Egyptian irrigation minister, Machar discuss stalled floods mitigation project

JUBA, JANUARY 26^th 2023 (SUDANS POST) – The Egyptian minister of irrigation Hani Sewilam Tuesday flew to South Sudan and met the country’s First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny to discuss several bilateral projects including the stalled floods mitigation plans.

In a statement, Machar’s office said the visiting Egyptian minister was accompanied to the meeting by his South Sudanese counterparts Pal Mai who was appointed to replace late Manawa Peter Gatkuoth Gual who passed on after being flown to Egypt for treatment.

The statement said that the meeting was to update the visiting Egyptian minster “on the progress of the implementation of joint projects the two sisterly countries are undertaking in the areas of Water Resources Management, Health, Flood control and Electricity.”

The visiting Egyptian official in statements to the media – according to the statement from Machar’s office – “expressed his country’s commitment to implement cooperation agreements signed between the two countries to further the historical bilateral ties.”

Egypt in 2021 signed an agreement with South Sudan to dredge Nile River tributaries of weed to enable smooth water follow.

Communities in Unity State and some parts of Upper Nile and Jonglei state have both blamed weed and mud for blocking water ways resulting in devastating floods that have displaced hundreds of thousands of citizens.

In 2022, the government imported heavy dredging machines from Egypt to Unity State through Sudan, sparking public outcry calling for conduct of environmental feasibility study before the government move on with the river dredging projects.