[Sudan’s] Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Prof. Saif Addin Hamad Abdallah said the Ministry conducted several studies on the Nile course and countries of the Nile Basin and has a full vision of what is happening in the Millennium Dam and has a strategy to deal with the proposed dams.

Addressing a symposium titled “Ethiopia’s Millennium Dam and future of development in the Sudan”, he said Sudan would benefit a great deal from the Dam as it would reduce the amount of silt which costs millions of dollars annually to clear. He said the Dam would also assist in the areas of irrigated agriculture and power generation.

He said the Dam would be beneficial to Egypt as it would reduce the quantity of silt that accumulated at the High Dam Lake, adding that Ethiopia is always appreciative of the proposals from Sudan and Egypt to ensure maximum benefit for all parties.

Meanwhile, Imam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi said the lack of agreement between the countries of the Nile basin would lead to political crises and in turn will lead to cold war, stressing the need to reconsider the Nile Waters Agreement so that the water is shared in a fair manner.

The Imam pointed out that military option would not be the solution in this particular issue, calling for holding a comprehensive conference of all Sudanese to decide their stance on this issue. The Imam also called for integration of interests, citing Sudan’s vast lands, Ethiopia’s Millennium Dam ad Egypt’s experience.

Source: Sudan Vision Daily – June 12, 2012 – originally titled ‘Sudan will Benefit from Millennium Dam: Irrigation Minister’.

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Check the Nile archive or the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam archive for related posts.