The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is not only a Dam erected to generate power it is the sign of our sovereignty flagship project. Ethiopians know very well how hard it is to build the Dam but thanks to the unison created among nations and nationalities the dream becomes reality.
Though some nations downplay Ethiopia’s development effort, thanks to the people Ethiopia it has reached to its completion, which is about 80 percent and preparation is underway to conduct the second round filling. As the second GERD water filling is a turning point to the Ethiopia nations that have been obsessed in maintaining the hegemony of Nile for millennia are engaged in creating various pressures and havoc.
America knows how the government of Ethiopia tried to deal with TPLF juntas for the past three years, but the group was callous and preparing for war and attacked the Northern Command of the ENDF and robbed heavy armaments. Of late US and some of its allies are trying to create pressure filing accusations on Ethiopia handling of the law enforcement operations in Tigray State.
In my view US resolution upon Ethiopia is an approach to disguise the international communities, the real target of US is to ensure its Egypt’s diplomacy loyalty and its benefits at the expense of Ethiopia’s GERD, the move is unacceptable. US should revisit its stance, because the two nations have been in productive diplomacy relations for over a century now.
Ethiopia should develop and US should support it without the pressure it was calculated to disunite Ethiopians but it enhanced the public’s determination for the completion of the GERD and foiled attempts by enemy quarters to make the country remain poor, a coordinating council claimed.
Speaking to The Ethiopian Herald, Media Communication Director with the Office of National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation on the Construction of the GERD, Hailu Abraham said that the government has made attempts to capitalize on the public’s enthusiasm for the completion of the dam.
The director highlighted that during the last months of the current Ethiopian year, it has managed to collect more than 1.5 billion Birr from the public amidst international and domestic pressures. Apart from public discontent created by unjustified pressures, the successful achievement of the first-year filling of the GERD reservoir and the expected preliminary energy production make the society to stand in unison for the day’s cause.
“The performance of the public participation during the past ten months is twice that of last year, “he said, adding that it was able to collect about 747 million Birr during the previous Ethiopian fiscal year. According to EPA, the office is largely ready to strengthen public mobilization by preparing different fundraising schemes including bond sales, 8100 SMS and other activities. The fundraising activities would be continued till the completion of the GERD.
Moreover, the campaign has been implemented to garner the participation of farming communities and pastorals living nearby the GERD to plant seedlings thereby contributing to the environmental sustainability of the dam.
Cognizant of the fact that the construction of the GERD and other mega projects are key solutions to overcome poverty, it is better for all Ethiopians to show their unity and strength than being frustrated by external pressures, the director remarked.
The diplomatic efforts should be maintained to clear the facts on the ground to the international communities. Even though the old ring of influence from the era of colonization to date that had been hindering the nation is done, it is not over. We should wait till it comes up with a new strategy. In my view, despite all the challenges, nations and nationalities should keep on determined in financing the Dam.
BY MENGISTEAB TESHOME
The Ethiopian Herald June 4/2021
