Date: Sun Nov 23 16:45:39 2014
Egypt & S. Sudan sign water cooperation agreement
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November 23, 2014 (KHARTOUM) - The governments of Egypt and South Sudan
signed on Saturday an agreement on technical and developmental cooperation
in managing water resources.
Egyptian media noted that this is the eighth agreement of its kind signed by
Cairo with Nile Basin countries since 1902.
The accord came on the sidelines of a visit to Cairo by South Sudan
president Salva Kiir for talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah
al-Sisi.
Both countries agreed on the inauguration of ten water projects starting
next month that are worth $26.6 million extended as a grant by Egypt.
Egypt's water resources minister Hussam Maghazi told reporters after the
signing ceremony that they emphasized their seriousness in continuing
cooperation aimed at implementing bilateral development projects in line
with a 2006 Memorandum of Understanding signed in Cairo and another one in
2011.
He also reiterated Cairo's readiness to meet the development needs of South
Sudan people especially in the fields of training and capacity building.
Maghazi noted one project planned for next year to clean Bahr al-Ghazal
basin and build river anchors with a grant of $11.1 million.
He said that in accordance with the agreement, they will drill and equip 17
underground water wells worth $6 million and deliver four of them in a
ceremony next January in Juba.
The Egyptian official also mentioned a $1 million agreement on the
implementation of the technical and economic feasibility of the
multi-purpose Wau dam project. He said that they completed all studies,
designs, construction, civil and hydraulic power plant designs after which
they will hold a regional workshop to review the final feasibility studies
next January in Juba.
He went on to say that they will establish a central laboratory for the
analysis of water and upgrading measurement stations of hydrological levels
of the river Nile and build a pump to provide water to disadvantaged
communities in southern Sudan.
Al-Masri al-Youm newspaper quoted unnamed official sources as saying that
the accord includes 8 major items such as the establishment of a joint
technical body to conduct periodic consultations on issues and projects of
common interest, exchange of data and information, activating plans
necessary to implement the procedures according to a uniform and shared
vision of the two sides, conducting studies and research related to
management and maintenance, conservation and development of water resources,
environment, wildlife and plant ecosystems, climate change, demographic
changes and fisheries, rehabilitating and creating new stations that execute
water resources development plans.
The terms of the agreement also underscored the need to raise the level of
cooperation between Cairo and Juba and exchange experiences through the
establishment of a joint technical entity, similar to the one between Cairo
and Khartoum, which is done through the Joint Technical Commission for Nile
water.
http://www.sudantribune.com/local/cache-vignettes/L361xH204/20141122-6355228
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