Complaints of people affected by Kassala dams remain

A jury formed by the Sudanese Chief of Justice has refused to meet the demands of a committee of people who have been displaced or affected by the construction of two dam projects in Kassala state.

The arbitration jury is formed to consider the complaints and grievances of the people affected by the building of the Atbara and Setit dams in Kassala. An independent Member of Parliament in El Fashaga constituency, Mubarak El Nur, told Radio Dabanga that among the complaints of the committee involve private residential properties and flooded farmlands.

“The displaced of Upper Atbara and Setit dams are planning to take legal action and file a complaint to the Constitutional Court in Sudan to demand their rights.”

Abdelkarim Mohammed Saleh, the chairman of the activist youth association for the Atbara and Setit dams, told Radio Dabanga that the expropriated agricultural land for the establishment of the dams has grown to 11,000 acres.

“El Gedaref state government has compensated the farmers in the Baja project, which covers an area of 3,000 acres. It should speed-up to compensate the people in the rest of the expropriated agricultural land.”

Relocations

Last October, residents of the district in Kassala complained about the collapse of more than 1,000 houses which they claim is the result of construction work for the dam.

In February 2015, the largest relocation operation in Sudan caused by the construction of dams commenced. By mid-March last year, tens of thousands of people living near the site of the Atbara and Setit (or Seteet) Dam Complex in Kassala state were moved.

While residents have complained about the flooding of their lands without clear communication or compensation towards them, the dam project is also supposed to create some ten million acres of new farmland in Kassala and neighbouring El Gedaref state.

Related:

Kassala MPs to hear Electricity Minister on dam problems (21 October 2016)

Sudanese farmers held for working dam land (25 August 2016)