GERD issue is concerning to US: CENTCOM Commander

CAIRO - 19 June 2021: The issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is very concerning to the United States, which recognizes the unique importance of the Nile to Egypt, not only culturally but also in water supply and the economy overall, said US Commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM )General McKenzie in an interview with Egypt’s state-owned Nile News Channel on Friday.

 

“I think Egypt actually is practicing enormous steps of the restraint as it is trying to find a political solution to this problem […] We will continue to find a solution to it to be accepted by Egypt and all parties involved as well. But again, Egypt has shown great leadership in this area," he said.

 

 

Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia are at loggerheads over the construction of the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as the tripartite talks between the three countries reached stalemates several times despite the brokerage of the African Union, the United Nations, the US, and the World Bank. 

 

In mid-July 2020, Ethiopian authorities unilaterally carried out the first phase of the filling process with 4.9 billion cubic meters; and it is scheduled that the second phase of the filling would reach 13 billion cubic meters.

 

The dispute among Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia dates back to May 2011 when Ethiopia started building the dam; Egypt voiced concern over its water share [55.5 billion cubic meters].

 

In 2015, the three countries signed the Declaration of Principles, per which the downstream countries should not be negatively affected by the construction of the dam, whose capacity is 74 billion cubic meters and is planned to generate 6,000 megawatts per annum through 16 turbines.