Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
July 21, 2021 – Sources from Addis Ababa confirmed that Ethiopia has successfully completed the filling of the giant controversial Dam on the Blue Nile for a second year.
In a statement seen by Nyamilepedia, the Ethiopian government says the GERD is crucial to its economic development and therefore it is their natural right to fill the dam without waiting for permission from the Egyptians or any other entity.
Earlier on Monday, the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) had announced that the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will be completed within few minutes.
“The second filling of GERD Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been completed and the water is overflowing”, Seleshi Bekele, Ethiopian Minister for Water, Irrigation and Energy said on Monday.
” It means we have now the needed volume of the water to run the two turbines”, he twittered.
In early July the Ethiopian Government notified the two downstream countries on her move to start the second filling of their opposing Dam.
Frustrated by the Ethiopians’ decision, the Egyptians, who view the dam as a grave threat to its Nile water share, continue to lobby for support to mitigate further damage the GERD may cause to their people.
On the other hand, Sudan has expressed her discontent over the move and the two downstream countries have called for a binding legal arrangement before the operation of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) begins but several endeavors to resolve the matter went unsuccessful.
The Renaissance Dam has been a reason of diplomatic standoff between the Ethiopian government and the downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan.
Egypt refers to historical treaties signed during the colonial period where Egypt enjoyed a lion share in Nile water such as the 1929 Nile Water Agreement and 1959 Agreement between Egypt and Sudan; however, Ethiopia declares that it has had enough of colonial treaties and would rather prefer an African solution.
