Saturday, July 27, 2013

Egypt warns Ethiopia over plans to build dam on river Nile

(July 27, 2013, (New Vision))--The Egyptian interim government of President Adly Mansou has warned Ethiopia over plans to build a giant dam on the river Nile, saying it will reduce water flows vital for its 84 million people.

Addressing the press at the media center in Kampala on Friday, the country’s director of Nile Basin countries affairs, Mohamed El-Hamza, said the building of $4.7bn dam near its border with Sudan violates the 1929 pact which entitled Egypt to 55.5bn cubic metres a year of the Nile's flow and the consequences would be dire for the country.

“Ethiopia should not go ahead with its plans of building this dam. The 1929 pact clearly entitled us to 55.5bn cubic metres a year of the Nile's flow of around 84bn cubic metres. Our population will suffer as a result of this dam because they almost use all the water available to the Nile,” he said.

Ethiopia and five other upstream Nile states, such as Kenya and Uganda, say Egypt's claims are outdated and have signed a deal effectively stripping Cairo of its veto based on colonial-era treaties over dam projects on the river. President Yoweri Museveni recently advised Egypt to handle the dispute over use of the waters of River Nile with caution. Read more from New Vision, Uganda »

Related topics:
Egypt 'deeply worried' by Nile water row with Ethiopia (Reuters )
World famous Egyptian surgeon heads to Ethiopia
Ethiopia Negotiating to Buy 18 Su-30Ks Fighter Jets  
Ethiopia to boost defense spending amid tensions with Egypt over Nile dam development (The Washington post)
The water war between Egypt and Ethiopia (Press TV)
Egyptian warning over Ethiopia Nile dam "all options are open" (BBC)
No One Will Stop Nile Dam Project' : Ethiopian Prime Minster 
Inside Story- Death on the Nile (AlJazeera English Video)

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