Mohamed Abdel Atty, Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation and Manawa Peter, South Sudan’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation meet on June 24, 2021 in Juba. Courtesy

South Sudan and Egypt will partner in cleaning the Nile River to facilitate the steady flow of the water, the Egyptian Minister of Water Resources has said.

“It is very important to have the river flowing smoothly to facilitate various infrastructure projects,” said Mohamed Abdel Atty, who is on a four-day visit to South Sudan.

He disclosed the two countries will clean and remove aquatic plants from the waterways in the river Nile.

This includes removing species such as dead papyrus, tall bamboo-like grasses, ambatch, and water lettuce.

The Nile is also one of the rivers that carry 90 percent of plastic pollutions.

“We need to sustain the flow of the river by removing aquatic plants from the waterways to ease the life of the people,” Mr. Abdel Atty said on Thursday after meeting various government officials in Juba.

The Egyptian official added that cleaning up the riverbed will help South Sudan deal with its annual flood problems.

Mr. Abdel Atty also announced cooperation between the two countries in the areas of water management and irrigation projects.

“We are now working on projects that will help people of South Sudan in seven states. Three states have security problems, we will also work there.”

On Wednesday, the Egyptian Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources launched an underground water treatment plant.

Residents of Lemon Gaba area can now receive tapped water from a water treatment plant in Juba.

The plant consists of a well lying in a depth of 100 meters, a reservoir whose capacity is 36 cubic meters, and a pump powered by solar energy.

“We have been installing clean drinking water projects, dam projects to save water for the dry season. This is in the interest of the people.”

According to Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty, the water plant is connected to public taps through pipes providing dwellers with water.

He said Egypt is also carrying out water pumping stations, rainwater harvesting dams, flood control projects, and river cleaning in South Sudan.

“During the rainy season there is a lot of water, floods and during the dry season, there is no water. We, therefore, have to harvest water for the people so that they have it the whole year,” said Mr. Abdel Aty.

The Egyptian Minister and South Sudan’s Minister of Water Resources, Manawa Peter, also conducted technical and economic feasibility studies of the Wau Dam project.