A micro-dam is under construction in Eritrea's Dembe-Habtetsion administrative area, Elaberad sub-zone, at a cost of over $331,000.
The project is designed to provide reliable potable water supply to local inhabitants as well as increasing conservation of underground water resources. The micro-dam has a capacity of holding about 130,000 cubic meters of water and is expected to assist in the cultivation of downstream farmland, Shabait news service reported.
More than 60 laborers are constructing the facility, which is halfway complete. The micro-dam will supply water to the villages of Dembe-Habtetsion, Bekushmnoq and Farkuta.
Eritrea, a nation of 5 million people that borders Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti, whose autocratic government is facing international sanctions, refuses to acknowledge the effects of the drought sweeping through East Africa. Satellite imagery shows that the Red Sea nation has been hit by drought conditions similar to those in Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
The government has now rationed each family to a sparse 22 pounds of grain each month. Authorities have run out of stock and are trying to import wheat from Sudan by bartering mining revenues, Eritrea's only source of income after remittances from Eritreans living abroad. The U.N. World Food Program hasn't distributed any food in Eritrea since 2005, nor has it received requests for food assistance.
By. Joao Peixe, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More