Sudanese Protesters Block Land Road with Egypt

People march to the presidential palace, protesting against military rule following last month's coup in Khartoum, Sudan December 19, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
People march to the presidential palace, protesting against military rule following last month's coup in Khartoum, Sudan December 19, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
TT
20

Sudanese Protesters Block Land Road with Egypt

People march to the presidential palace, protesting against military rule following last month's coup in Khartoum, Sudan December 19, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
People march to the presidential palace, protesting against military rule following last month's coup in Khartoum, Sudan December 19, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo

Sudanese protesters have blocked the land road leading to Egypt, hindering the active land trade between both countries.

Hundreds of cargo trucks from and to Egypt were left stranded on the Omdurman-Dongola Road.

The protesters seized the trucks in the Al-Barqiq locality in Dongola to reject the government’s increased tariff of potable water from 200 Sudanese pounds to 1,000.

Tension escalated upon the security authority's arrest of several protesters at the checkpoints on the land road from the west.

This road is a vital land crossing for goods and it is the second time in 12 months that the residents of north Sudan block this road to demand better services.

The committees of services and change in the region announced that the road will remain blocked until further notice, warning the protesters would not back off until the authority meets their demands and returns the water tariffs to previous rates.

The residents complained in vain to the executive director of the province, the statement read. Therefore, they decided to escalate and block the road.

The residents hold the authority responsible for the arrest of some individuals at the checkpoints.

The committees called on the authorities to intervene and release the detainees, threatening more escalation in the coming days.

Some Facebook photos showed the trucks in long queues on both sides of the road.

The road was blocked previously in January 2022 to demand the implementation of safety standards for the trucks.

Among the demands were also the establishment of a free trade zone and carrying out maintenance to the road that has worn out due to the heavy movement of trucks between Egypt and Sudan.



Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
TT
20

Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)

Egypt said Friday that Ethiopia has consistently lacked the political will to reach a binding agreement on its now-complete dam, an issue that involves Nile River water rights and the interests of Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia’s prime minister said Thursday that the country’s power-generating dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), on the Nile is now complete and that the government is “preparing for its official inauguration” in September.

Egypt has long opposed the construction of the dam, because it would reduce the country's share of Nile River waters, which it almost entirely relies on for agriculture and to serve its more than 100 million people.

The more than the $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile near the Sudan border began producing power in 2022. It’s expected to eventually produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity — double Ethiopia’s current output.

Ethiopia and Egypt have spent years trying to reach an agreement over the dam, which Ethiopia began building in 2011.

Both countries reached no deal despite negotiations over 13 years, and it remains unclear how much water Ethiopia will release downstream in case of a drought.

Egyptian officials, in a statement, called the completion of the dam “unlawful” and said that it violates international law, reflecting “an Ethiopian approach driven by an ideology that seeks to impose water hegemony” instead of equal partnership.

“Egypt firmly rejects Ethiopia’s continued policy of imposing a fait accompli through unilateral actions concerning the Nile River, which is an international shared watercourse,” Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement Friday.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his address to lawmakers Thursday, said that his country “remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.”

“We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water,” he said. “Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.”

However, the Egyptian water ministry said Friday that Ethiopian statements calling for continued negotiations “are merely superficial attempts to improve its image on the international stage.”

“Ethiopia’s positions, marked by evasion and retreat while pursuing unilateralism, are in clear contradiction with its declared willingness to negotiate,” the statement read.

However, Egypt is addressing its water needs by expanding agricultural wastewater treatment and improving irrigation systems, according to the ministry, while also bolstering cooperation with Nile Basin countries through backing development and water-related projects.