Sudanese police clash with Hamadab farmers over water shortage

May 22, 2009 (LONDON) – Sudanese police clashed today with farmers at the New Hamadab Resettlement projects after the settlers blocked the Khartoum – Dongla highway to protest against a water shortage.

Sudanese authorities had displaced more than 50,000 people, mainly small farmers living along the Nile River, to construct the Hamadab Dam. The project is a 1.5-billion-dollar effort on the fourth cataract of the river, designed to double the country’s energy capacity.

The farmers at the new resettlements, who lost their crops for the third time due to water shortage, decided to block the vital highway between Khartoum and Dongla to protest against the water shortage, but the police intervened and clashed with them to end the blockade.

During the clashes the police used live ammunition and Mr. Alsir Abo Zaid from village No.2 was shot in his stomach and is said to be in serious condition, according to the Leadership Office of Hamadab-Affected People.

The families, who have faced the water shortage for about two months now, have also been complaining for some time and asking the Merowe dam authority to fix the problem. Nothing has been done.

During the last two days the families (estimated to be about one thousand) camped outside their homes in protest against the situation. As this step was ignored by the authorities, the families decided to block the highway.

A number of cars, lorries, trucks etc. were stopped and not allowed to continue their journey.

Their situation had begun when the Sudanese authorities determined they had to displace the local population in order to implement the project, which is located about 350 kilometres north of the capital.

The project thus has led to the relocations, in some cases forcibly, of local communities. Inhabitants were removed from a strip of fertile land along the Nile, pushing them into the Nubian Desert where the land is barren with little groundwater supply.

Local populations were not consulted regarding the planning process of the dam or the impact it would have on their communities. There has been much protest and condemnation of the project, including for the loss of land for the local population, environmental damage to the area and destruction of archaeological sites.

(ST)