Nation Conducts Second filling of GERD Based on DoP Signed by Sudan, Egypt: Ethiopian Negotiator

Addis Ababa July 7/2021 (ENA) Ethiopia has been conducting the second filling of the Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) based on the Declaration of Principles (DoP) signed in 2015 by Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt, according to Engineer Gedion Asfaw member of GERD negotiating team.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Water expert and GERD Negotiator, Gedion said the second filling is not a very peculiar event as the filling is being conducted based on the schedule agreed by the experts of the three countries that comprised from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia is filling the dam based on the schedule agreed upon by the three countries, he affirmed.

“The Ethiopian people expect that this filling schedule is followed in a sense that the construction pace should proceed according to the plan to achieve this goal, because the construction and the filling are inseparable,” Gedion pointed out.

He further stated that when the height of the dam increases, the water in the reservoir increases.

The filling is conducted in parallel with the constructions. This has been clearly written in the declaration of principles.

They [Egypt and Sudan] know the fact that the construction and filling activities of the dam   inseparable, he added.

However, they are trying to take the GERD issue to the UN Peace and Security Council by mobilizing the League of the Arab States.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Memonen said today that the GERD is a development project which does not fall under the mandate of the Security Council, during his discussion with ambassadors and diplomats of the Nile riparian states in Ethiopia.