The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) hydraulic steel structure and electromechanical works is said to have registered massive progress.
Sileshi Bekele (PhD), Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, announced that the hydraulic steel structure work is now at 20.4 percent from 13.88 percent, while the electromechanical part of the project reached 44.3 percent from 25.6 percent.
Both parts of works of the project have been delayed in the past and some of the works are rearranged after Metal and Engineering Corporation (MetEC) left the project.
According to Sileshi, the project is accelerating to be able to fill the dam according to the plan in the coming rainy season. He said that the civil work at the site that is located near the border of Sudan has reached 86.6 percent from 80 percent.
“The concrete filling work that was suspended for five years due to the delay of electromechanical part of the project has started this month,” he added.
The concrete filling that will be carried out in the coming 100 days will allow the country to start caching water in the coming rainy season.
So far the project that celebrates its 9th year starting anniversary on Thursday April 2 without public event due to the corona virus pandemic is now at 72.4 percent.
The government has assigned several well known global companies to engage on the project besides supplying equipment.
It said that the project would not have significant harm on the riparian countries.
The downstream countries, Sudan and Egypt besides Ethiopia are negotiating on the project meanwhile final agreement is not reached.
Ethiopia criticized Egypt that it makes the negotiation political than focusing on technical issues than solving differences in a professional manner.
Recently the three countries started negotiation by involving US and the World Bank as observer but US attempted to directly involve in the negotiation which Ethiopia refutes.
In relation with the 9th anniversary of GERD Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called the general public to continue to support the project by buying the bond lottery for the project. He recalled that the project civil work will be finalized in the coming rainy season.