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Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 April 1999 Issue No. 426 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 April 1999 Issue No. 426
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Special Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Industrial clean-up funds
THE KFW BANK of Germany has recently offered a grant of approximately DM56 million (almost LE112 million) to finance wastewater treatment projects in a variety of public sector industries including chemical, engineering, food and pharmaceuticals. The bank and the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) have agreed to open the facility to companies in other industries as well, according to Ruediger Frank, the project coordinator. The funds will help public holding companies improve their environmental status so they can be in compliance with the Egyptian Environment Law of 1994. By the end of February, 27 holding companies representing 65 factories had already applied to make use of the grant.To qualify for grant money, each company has to meet certain criteria which include providing an assessment of its creditworthiness. "One of five selected Egyptian banks has to guarantee that the applying company is creditworthy," said Frank.
Each company also has to answer a detailed KFW questionnaire covering technical and production data and market position. "The main purpose of this questionnaire is to evaluate the long-term economic sustainability of the company and to judge its position in the market," commented Frank. The last step for the company is submitting technical documentation covering the company's performance specifications. Knowing that this study can cost up to LE50,000 per factory, and that many companies have at least three factories, Frank noted that the bank is prepared to finance these studies if a company requests it.
Some of the companies that have applied for grant funds already have some sort of wastewater treatment programme, but these do not meet the standards set by the environment law. So far, companies with a partial treatment system or even no wastewater treatment plant discharge their industrial wastewater into irrigation canals or local sewage systems, a process which damages these sewage networks and causes great harm to fish and human health.
