Ladies and gentlemen,

The time has come for me to close this third consultation of the World Commission on Dams, and in doing so I would like to thank all the presenters that have made huge efforts to draft submissions and papers, often to tight deadlines, and have travelled to Cairo to present their experience of large dams to the Commission. The quality of these presentations has been exemplary, and has allowed the Commission to gain key insights into the benefits and impacts of dams in Africa and the Middle-East.

The presentations showed that this region has not been spared the intense debate that has erupted in recent years over the costs and benefits of large dams in terms of their social, environmental, and economic impacts: and perhaps equally important, the implications of this debate for countries struggling to make urgent investments for poverty alleviation and sustainable development utilising their water and energy resource endowment.

Inevitably, water and dams touch upon issues and interests that are far from being resolved. During the past two days we have heard repeatedly that divergent and competing interests not only occur within countries but are also often transboundary in nature. In this context I would like to note that my Turkish colleagues voiced their concern to me in disagreement with some statements and observations given to us this morning. In this sense I would like to say that the first step in reducing the potential for conflict is to listen to and respect all views. We apply this principle to all aspects of the debate and I would urge our Turkish colleagues to also send the Commission their side of the story on transboundary issues, so it can be fully informed, while stressing that we will not adjudicate on such things.

As South Africa's Minister of Water Affairs I lived through such issues for five years but on these occasions as an adjudicator and decision-maker- through the lobbying of vested interests and differing views on all sides of this debate. It often was tempting to make no decision rather than risk the wrath of one side or the other. Yet I had to make decisions, to ensure sustainable supplies of water and electricity for cities and towns, for farmers and industry, an increasingly difficult achievement given population growth, increasing urbanisation, and environmental degradation in watersheds.

Many of the examples presented here have their origins in a colonial past, with attendant discriminatory policies, and many societies are clearly still struggling with this legacy. At the heart of our work lies the challenge of how societies can best negotiate decisions that define the development path of our respective nations. Much of the experience presented here will assist us in finding the right answers which are clearly needed if we are to avoid the conflicts which have come to be associated with dams - not everywhere but too often and in too many of our countries!

During this consultation we have heard about

1. The benefits of large dams for national and local development
   Speakers from Egypt, Jordan, Senegal and Morocco, among others, emphasised the huge benefits that come from storing unpredictable water flows, especially in arid countries and allowing stable water supplies for municipal supply and irrigation. We have heard that countries such as Egypt are entirely dependent on their ability to use this water to best advantage for national development. The Moroccan experience also illustrates the destructive nature of flash floods that can damage downstream agriculture and infrastructure if they are not managed.
2. Experience with resettlement
   I was very pleased that dam-affected communities were able to make their views known directly to the Commission, and this continues a theme that has been present in all our consultations. In this one, the spread of experience dates from the 1950s to the 1990s, and it is striking that we have yet to hear from a dam affected community that is happy with the way this was undertaken. Even the "best practice" from more modern projects presented here from Lesotho, consuming 25% of the total budget, seems to be disputed by the communities themselves. This is also the view of the Ghana experience that concludes that dam-affected people "will never be satisfied". This is an important consideration for the Commission, as this is a key issue of concern, and we welcome the constructive recommendations that came out of the recent NGO dam affected people hearing in Cape Town (presented by Bhekani Maphalala).
3. Managing the environmental and social consequences of dams and irrigation
   Presentations from Senegal, Ghana, Jordan and Nigeria, amongst others, focussed on the unexpected social and environmental changes downstream, or within the dam reservoir itself in the case of Jordan, that have to be addressed if the project is to be successful and sustainable. Sometimes these effects can be predicted and in other cases the dam is rather like an "experiment with uncertain outcomes", especially for the older ones, where impacts are addressed (or not) as and when they arise in a post hoc manner. In some cases (Senegal, Mauritania) the changing flows have had severe implications for cultural traditions and livelihoods downstream, and have forced social change. These changes call for continued monitoring and relevant corrective action post construction.
4. Dams are operated within national and international legal frameworks
   We have heard about the complexities of sharing water within international basins and some of the institutional mechanisms for ensuring transboundary cooperation. Clearly here there is a UN Convention that provides internationally agreed guiding principles yet the Commission will be extremely attentive to this issue as dams are one of the major mechanisms for storing and sharing waters between basin states. I was also pleased to hear a presentation on the basic public trust and equity principles of our own National Water Law that I believe provides a basis for sharing the available water between competing uses. Clearly new practice in dam planning and management will have to be enshrined in relevant laws.
5. There are alternatives to supply-side dams
   Although these examples seem to be fairly rare, I was also pleased to see that there are examples of African and ME countries assessing solutions other than dams for meeting their society's needs, with grass-roots organisations and researchers offering alternatives to the more automatic course leading to dam construction. We also heard from Kenya about assessing a range of options before taking their decisions, and this must surely constitute good practice, considering the kind of impacts of dams that we have heard about yesterday and today.

In concluding let me thank all contributors once again for your constructive inputs to the Commission's process and repeat that this wealth of experience, along with the 60 submissions that we were unable to invite in person, will all be taken into account in the commission's work.

I would also like to thank my friend and colleague H.E. Minister Mahmoud Abu Zeid Minister of Public Works and Water Resources, and the staff of his ministry for welcoming us so warmly here in Cairo and smoothing the way for the effective organisation of this meeting. I commend again the Secretariat for their organisational skills, and especially Saneeya Hussain who is putting a successful consultation together every 4 months these days, and the staff of Magixc for organising the logistics of the meeting.

Our next consultation will be in Vietnam and will conclude the series of consultations prior to the Commission discussing its report that will be finalised in August 2000. Some of you are becoming regulars at our meetings and I look forward to seeing you there.

Thank you.