June 11, 2022—Facts South Sudanese should know about Tag Elkhazin a Canadian citizen by naturalization who appeared to be a leading-opposition figure to dredging of Naam River and Barh El Gazal Basin.
Tag Elkhazin is a self-proclaimed Professor who barely convinced himself as Nile-Water expert but his expertise seems to be in korma due to some facts I have observed from his presentation on a televised show hosted by Mawan Mourtat on Thursday, 9th June 2022.
In his attempt to address the impact of dredging in Naam River and Barh El Gazal Basin as Water Expert, Prof. El-Khazin first questioned the capacity of South Sudan government to run such a huge project which according to him is beyond capacity of the existing government. This arrogant statement from a foreigner undermines our sovereignty as an independent country and his motive to challenge the competency of the incumbent government is put himself as alternative to lead the project because he doesn’t trust the work of South Sudanese and yet few South Sudanese trust his lies especially some of the prominent professors who could comprehend his agenda if their claimed titles are not fakes.
Prof. Elkhazin also went further to explain himself in what I would call ” self-advertising or marketing himself ” if South Sudan could get ready to hire him on this process because he revealed that he is a retired professor whose concerns about the environmental issues in the country is to provide technical advices to the government however, he eventually critiqued his own position by saying he was approached by senior officials in the government to visit South Sudan but said he could not go to South Sudan without signing a contract on what to get and on how many days to spend in the country to assess the environmental impact. This definitely makes me realized that Prof. El-Khazin and his likes want to sacrifice the lives of flood-affected communities in exchange with contracts of dollars since dredging of rivers is not new in the country as it was done in 2008, 2012 and 1980s by Sheveron Campany and those who went through his presentation could testify to the fact that he wants cash at the expense of flood-affected communities in South Sudan.
Prof. El-Khazin is also a conspirator and divisive element which South Sudan shouldn’t seek advice from and I have noticed this reality when I heard from him asking that ” Why should equipment be brought to Bentiu only when there are many parts of the country submerged in water”. So from there I concluded that I am neither listening lecture from a well-versed professor nor Nile-Water expert rather than a disgruntled foreigner who might have for one reason or another hold grudges against Unity State citizens.
He should focus on technicality and environmental problems that the country may encounter in future from dredging as water expert instead of disseminating hatred and unnecessary discrimination among the people.
Despite the fact that he acknowledged the risk of persistent disaster posing by flooding across the country, to my surprise the self-proclaimed Professor Tag Elkhazin during concluding remarks failed to reflect on what should be done as a possible solution to flood-mitigation in South Sudan in case the dredging is harmful at all for biodiversity and ecosystem of the Sudd wetland as expressed by himself and some less-sympathized citizens.
Compatriots, here is what Prof. Elkhazin recommended to be a solution to people whose shelters submerged in water and I quote
“.. What you can do to reduce water is to make climate adaptation.. ” This was the only advice recommended by 50-year water expert for flood-mitigation. To him what he means about the climate adaptation here is to either accept to stay with water and accept it as part and parcel of your life or to desert your birthplace and migrate somewhere like what is happening now in some part of the country where some communities from Jonglei State who are displaced by water migrated to Eastern Equatoria whose existence there sometimes cause insecurities in form of communal clashes over search for greener pastures and other related needs of livelihoods.
Prof. Elkhazin also talked of drowning of the animals and birds if rivers are dredged but did not say anything about the situation of locals in the area to whom resources belongs.
It is true that people cares too much for resources such as animals, birds and others but do not care for the lives of those who own resources and this is very unfortunate.
Therefore, El-Khazin and his likes want to sacrifice the lives of the innocent civilians whose places and livelihoods are robed by floods in the name of more concerning about future environmental threat while they do not have a clear roadmap for the current climate challenges in the country.
To conclude, I would like to alert the general public that Prof. Elkhazin wants to gain dollars in South Sudan in exchange of negative advices that put the lives of flood-affected communities in the country into jeopardy especially people of Greater Upper Nile.
It is also worth reminding that the dredging of the waterways in the country as a routine activity is totally different with the proposed subsidiary feasibility studies of the impact of 260kms already dug from Jonglei Canal. It is very crucial for public to treat the two projects as separate things so that you express your views from very informed understanding rather than speculations from foreign hustlers who cares less for the lives of our innocent people.
Regards,
~Cde. Gattiek Wichar, the author can be reached via gattiekwichar@gmail.com
