(4 minutes read)
· The laborers on Tuti Island in Sudan’s capital Khartoum fear a giant dam Ethiopia is building close to the border between the two countries could endanger their livelihood.
· The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) upstream, they feel, could weaken the Blue Nile’s force, putting at risk an industry that locals say provided bricks for some of Khartoum’s first modern public buildings around a century ago.
· Sudan’s government says the dam could threaten the safety of some 20 million Sudanese living downstream and damage the country’s flood-plain agricultural system if not built and operated correctly
The laborers on Tuti Island in Sudan’s capital Khartoum fear a giant dam Ethiopia is building close to the border between the two countries could endanger their livelihood. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) upstream, they feel, could weaken the Blue Nile’s force, putting at risk an industry that locals say provided bricks for some of Khartoum’s first modern public buildings around a century ago.
Assortment of artisans and others such as pottery makers, farmers and fishermen around the Nile’s convergence share similar concerns, though other residents displaced by flooding last summer see benefit in a dam that will regulate the powerful river’s waters. The votaries of dams in Sudan feel that it would stabilize the Nile and the rivers would be less flooding. However, the potters say they would get less clay and less water for making brick and pottery.
While these things are going on, Ethiopia is asserting its right to harness the Blue Nile’s waters to power its economy. It promises to start filling the dam’s reservoir later this month. Egypt is frantically trying to secure a deal that would guarantee minimum flows from the Blue Nile. The country has to depend on the waters of the Nile for most of its cultivation and household uses.
Sudan’s government says the dam could threaten the safety of some 20 million Sudanese living downstream and damage the country’s flood-plain agricultural system if not built and operated correctly. But, the country, which is not a major stakeholder in the game, also sees potential benefits in controlling floods during the rainy season and improving the performance of its own dams.
