Egyptian Prime Minister: We have entered the stage of water poverty

Mohamed Seif Eldin-Cairo

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly affirmed that his country has entered a phase of "water poverty" and that his government has started implementing several major projects to conserve water and provide the needs of Egyptians.

`` According to all international figures, Egypt has entered the stage of water poverty, '' Madbouli said in his speech on Wednesday to the House of Representatives to review the situation on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

He explained that "per capita water must be 1000 cubic meters annually, but the Egyptian share now does not exceed 700 cubic meters," which confirms that the country has entered the water poverty belt.

He also pointed out that Egypt is working to take what is necessary to develop water resources, pointing out that his government has started desalination projects at a cost of 110 billion pounds (about 6.75 billion dollars), and will reach 160 billion pounds in the coming period.

During the session, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr. Ali Abdel Aal, refused to comment on the speech of Madbouly or his boycott.

Abdel-Al reacted to the deputies' attempts to boycott the prime minister. "This is a national issue, not just a recording," he said. "Remember well that there have been events in the past that have caused problems that we still have today, because they broadcast their meeting live." Referring to the meeting of the late President Mohamed Morsi with a number of political forces to talk about the crisis of the Renaissance Dam, which was broadcast live.

Expectations and concerns
Egypt fears that its share of the Nile's 55 billion cubic meters of water, which accounts for 95 percent of its water needs, could be affected by the plan to fill the controversial Ethiopian Renaissance Dam between Cairo and Addis Ababa.

Egypt is expected to be deprived of 15 billion cubic meters a year of its share in the Nile water once Ethiopia completes filling the dam of the Renaissance Dam (74 billion cubic meters) over five years.

Last Saturday, the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources announced after a meeting of the Ministers of Water Resources of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, that the negotiations of the Renaissance Dam reached a dead end due to the hardening of the Ethiopian side.

Later, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi commented on the outcome of the negotiations through a tweet on Twitter, stressing that "his country with all its institutions is committed to protecting the Egyptian water rights in the Nile waters."

According to previous government estimates, the rate of water stress in Egypt reached 140%, which means that the share of the Egyptian citizen of the Nile water decreased to about 600 cubic meters annually from 2500, which is 40% less than the water poverty line set by the United Nations at 1000 Cubic meters per capita per year.

For the second day in a row, social networking sites continue to top the marking blamed on President Sisi for the failure of the Renaissance Dam negotiations.

Today, the most traded on Twitter tops the "Sisi_Client_Anil" label, which comes a day after the "Sisi_Die_Neil" label was released throughout the day yesterday.