The Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy Minister, Sileshi Bekele, has said that the second round of filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will go as scheduled. He made this known following the meeting of the Eastern Nile Council of Ministers in Addis Ababa. He stated that Ethiopia would carry on with filling the dam as it goes along with the construction in the coming rainy season.
“The second round filling will continue, and it has nothing to do with any other issue. The level the construction of the dam reaches in the coming rainy season will dictate the filling”, Bekele said. He added that “This is very clear to all the three riparian countries. Nothing will change from that, and we will proceed accordingly”.
The Sudanese Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Yasir Abbas Mohammed acknowledged Ethiopia’s right to construct the dam, but he also added that consideration should be given to countries that also benefit from the River Nile. “Sudan has right from the beginning supported the GERD because it is the right of Ethiopia to make use of water”, Mohammed stated. “We supported Ethiopia to generate hydropower at the same time to consider the downstream countries”, Mohammed added.
This comes as the Arab League Member states rejected the ongoing African Union (AU) led negotiations between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan.