The Ethiopian state-media painted a positive picture of the report of the International Panel of Experts on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which was submitted to to the governments of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.
A press release of the Ethiopian Ministry of Water and Energy claimed that:
“the report indicates that the design of the GERD is based on international standards and principles…..[and] that the Dam offers high benefit for all the three countries and would not cause significant harm on both the lower riparian countries.”
However, the reaction from the Egyptian government appears much cautious.
Spokesman of Egypt’s Ministry of Irrigation, Dr. Khaled was quoted today as saying to an Arabic TV – One Channel – that:
“the report of the tripartite committee on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is very important at the international level.
“Egypt would not accept prejudice to its interests, pointing out that the Ethiopian side has confirmed that he can not be harm Egyptian interests.”
“we do not stand against the development of Ethiopia and achieve its goals, including not harm the interests of Egypt and Sudan.”
“The Tripartite Commission comprising the Ethiopian side and the Egyptian and Sudanese, the report is considered a very important paper.”
The Arabic website of Egypt Independent reported about an hour ago as follows (Google translation plus further editing):
The Committee of Experts triple in charge of studying the effects of dam Renaissance Ethiopian concluded its sixth and final in Addis Ababa, on Friday evening. According to sources in the Ministry of Irrigation, there are strict instructions not to reveal the content of the report issued by the Committee, which was received by the ministry on Saturday morning.
The government received the report through Egyptian members of the Committee, Sharif Mohammadi and Khaled Hussein, who arrived from Ethiopia today, and imposed the ministry strict procedures to prevent access to the report or the representatives of Egypt in the Commission, after a leaked report of the National Committee published on «Egyptian today».
The Committee of Experts, which included international consultants, has completed the preparation of its final report on the assessment of the effects of Renaissance dam on Egypt and Sudan, in the conclusion of its meeting in the capital Addis Ababa on Friday evening, pending the decision of the governments of the three countries on the report, after he was taken to the ministries and government bodies involved in the , to discuss its content, and take the decisions necessary for the implementation of the recommendations contained in it.
The Committee recommended, on the final report, the importance of direct dialogue between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to discussed technical notes made by the Committee and consider recommendations to be taken.
Although members of the Committee refused to disclose the content of the report, the sources confirmed that the final report contains a consensus in some aspects and calls for further technical studies.
The report emphasized that the studies submitted by the Ethiopian side are “incomplete” after six rounds of talks, which began on May 8, 2012, which held four rounds in Addis Ababa and one in Cairo and sixth in Khartoum.
The final report of the experts also noted the experts visited the dam site four times and to follow-up to the construction site of the dam and emulation of Ethiopian Studies submitted to the Committee what exists on the ground.
The Nile water sector is witnessing a state of anxiety after imposed strict measures on staff after Ahmed Bahaa El Din, Minister of Irrigation, gave instructions preventing all officials in the sector not to speak to the media, the sources said.
The website of the opposition party AlWafd reported as follows (Google translation plus further editing):
Official sources told Alwafd that the office of the President received a copy of the report of the tripartite committee on the effects of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
However, the presidency imposed secrecy on the details of the report and the report dealt with the technical aspects and the engineering and construction of the dam and the consequences and risks to Egypt’s share of Nile water and the direct effects of the [Egypt’s] High Dam.
The sources revealed some of the proposals and recommendations in order to avoid negative impacts, especially with regard to addressing any defects or deficiencies in the technical aspects and the engineering and construction of the dam, including guarantees that the historical rights of Egypt and Sudan in the waters of the Nile River as well as the High Dam will not be affected in the future.
The sources added that the report would recommend the need to open direct channels of dialogue and fast between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in order to reach full consensus on this issue in the interests of the three peoples, and without certain countries infringing the rights of other States.
The sources pointed out that the report would recommend re-negotiation of the Entebe Convention [a.k.a. the Cooperative Framework Agreement] in order to reach a compromise on the contentious issues between upstream and downstream countries, particularly with regard to ensuring the inviolability quotas historical downstream countries, and the need to pre-announcement for dam construction or the various projects on the banks of the rive by the Nile basin countries, in addition to that any decision is to be made between the signatory states to the Convention must be by consensus.
The sources said that the report did not answer all questions about the implications of the construction of a dam renaissance, describing it as a report scrawny because of censorship Ethiopian on the work of the Commission. The sources revealed that the report showed lack of cooperation from the Ethiopian side with the Committee, which was formed in December 2011 and the Ethiopian authorities withheld key information from the Commission and were lazy in cooperation with them.
Sources pointed out that the report, which is still at the stage of a 3-secret papers only, has implications on the construction of the dam and a number of recommendations. It also includes suggestions of the need for more advanced studies on the dam.
The Committee of Experts Tripartite Commission to study the effects of dam Renaissance, which includes experts from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, along with international consultants, has concluded in Addis Ababa yesterday evening its sixth and last meetings, issuing its final report on the assessment of the effects of dam Renaissance Ethiopian, which includes the results of the The recommendations of the Committee, which was submitted to the governments of the three countries concerned.
Other, well-known, Egyptian news outlets appear not to have commented on the details of the report.
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