South Sudan blames floods on controversial Ethiopian mega dam

JUBA – South Sudan’s newly-appointed governor of the country’s Upper Nile state is blaming – on his first day in office – floods in the state and elsewhere in the country on the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) whose terms of implementation are disputed by Egypt.

While disagreements have been going on between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on how to operate the $4 billion dam, South Sudan has not endorsed or rejected the idea of the dam as Egyptian ties kept growing with the world’s youngest country.

Speaking at an SPLM-IO ceremony following his inauguration as the newly appointed governor on Saturday, Abudhok Ayang who replaced loony as Upper Nile state gubernatorial nominee said he would work to contain hunger in Upper Nile state.

“We need to work together to contain hunger and I will lead this fight but it will be a collective responsibility,” Abudhok said. “We need to cooperate together so that we all resolve the calamities in Upper Nile state including the floods that is everywhere in the state.”

The senior SPLM-IO official further blamed the floods on the Ethiopian dams saying the dam has blocked water from flowing over to the north, apparently Egypt and Sudan, and forcing it back to Sobat River in Upper Nile state.

“These floods are caused as results of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The GERD is blocking the water and the water returns back to cause flooding through the Sobat river and that is why Upper Nile state as whole is in floods,” he said.

The senior government official however did not mention how would he resolve the floods which he said are results of the GERD.