affected by the Renaissance Dam, especially the unilateral filling for the second year in a row. The continuation of the dam’s construction operations in the absence of a binding legal agreement poses a direct threat to Sudan.”
He affirmed Khartoum’s adherence to reaching a binding legal agreement to ensure the exchange of data and information that secures the safety of the Roseires Dam (southeast of Sudan) and the lives of millions on the banks of the Blue Nile.
For his part, the Australian diplomat praised the “eternal relations” between Khartoum and Canberra, considering the water sector important and promising in Sudan.
And on Sunday, an Egyptian study, which relied on orbital rays and European satellite images, warned of the possibility of “the collapse of the Renaissance Dam,” doubting Addis Ababa’s ability to complete the second filling of the dam.
The study said: “We show an imminent danger in a strong scientific way and sound an alarm about a major threat facing the Sudanese (…) There is a future threat of the possibility of the dam collapsing if it is completely filled.”
Egypt and Sudan exchange accusations with Ethiopia of being responsible for the failure of the dam negotiations, sponsored by the African Union for five months, within a negotiating track that began about 10 years ago, due to differences over construction, operation, and filling, amid anticipation for the return of negotiations at the invitation of the Security Council.
