Ethiopia on Friday announced the beginning clearing activities of the land behind the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) to begin filling its reservoir with water next July.
The clearance operations were launched yesterday on 1,000 hectares of land, said Beshir Abdurahim, director general of the Benishangul Gumuz regional state’s job creation and enterprises development agency.
In order to commence the filling of the renaissance dam in July, enterprises consisting of 2,000 members have started the clearance activities, he indicated.
According to him, the clearance operations are expected to be completed in less than a month. The government has allocated about $1 million for the operations.
Ethiopia announced it will begin the first phase of filling the GERD by July to hold 4.9 billion cubic meters of water.
Mean Chairperson of the African Union Commission Mussa Faki Mahamat announced the union’s readiness to provide every support to resolve differences between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt over the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) through negotiation.
He made the remark during a discussion held between Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew and Mussa Faki Mahamat on Thursday in Addis Ababa.
During the talks, Gedu briefed that Ethiopia will not accept colonial treaties on the use of Nile waters that neglected the country.
AU Chairperson, Mussa Faki Mahamat on his part highlights the importance of giving African solutions to African problems.
In view of that, the commission will work hard to ensure the three countries can reach agreement by solving their differences and preparing a platform for dialogue.
MG/abj/APA