Roseiris Dam Elevation vs Rebellion Sinking

Blue Nile State is considered a rich area in natural resources. Those resources –in their very essence- represent the backbone of development that is going to place the state in the vanguard of Sudanese states. The state's natural resources include fertile agricultural lands, massive livestock numbers, a huge number of varied minerals comprising ferrous, gold, and chromium, in addition to people of the state who are relentless regarding earning and increasing production at all costs.

Development Barriers in the State

Many circumstances have hindered the exploitation of these massive rich natural resources in the state as well as having slowed down development plans and human development plans in the state. The most prominent of these barriers was the war led by the SPLM under the leadership of Malik Agar. This war that raged for more than twenty years has stopped the development plans aimed at exploiting resources and directing its revenues for serving the citizens of the state and supporting the budget of the country.
The SPLM has –in the first place- targeted developmental projects, companies operating in the construction of roads and in the mining sector, and jeopardizing the cattle-herders' paths and killing their cattle, all in an endeavor that clarifies that the leaders of the SPLM are the front runners in wasting the country's resources and abusing them, not to mention depriving the citizens of the state from benefiting from these natural resources, and stopping the entire country from benefiting from them as well.
What stands out as a strange phenomenon is that the SPLM has continued to do so even after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), where the elected state's governor and head of the SPLM/N Malik Agar, has tried to demolish the state, delay development projects, jeopardize and confiscate the properties and equipment of the companies operating in constructing roads, implementing automatic agriculture systems, and mining processes, instead, he worked hard to disintegrate the social fabric. Then he dramatized the situation by declaring war on the country and on the state he was elected governor by its people, people who expected him to work hard to enhance their living conditions, but instead he betrayed the masses, and sought to demolish their houses, and destroy Roseiris dam, a step that was indecipherable and hard to decode for many experts, and their questions remained hanging in the air, how could an elected governor rebel against his own constituents?

Elevating Roseiris Dam, a Divine Gift for the People of the State

Despite the war and the mayhem inflicted on Blue Nile State by the SPLM/N under the leadership of Malik Agar, the government's resolve to finish the dams' projects did not waver, since dams are extremely vital to economic and developmental shifts because they are considered essential pillars in increasing agricultural and animal production in the state, and that was why as soon as the heightening project kicked off, development began to flourish, where a number of economic and developmental projects and also created momentum that helps complete the construction of infrastructure projects that serve the people of the state. The government –represented by the Dams Implementation Unit (DIU)  has supported the state with a number of educational and service-oriented projects, roads, and water harvesting programs to develop and stabilize the rural areas in the state, and include them in the production cycle that will benefit its people.

Roseiris Dam

It is needless to say that Roseiris Dam was the last sentence in the line, an achievement that complements the dream the people of state had for over half a century, where the first phase of the project began in 1961 and was completed in 1966, and the second phase began in 2008 and was completed this year in 2012.
The elevation project contributes to adding the storage capacity of the dam from 3000 to 7000 billion cubic meters, it is also going to add 565 Giga Watts/hour to electricity generation, provide water to the irrigated agricultural projects on the banks of the Blue Nile, and constructing Kenana and Al-Rahad canals to increase farmed lands by 2 Million acres. All of that in addition to increasing fishery by 70%, building modern homes for those affected by the dam's lake (a total of 22,000 families), and setting up new living projects for them.
According to General Al-Hadi Bushra, Governor of the State, the citizens affected by the dam's lake represent a sixth of the total population of the state, a population that mounts to 800 thousand people.