ADDIS ABABA – The Office of National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation on the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam has announced plan to collect around 1.2 billion Birr for the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in this year.
General Director of the
Office, Roman Gebreselassie told EPA that the Office has set plan to raise the
fund through bond sale, Short Message Service (SMS-8100 A), gifts and sales of
pins with images of the GERD and other similar mechanisms.
In earlier years, the tardiness and maladministration observed in the Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC) – the corporation which was responsible to construct the dam- had eroded publics’ trust on the dam. However, as the survey conducted by the Office indicated, the publics’ commitment to finance the dam is still stronger and they pledge to continue their participation at any cost as it ever was.
Merely, in the past Ethiopian budget year, the Office has collected close to one billion Birr from the public.
Mentioning Office’s target to collect 1.2 billion Birr in this budget year, she said so far, it has collected around 400 million Birr.
The Office of National Council was able to collect 970 million Birr last year and is now working to collect one billion Birr this year.
As to the General Director, Egypt’s colonial era thinking over the Nile water and its self-interest as well as the unjustifiable interferences of third parties have annoyed the public. Scholars living at home and abroad are exerting a lot of efforts to tackle this, she stressed.
Likewise, public figures, including artists, are working to mobilize the communities. The public in turn are doing their best in the fundraising with a sense of “The Dam is mine.”
The media should also play role in exposing Egypt’s media fake news to the public and reporting Ethiopia’s firm stand on mutual and fair distribution of the water, she further underlined.
The Ethiopian Herald April 1/2020
BY BETELHEM BEDELU
