ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopians at home and abroad purchased Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) bond worth over 324 million Birr over the last six months.
The renewed activities at the GERD site have further ignited public participation, said Office of National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation on the Construction of Grand Renaissance Dam. Office Public Relations Head Hailu Abreham told The Ethiopian Herald said: “We are striving to mobilize both the local and diaspora communities to support the GERD. So far, the local community purchased GERD bond worth 307 million Birr, while Ethiopians and foreign nationalsof Ethiopian origin living overseas purchased bonds valued at 17 million Birr. Regarding fundraising campaigns, Hailu said that the Office has planned to organize public mobilization events to keep up the pace of public participation.
“We are working to exploit Dam’s utmost potential in various forms. This includes attracting more tourists to the site to generate additional income.”
He also called on the public to strengthen participation until the flag-ship project sees finalization. Constructional activities at the Dam site has gained new momentum following the measures the government has taken, as
hinted by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed when visiting the Dam’s site earlier this February in which he attributed the delays to poor management.
Abiy also mentioned that the delay caused the country to lose one billion USD per annum that the country was supposed to earn.
Filling of the Dam is scheduled to start in July this year and Ethiopia and Sudan proposed to make the filling plan to be 4-7 years during the fourth round of talks held in Addis among Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt that involved the World Bank and the U.S. Treasury Department as observers.
In a press briefing on Jan. 09, 2020 Water, Irrigation and Energy Minister Seleshi Bekele (PhD) said Ethiopia has gone a long distance to win-win cooperation.
The Ethiopian Herald February 14/2020
BY YESUF ENDRIS
