Leaders of the Manaseer tribe, affected by the construction of the Merowe Dam in northern Sudan, have threatened to stop their negotiations with the government.<\/p>\n
“We will cut the negotiations on the compensation we are entitled to, if the government does not agree to our demands,” Ahmed Mohamed Saeed, member of the Committee of Affected by the Merowe Dam, informed Dabanga.<\/p>\n
“Apart from boycotting the upcoming elections, the Manaseer will hold demonstrations in all towns and villages, as well as universities, next Thursday.”<\/p>\n
Saeed explained that the Committee requested a respite from their tribesmen until the end of this week, to attempt to resolve the problem of the compensation they are entitled to. He said that “we are all fed up” with the delay by the Sudanese government in “meeting its obligations concerning the project road map, completion of land surveys, settlement on arbitration cases, and the rest of the compensation for the properties lost by the building of the dam.”<\/p>\n
The Merowe Dam is one of the largest dams in Africa. The project, also known as the Hamadab Dam, was officially launched in 2010. It doubled Sudan’s electricity generation but displaced more than 50,000 people, most of them of the Manaseer tribe, from the Nile Valley to arid desert locations. Protests have been violently suppressed.<\/p>\n
On 4 February this year, the Manaseer took to the streets in Makaberab, River Nile state, to demand the reconsideration of the decision by a government committee not to pay compensation for their losses seven years ago.<\/p>\n