Irrigation Minister: Ethiopia is eluding to buy time
Khartoum | Times Of Sudan
Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Professor Yasser Abbas told Sudan Channel on Thursday, April 22:
Ethiopia rejected Sudan’s proposal for the Quartet mediation, while Egypt agreed to it.
Ethiopia eludes in reaching an agreement and is buying time to make the second filling of the dam a fait accompli.
– We are surprised at Ethiopia’s position regarding the exchange of information on filling and operating the dam.
– The first filling of the Renaissance Dam without agreement or notification was a surprising move that raised doubts about Ethiopian intentions.
We have developed several scenarios and technical, legal and political plans if the second filling takes place without a binding legal agreement.
– We were technically aware of storing an additional amount of water in the Rusayris reservoir to irrigate agricultural projects and drinking water if the water coming from the Renaissance Dam decreases, and Jabal Awliya will not be completely emptied for the first time in 100 years.
In the event that the second filling is completed without reaching a binding legal agreement, we have Sudanese legal teams working with the help of some international law firms to file a court case against the Italian executing company and against the Ethiopian government, to compensate for the damages that will be caused to Sudan in addition to not studying the environmental and social impacts and all other potential risks of dam Renaissance.
We are also studying various other options for this, including resorting to the International Court of Justice, human rights courts and the COMESA court.
On the diplomatic and political side, we will work to mobilize global and regional public opinion to reinforce our demands for the necessity of reaching a binding agreement.
– Reaching an agreement that does not diminish the sovereignty or rights of Ethiopia. On the contrary, it provides Ethiopia with its current and future rights and protects the interests of Sudan.
Ethiopia objected to the invitation of the Sudanese Prime Minister, Dr. Abdullah Hamdok, for a tripartite summit of the heads of the three countries, and you see that the matter should be left to the African Union.
The African Union is biased to the Ethiopian side to some extent.
The African Union did not play its leadership role, but only played the role of observer.
We believe that there was no serious method for negotiating an agreement.
– When the negotiations started under the auspices of the African Union last year, we were in agreement on 90% of the issues, and after 8 months of negotiation, the whole agreement became disputed again.
– If the tripartite summit of the presidents succeeds, we will return to negotiations, and if it does not succeed, we will continue the political escalation.
