Two Chinese companies sign contract to build dams complex in eastern Sudan
April 6, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s Dams Implementation Unit (DIU) on Tuesday signed a contract with the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC) and the China Water and Electric Corporation ( CWE) to implement the Upper Atbara Dams Complex Project in eastern Sudan.
The contract was signed in Khartoum in the presence of Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir and a number of ministers.
“The project constitutes one of the great dreams of the citizens of eastern Sudan and tends to sustain the flow of water in Atbara River throughout the year,” said Osama Abdullah, DIU executive manager, when addressing the signing ceremony.
“The project also tends to provide irrigation water for new Halfa and upper Atbara agricultural projects,” he added.
He said the project is comprised of two dams which extend for 15 km in total, and a lake with a storage capacity of 2.7 billion cubic meters.
He added that the project would be completed in 65 months and the total cost of the project amounted to 838 million U.S. dollars.
Sudan’s Minister of Finance and National Economy Awad Ahmed al- Jaz said his country appreciated the Chinese role in supporting the development projects in Sudan.
“This open partnership between Sudan and China achieves mutual benefits and enhances the existing strategic ties between the two countries,” he added.
Sudanese Minister of Irrigation Kamal Ali enumerated the benefits of the project, saying that it “tends to produce electricity with a production capacity of around 135 megawatts and provides irrigation water for the agricultural project in the region.”
The upper Atbara agricultural project covers an area of up to 500,000 feddans (210,000 hectares).
CWE President Lu Guojun told Xinhua that the Upper Atbara Dams Complex Project was “the biggest project to be implemented by a Chinese company in Sudan,” and “the second biggest built by a Chinese company in a foreign country.”
Vice President of the CTGC Lin Chuxue, for his part, affirmed the importance of the project for the citizens in eastern Sudan, saying “this project has great social and economic benefits for the citizens of the region.”
He said that “this broad official participation in the signing ceremony affirms that the two dams are not just a construction project, but a project for life.”