Ethiopian Minister of Government Communication Affairs Getachew Reda
Official Ethiopian remarks that the Renaissance Dam is almost complete have infuriated Egyptian officials, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported yesterday.
Speaking to the media, Ethiopian Minister of Government Communication Affairs Getachew Reda said that his government had completed almost 70 per cent of the construction works of the Grand Renaissance Dam.
Commenting on Egyptian reports that his country is awaiting the completion of studies by consultants regarding the effect of the dam on other countries in the Nile Basin, he said: “The work of [the consultants] is not related to the construction process… If someone found that the dam affects him after these consultations, it would be his own problem, not ours.”
In response to the remarks, former Egyptian Irrigation Minister Mohamed Nasr Allam said: “The Ethiopians are currently talking based on their power, which they gained after the Egyptians had lost all means of pressure due to the impartiality and arrogance of the team responsible for the talks on the dam.”
Allam pointed out that the Ethiopians are the main players in the issue of the dam, noting that the completion of the dam would have disastrous effects on Egypt due to the decrease of its portion of water from the Nile.
He called on Cairo to take a “clear” position regarding the suspension of construction works until the completion of consultations about the dangers and harms of the dam.
Meanwhile, the head of the Defence and Security Committee in the Egyptian Parliament and former chief of the Egyptian intelligence services, Colonel Kamal Amer, said: “There is an agreement between the two countries stipulating that Egypt’s access to water from the Nile will not be affected.”
