Maligned Motive of Downstream Countries to Make Ethiopia Sign Binding Deal Hastily: Researchers

Addis Ababa June 5/2021 (ENA) Water researchers said the malevolent motive of Sudan and Egypt with respect to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is to make Ethiopia sign a binding deal that hamper the country from utilizing its water resources.

Gondar University Water Science Researcher, Yezebe Kassa, told ENA that Ethiopia is facing  challenges mainly from Egypt and Sudan that want to sustain the colonial treaties and benefit alone.

Therefore, Ethiopians need to cooperate and overcome the challenges, she underscored.

“We know that Ethiopia is the main source of water for the Nile River, but the other countries have been benefiting from the river for ages. And now they are pressuring Ethiopia when it decided to exercise its right. We have to withstand such challenges together. Everyone must discharge their responsibility to overcome the challenges,” the researcher explained.

“Hasty decisions on the dam issue could be difficult to reverse and discussions should be held with various stakeholders to reach on a worthwhile decision,” Yezbe strongly recommended.

Addis Ababa University Science and Technology Mechanical Engineering Researcher, Misrak Girma said on her part that GERD is designed to generate electricity and will not cause harm on the downstream countries. “The international community should understand this obvious fact about the dam.”

According to her, the countries that are trying to disrupt the construction of the dam and the tripartite negotiations are trying to dissipate the hopes of Ethiopians.

The researcher advised the Government of Ethiopia to understand the sinister motive of Egypt and Sudan and follow the principle of benefiting all parties during the tripartite talks.

“I am working in various projects. The pressures intended to stop power generation and kill the hopes of Ethiopians are unacceptable. The dam is built in a way that will not harm anyone but  generate hydro-electric power. The turbines release the water after generating electricity,” Misrak elaborated.

Ethiopians must stand together to protect the ongoing project which ushers in great hopes to the nation, she stated.

Both researchers said Egypt and Sudan are interested in either delaying the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam or make it fail.

But the construction of GERD has reached 80 percent.