From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Tue Jul 28 2009 - 21:55:42 EDT
Nile countries delay water sharing pact for six months
By Samer al-Atrush (AFP) - 7 hours ago
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt - Water ministers from Nile Basin countries on Tuesday
delayed signing a water-sharing pact already rejected by Egypt and
Sudan, who oppose any reduction in their traditional quotas.
Ministers from nine Nile Basin countries and Eritrea, which had observer
status at the four-day meeting held in the Egyptian Mediterranean city
of Alexandria, put off finalising the treaty for six months.
"Six months was allocated to solve the problem," Ethiopian Minister of
Water Resources Asfaw Dingamo told reporters at the end of the meeting.
"Before that our technical advisers will sit down and come up with a
technical agreement to be signed," he said.
Other Nile Basin countries, some of which suffer periodic droughts,
drafted the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) in June at a
Democratic Republic of Congo summit that omitted mention of Egypt and
Sudan's historic claims.
"It is a big victory," a Sudanese official, who requested anonymity
because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said. "They were
going to sign the agreement beginning August 1 regardless of Egypt and
Sudan."
At the heart of the dispute is a 1929 agreement between Egypt and Great
Britain, acting on behalf of its African colonies along the 5,584
kilometre (3,470 mile) river, which gave Egypt veto power over upstream
projects.
An between Egypt and Sudan in 1959 allowed Egypt 55.5 billion cubic
metres of water each year -- 87 percent of the Nile's flow -- and Sudan
18.5 billion cubic metres.
Some of the Nile Basin countries, which include Ethiopia, Tanzania,
Uganda, Kenya and the DRC, say past treaties are unfair and they want an
equitable water-sharing agreement that would allow for more irrigation
and power projects.
Egypt, a mostly arid country that relies on the Nile for the majority of
its water, argues that up-stream countries could make better use of
rainfall and have other sources of water.
With almost 80 million people, Egypt's water demands are projected to
exceed its supply by 2017, according to a government reported published
earlier this month.
There is "no way" Egypt would allow a reduction of its quota, Mona Omar,
Egyptian deputy foreign minister for African affairs, told reporters.
Egypt sought to downplay the differences after the summit, and said it
is proposing economic incentives to the countries.
"It's normal that there are disagreements," cabinet spokesman Magdi
Riyad said at a press conference. "(But) there was a unanimous agreement
that the resources of the Nile Basin were more than enough if managed
properly."
He said Egypt proposes widening the scope of the Nile Basin Initiative,
the World Bank funded umbrella group of Nile Basin countries, to include
other natural resources.
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