Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Muttalib announced that Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have agreed to form a trilateral committee to evaluate the implications of the Renaissance and remove any adverse effects.
“The committee will implement the recommendations included in the report of the International Committee of Experts,” the minister said. “It will include four experts from each country. They will have to take unanimous decisions within a time frame of not more than a year.”
The announcement of the new committee comes after a series of meetings between ministers of water resources of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan that were recently held in Khartoum to discuss the implications of the dam on the water security of downstream countries Egypt and Sudan.
“We agreed in principle to bear the costs of the committee jointly,” Abdel Muttalib said, adding that the committee will consult an international firm known for its competence and experience in that field. “We also agreed to provide all the data required to conduct the complementary studies in a timely manner.”
“The selection of the international consultant will take place in a meeting scheduled for 5 January 2014 in Khartoum,” he said. “In the interim period, we will work on all relevant issues so that the next meeting in Khartoum becomes the beginning of the actual work of the committee.”
Egypt had called for confidence-building measures between the three countries in general and regarding the dam in particular.
Edited translation from MENA
