Cairo announces urgent meeting on Ethiopian dam

Tuesday, 29 September 2015 15:44

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Egypt’s presidential spokesman, Alaa Youssef

Egypt’s presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said yesterday that the Tripartite National Committee (TNC) is to convene on 5 October to discuss the issue of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), MENA reported.

The TNC, which is made up of Egyptian, Sudanese and Ethiopian representatives, was set up to evaluate the impact of the GERD on Egypt and Sudan, as well as to conduct studies relating to the environmental, economic and social impacts of this dam on Egypt and Sudan.

Youssef said that Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on the side lines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. They discussed the issue of the dam and the measures to be considered by the TNC in next week’s meeting.

Desalegn, according to Youssef, affirmed that GERD “is a symbol of cooperation among Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia,” and that the main goal of the dam “is combating poverty and realising development and prosperity.”

Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail announced on Saturday that there are three issues which affect Egypt’s view of the dam: the country’s portion of water from the Nile, that the dam is not to be used for political purposes and that it must bolster future Egyptian development.