The world’s youngest country is plagued by flooding, a lack of power, water scarcity and poor infrastructure, but the project is part of the oil-revenue funded government’s plan to fix its many ills, the minister said in Juba ahead of the 10th anniversary of independence.
“This is a strategic plan of the country, the government has a plan to build a dam for the generation of electricity and power because you can’t have a country without industrialisation,” said Deng Dau Deng Malek from his office in the centre of the South Sudanese capital.
“Look at the country today, most of South Sudan is flooded as we speak. The Upper Nile State is under water. We weren’t given the opportunity as a country to think and plan. You look at the needs of the population, you look at the growing industries,” he said.
Mr Malek, who was appointed by President Salva Kiir Mayardit in 2018, said the Irrigation Ministry has been instructed to start conducting initial studies to help draft plans – including how tall the dam will need to be, the size of the reservoir behind the structure and the number of turbines it could power.
“We will take into consideration, when building the dam, the environmental impact and the hydrological aspect. You look at the sustainability of it, you look at the neighbourhood, you can’t do that overnight. You also anticipate the problems that might come ahead,” he said.
South Sudan came into existence as a country a decade ago following a referendum with unbound ambitions – including building such major hydroelectric dams – but descended into civil war two years later.
The fighting killed close 400,000 people and displaced nearly 3 million but also brought projects like building a dam to a halt and stopped or severely delayed other reconstruction attempts in the water and irrigation sector. In 2018, the warring sides signed a peace deal and now say they are focused on fixing the country.
“We have been kept at war for many years. From 2013 until today, there’s still some fighting – we have just reached a peace agreement now. We are trying to restructure and to see how the country will be able to move,” he said.
Water experts, however, say the dam project was also delayed because of an unreasonable scope and inadequate early planning.
South Sudan sits on the borders of Ethiopia to the east, and Sudan and Egypt to the north.
Through the country flows the White Nile – one of the two main tributaries feeding the Nile River that meets and mixes near Khartoum with the Blue Nile that flows from the Ethiopian highlands.
Seasonal rain pounds South Sudan’s 10 states for at least seven months of the year, sending massive cascades of water into the White Nile, but also causing damaging flooding.
‘It’s a Sovereign right’
Ethiopia’s $5bn Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, soon to be Africa’s largest hydroelectric-power project, has caused friction with downstream neighbours Sudan and Egypt.
On whether South Sudan’s proposed dam might also cause issues with Sudan and Egypt, Mr Malek echoed his counterparts in Addis Ababa in saying that it was their prerogative to use the water resource.
Addressing the standoff between Ethiopia and its downstream neighbours over its mega dam project, Mr Malek urged co-operation and dialogue.
“The Nile water shouldn’t be a curse but a peaceful, God-given commodity to the region. Our view, as a government, we encourage Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to discuss and have a better dialogue to arrive to acceptable solutions. To accommodate what Ethiopia wants to do to the coming generations, but also accommodate the fears of Sudan and fears of Egypt.”
While Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has said the country will take any step needed to protect its national security, he has called for cooler heads in the face of threats of military action against Ethiopia to stop the filling of the dam without a lasting agreement.
Mr Malek said military solutions should never be the answer.
“Any source of water can cause a problem to most of these countries but we don’t encourage a military solution to the crisis – this shouldn’t be the answer to that,” he said.
The plans in Juba to, in effect, take the keys to the gates of another Nile River Dam could rankle officials downstream.
Officials in Egypt did not respond to requests for comment on the project from The National.
But Sudanese Irrigation Ministry spokesman, Osama Abu Shanab, said: “This is the first time I hear of it. I have received no information on plans to build dams in South Sudan. They would have notified us if they had such plans. South Sudan will not implement plans to build dams on the White Nile without first notifying us and the Egyptians.”
‘We have the money’
One major question for a large infrastructure project will always be funding. This question will be especially pressing for South Sudan given that despite the agreement to end the civil war it is still under crippling international sanctions.
Senior government officials have also been hit with sanctions from the US for human rights abuses and corruption.
Mr Malek denounced the moves.
“As for the sanctions, in our view, they are a tool that has been used to intimidate and affect the population. If you continue to impose sanctions, more rebellions will come to remove the government today, because they will think, since the UN and America are putting sanctions on this government, then let’s take it out, let’s fight the government,” he said.
He said South Sudan plans to seek foreign investment to help build the dam, mainly from China.
He added China had been the country’s main foreign investor over the past decade, with huge joint ventures launched by the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).
Ultimately, though, he insisted that oil revenue gives his country the money to build the major dam on the Nile even though it remains poor with little or no infrastructure.
“We have vast national resources. We have oil, mineral deposits, the forests, agriculture, livestock and human resources – we have the money.”
Is very great idea we should happy as new generations
“South Sudan to build dam along the Nile to generate electricity”
There are some viruses/parasites/vermins who have plauged South Sudan and the South Sudanese for a quite a long time. And they think, attaching themselves to South Sudan and the South Sudanese people like ticks/leeches has becomes their new normal. Good luck to them.
And of course this had been helped by some South Sudanese fake so-called PhD doctors of Mr. Riek Machar, Lam Akol, Aduok Nyabe, Mr. Majak Agoot and their other new recruits, foreign puppets/stooges, thieves, secret societies’ criminals and traitors of Mr. Pagan Amuom, Thomas Cirillo, Uyai Deng Ajak and Mabior Rebecca Nyandeng. Who have sold themselves to the devils and foreign interest groups. And they thought, they can also sell South Sudan and the South Sudanese people with them.
Really, I just don’t this, who do these low lives really think, they are?
Yes, we are going to build the damn two dams along the Nile with cum-sun-cum-rains. And we see what happens
The word the ‘world youngest nation’ usage by many of our lowly educated fools has becomes an irritant. Even in 100 years, how lowly informed South Sudanese criminals and many of our foreign criminals of the US, the UK, their cloned so-called arabs of North Sudan, their creeps here in the IGAD, the African Union (the AU), their evil juus (so-called israelis) attack dogs, their UN, their sleazy NGOs, the UNMISS and their gulf Arab states financiers, would continue to call South Sudan and the South Sudanese their toddlers.
Fellows, the level of ANGER, PURE HATRED and RACISM these vermins/parasites and viruses have caused in our country and among our people has gone very very deep into our VEINS and our BLOODS. I always say, that there are some evils on this planet who just like other people and their countries, however you don’t consider them anything.
The evil white Americans, English people, their cloned so-called Arab of North Sudan, their Abeshas (so-called ethiopians) prostitutes, some of their Bantuses, their evil juus (so-called israelis) attack dogs, some of their creeps here on the IGAD, the African Union (the AU), and their sleazy NGOs love affair with our country and our people has gone too far.
And the evils are going to be bombed to near oblivion and extinction out of our country and over our people once and for all. Reasons, pure HATRED and RACISM.
There is what is called ‘Jeopardy game’. Where a gamer can ‘jeopardized his opponent’ to gain advantage of him/her—–in real world, ‘Jeopardy game’ is simply another word for blackmail or sabotage.
Good news for our best neighbor South Sudan! We know Egypt and Sudan are very jealous when other countries stand to use their resources but still we can do it. More than 115 million Ethiopians are with South Sudan at anytime and in any situation. Keep moving, we are here to share our experience and help you!
Amanuel