Minister of Irrigation: Farmers Have a Role in Protecting Irrigation Infrastructure and Preventing Encroachments
Acting Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Eng. Daw Al-Bait Abdulrahman, inspected the progress of summer maintenance works, which include reinforcing embankments, repairing breaches, removing islands, silt, and weeds, and operating and maintaining gates on the main canals of the Gezira Project. The inspection also included the inventory of machinery in the fields.
His tour this morning covered several irrigation sections of the Gezira Project, including Managil, Al-Qurashi, Qantara 18 and 44 in Wadi Al-Nil, Tabet, the Abdel-Majid irrigation section, Major Al-Atamna, and Kab Al-Jadad.
The minister affirmed that the field tours conducted by the Ministry of Irrigation over the past period successfully accelerated summer maintenance efforts in the irrigation system. He renewed his ministry’s commitment to opening irrigation water flows in early June to launch the summer planting season in the Gezira Project. He urged farmers to prepare quickly for the season and emphasized their role in protecting irrigation infrastructure from theft and vandalism, preventing brick-making activities along canals, and removing out-of-season encroachments.
He highlighted the importance of cooperation and coordination between the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources and farmer sectors to achieve the desired goals of increasing production, rebuilding efforts, ensuring food security for Sudanese citizens, and supporting the national economy.
For his part, Eng. Kamal Hamza Al-Shafi, Director General of Mechanics and Electricity at the Ministry, expressed regret over the systematic destruction inflicted on the Gezira irrigation system—such as damage to wires, gates, and chains—by the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF). He announced that the necessary spare parts for maintenance had been secured and five work groups of engineers, technicians, and skilled workers had been formed to carry out field repairs.
He appealed to farmers to intensify their efforts in protecting the irrigation infrastructure and combating encroachments.
Eng. Mofaddal Al-Tayeb, Director General of Irrigation Operations at the Ministry, confirmed the continuity of the reconstruction and development program, emphasizing the current focus on maintaining and rehabilitating the upper canal systems.
