I'm writing to draw your kind attention to a catastrophic dam project, which will be implemented by the government of Sudan (GoS) on the River Nile in Northern Sudan.

The project is officially known as the Hamadab or Merowi Dam. With USD three billions estimated cost, the dam will inundate an area of 174 Km in length along the river's banks. This huge reservoir will result in the displacement of more than 50,000 people who are now living on the river's banks. The area which will be inundated is well known for invaluable archaeological and historical sites dating back to more than 5000 years ago where old Nubian civilisation, followed by Christian Nubian Kingdoms, reigned for thousands years. The area is also rich in modern history sites by the succeeding Turk, Egyptian and British administrations since the nineteenth century. All this history will be submerged by the reservoir.

Beside the loss of history, the proposed dam project has many negative effects that can be summarised as follows:

1. Displacement:

More than 50,000 people will need to be resettled against their will. The people in question are ordinary villagers who are determined to enjoy all their human rights and to stop the negative effects of the dam on their lives by all peaceful means of protest.

As a would-be victim of the Hamadab Dam who is fully aware of the horrific human rights violations of the Government of Sudan, this writer strongly affirms that the people of the area have never been consulted on the government's plans to build the dam. Nor the approach adopted by the government, neither the places chosen by its officials to resettle the victims are acceptable to the people. Moreover, the human rights record of the government doesn't support the possibility of any amicable solution or fair compensation to the victimized population by the dam project.

The people vehemently opposed the whole project when General Omer Bashir (the head of government) visited the northern part of the affected area. The head of government was faced with antagonistic slogans denouncing the government determination to go ahead with the project without consulting the people. Following this massive confrontation, two leaders were arrested and more than three thousands further demonstrated in the city of Kariema against the arrest of these leaders.

To confirm its determination to carry out the project, the minister of irrigation confirmed in a press statement on 15-06-02 that the construction of the dam would start in December 2002. Despite this advanced stage of execution, the government has not yet discussed the project repercussions with the inhabitants of the area.

Under the existing repressive and brutal Government of Sudan, people will not be able to express their opinion freely for fear of reprisal by government security. A government that never hesitated to gun down innocent civilians in the South will not hesitate to throw the other innocent citizens into the desert.

Although the local leaders who talked on behalf of the affected population were directly chosen by the government's ruling single-party as the only political body allowed to work freely in the country, they ended up in detention when they voiced the true position of the victims. Other people who don't support the government plan are strictly prohibited from the freedom of expression. Many inhabitants, however, believe that the government has secretive agenda for resettlement alternatives. Since 1992 the people of the area suggested some reasonable alternatives to which the government turned a deaf ear and went ahead with its agenda.

Most recently, the government informed the people to get ready for resettlement only in four months time. Past experience of resettlement in Sudan proves that it is unlikely that the victims would be resettled on the Nile banks, which is the basic and main condition of the inhabitants if they would opt to move.

According to investigations conducted by the victims, the government is yet to find an area on the river's bank that would accommodate this huge number of the displaced people. Different groups inhabit the river's banks. They will understandably object to the movement of any large population that would share with them their limited land.

The victims anticipate that the government will not be able to comply with the basic condition - resettlement on river banks - therefore it opted to force the victims to accept resettlement in the desert, as proposed by Menonco (a Canadian consultant who carried out the feasibility study of the project in 1992 and proposed that the displaced population be resettled in the desert 150 Km away from the Nile). The four months' notice has mounted up the fear of the inhabitants who would be forced to accept government decisions only to escape the rising waters.

2. Environment:

A reservoir of 174 Km in length with different dimensions in width will have far reaching consequences on all aspects of life in Northern Sudan. This environmental factor has not been taken into account and is not covered in the project's study. The dam will completely change the course of the Nile, causing a complete damage to the ecosystem and the normal life circle of the area. The effects of the reservoir on people living upstream or downstream have not been scientifically assessed - therefore all these people remain vulnerable to unpredictable changes in their present and future life. Effects of the reservoir on the natural habitat are completely ignored both by the feasibility study and by the government. The government remains completely unconcerned with the well being of those who will be directly or even indirectly affected by the reservoir.

3. Finance:

Due to the government severe relation with the IMF and most of the multi-national donors, the government has been unable during the closing years of the last decade to secure any funds to finance the project. However, after September 11th, using its improving relation with the Arab world, the government was able to secure roughly around 1.5 billions USD from Arab funds. This includes, Kuwait Fund, Saudi Development Fund, Abu Dhabi Development Fund, and the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development.

The above amount is enough to fund the costs of the concrete body of the dam. Effectively the government is half way through, despite the fact that half of the money needed to complete the project is not yet secured. The costs of resettlement should be, according to the feasibility study, borne by the government. As the government is busy pursuing multi-fronts civil war (south, west, east, south east, south west), it is unlikely that the government will spare any money to spend on resettlement, nor will it provide the badly needed logistical support, which is imperative in such project.

For all the above this writer appeals to the whole world to ask the Government of Sudan to reassess the dam plan.

From the victim's point of view, the following steps need to be immediately addressed by all human rights, environment, and democracy entities all over the world:

1) The government should allow different views of the people to be expressed freely, whether in support of the project or against it.

2) The government should allow the people of the area to elect their negotiating representatives to replace those chosen by the government's ruling party or executive agencies.

3) Before negotiations take place, the government should equip representatives of the people with a highly qualified professional legal experts to assist the negotiating team on the legal aspects of the project, particularly land ownership, compensation, etc.

4) The government should undertake to delay implementation of the project until the above steps are actively performed.

5) After a campaigning period, people of the area perform a secret vote whose result should be acceptable by all parties without prejudice.

Signed:
Ali Askouri
Inhabitant of the Dam Area