ADDIS ABABA- Resisting all ups and downs for years, the Grand Abbay Dam filling was well done and impound 42 billion cubic meters of water signifying a fair water share, so stated Ethiopian negotiating committee member.
Member of the Grand Abbay Dam negotiating committee, Gedion Asfaw (Eng.) told FBC that the Dam has reached some 92 percent implementation performance stages .“We have exerted utmost effort to get the height of the Dam reached at this level since the other parties argued to get it reduced. Ideal exchange has been done to reach on consensus about the overall process of the dam filling, but it still demands close talks and discussions as Egypt and Sudan have still reflected reservations,” he noted.
He said: “We have to effectively utilize our water resources for expanding manufacturing, irrigation, industries and others aspects thereby benefiting the country well apart from abiding by international accords on water utilization approaches.”
According to him, the current status of the dam would determine the fate of the nation in the years to come.
Since water is Ethiopians’immense resource, they all have to make the generation well aware of the invaluable significance of the water resources in general and that of the Abbay Dam in particular in schools up to framing in the curriculum to help the young generation well know about the water resources and a range of resources have to be done in detail along this line, he stated.
The project would not go back as it has now secured 42 billion cubic meters of water. Researches need to be widely done peculiarly revolving around water resource utilization, technological advancement to have optimal benefit out of the water, ways to ensure fair utilization, among others, Gedion stated.
Ethiopia should work hard to optimally utilize the Dam via devising a number of lucrative mechanisms without imposing significant harm on downstream riparian countries, such as Egypt and Sudan, he underlined.
BY MENGESHA A MARE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 1 OCTOBER 2023
