Drinking water agreement welcomed in Port Sudan, but activists question govt commitment

KHARTOUM – January 17, 2023

Activists in Red Sea state capital Port Sudan have welcomed the agreement between the Red Sea state government and the Sudanese Giad Company*, signed on Sunday, to supply the city with drinking water from the Nile River but they also question the government’s commitment to implementing the project.

Activist Ali Mohamed told Radio Dabanga that the project to deliver clean drinking water to Port Sudan is “a dream that people in the city have been dreaming of for ages”. 

He explained that the currently available water resources are not reliable, especially with the growth of the city and the increase in population density.

“We need to find alternatives to the current sources that depend on water from basins. These basins are threatened with pollution due to mining activities, which have witnessed a significant increase in recent times.”

Two months ago, the local Demanding Bodies Association said that illegal gold mining activities using cyanide are causing an environmental disaster in Red Sea state.

Environmental pollution because of the use of cyanide and mercury, which can be lethal, has been something Sudanese people have been protesting for years.

A recent report on mercury poisoning in Sudan points out that “years of indiscriminate use of dangerous chemicals such as mercury, cyanide, and thiourea without protective measures for miners or local populations has exposed millions of citizens across Sudan to lethal risks”.

Mohamed further regretted the failure of emergency plans taken by the Red Sea state government earlier, such as the use of water tankers.

Port Sudan has witnessed repeated water crises. Seven years ago, it was already called a ‘government priority’ to resolve water problems.

Empty promises

Another activist, called Mousa, said that the successive governments of Red Sea state continued the project “but they went without showing any tangible results,” and added that “the time factor is enough to prove the state government’s seriousness in implementing the project”.

Journalist Amin Sanada also questioned the state government’s commitment to implementing the agreement. He told Radio Dabanga that “the agreement does not go beyond repeated promises and lies of the authorities towards the eastern Sudanese regarding the issue of the Nile water for more than three decades.”

He said he considers the step as “an attempt by acting Governor Ali Adarob to evade the problem. The issue of Port Sudan’s drinking water needs scientific discussion and confrontation away from emotion”.

* Giad Automotive Industry Company Ltd., in full, is an automobile manufacturer headquartered in Khartoum in Sudan. The company has strong links to Sudan’s military-industrial complex. Founded in March 1997, Giad is a joint venture of the SMT Engineering Co. Ltd. arms companies and the Military Industry Corporation, Sudan’s state-run defence corporation.