Floods don’t need dredging or canals, says Prof Tag
A Candana-based expert tasked with the consultations on the dredging of Naam River and Bahr el Jebel, Prof. Tag Elkhazin, has warned the nation against dredging to avoid future regret.
He stressed that water resource management was national security and that politicians should not meddle in it.
He said, “Stop dredging until South Sudan knows what is happening and what to do. It may not be possible to claim the ‘rights’ of Bahr el Ghazal drained waters later. Do not touch: BG Basin, Sobat Basin, Jonglei Canal.”
The expert said floods could only be mitigated by constructing dykes.
“Floods do not need canals. For over 50 years, I never heard that any nation built a canal to drain water in the main passage of a river to control floods. A British person said for nature to be mastered, it must be obeyed. We cannot oppose nature, if the rain wants to fall it is going to fall.”
The expert further recommended that the country needed to have a legal advisor attached to the ministry of water resources and irrigation who reports to the minister for legal affairs to make sure decisions on the water are made based on national interest.
“I would suggest that the executive should appoint a knowledgeable legal advisor to the ministry of water resources and irrigation, but accountable to the minister of legal affairs. So that he does not become in-house,” Prof Tag advised.
“I don’t want to use the word watchdog, but that is what it is. He is there to make sure that whoever is making decisions, the decisions are taken from the right angle in the interest of the people.”
He added that dams must be constructed in all the states that experience flooding but in series to avoid conflict of interest and help pastoralists as they transhume livestock in search of water and greener pasture.
He claimed that Jonglei Canal was a colonial project to siphon water from the Sudd to give Egypt 10 million cubic metres of water.
“I see no connection really between floods and Jonglei Canal. The Jonglei Canal was designed to siphon out the water of South Sudan, into the Nile and Egypt,” Prof Tag added.
Egypt to be included
On Thursday, First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar called for the inclusion of Egyptian technocrats in the debate on the dredging of rivers and the digging of the Jonglei Canal.
Machar argued that the Egyptian government had been offering assistance to the country and their inclusion would make them accept the outcome.
“We must have people who have specialised even in narrow areas. Even on microbiology of the wetlands, so, it could have been good if we invited them, let’s debate, this is openness. So that tomorrow they don’t blame us that we make a decision that they may not like,” he said.
He stated clearly that the Council of Ministers had approved $28.2 million for the procurement of dredging equipment but the government-owned equipment was yet to arrive.
Deng Majk Chol, a PhD candidate at Oxford University, urged the nation to allocate 10-15% of the budget for water resources management.
“The one recommendation here is that South Sudan, is in a unique situation so that it can allocate 10-15% of its national budget, and they can learn from Egypt which prioritizes water as livelihood and has a significant portion of their budget,” Majok said.
President Salva Kiir Mayardit stopped the dredging activities on the Eleventh Anniversary of South Sudan’s independence so that a conclusive consultation could be made for the country to make a concrete decision.
However, women in Unity State on Thursday started clearing waterways in Naam River at Rubkona County with hand tools such as machetes, and hoes among others.
