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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 March - 5 April 2000 Issue No. 475 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 March - 5 April 2000 Issue No. 475
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Throwing it all away
By Mahmoud Bakr
Simply removing the enormous quantities of refuse generated every day by the country's inhabitants is a Herculean task. Solving the environmental problem this refuse represents is almost unimaginable.
The accumulation of waste in many Egyptian cities is to a great extent the result of shortages in the equipment and resources available to the authorities. For urban and country dwellers alike, the waste they generate is not only an eyesore but also a serious health hazard. Festering garbage heaps on street corners or on the banks of a canal are common sights, as are the insects and rodents refuse breeds. The diseases they carry, however, are no less dangerous for all that.
Ahmed Hamza, senior advisor to the Ministry of the Environment, says the environmental and health dangers posed by refuse accumulation are such that this problem is tantamount to an emergency. Although the figures vary from one governorate to another, Hamza says that on average, construction waste accounts for 20 per cent of waste generated in Egypt, by-products from canal and sewage dredging 10 per cent, industrial waste five per cent, and miscellaneous waste another five per cent.
Because of the problem's magnitude, the technical committee of the Ministerial Commission on Solid Waste Management is calling for the adoption of a comprehensive plan for developing a more effective, economically and environmentally sound system for refuse collection and treatment. Hamza says nine governorates were initially targeted for major refuse removal programmes: Cairo, Giza, Qalyubiya, Alexandria, Luxor, Aswan, the Red Sea, South Sinai and Gharbiya. He added that the ministerial committee chaired by Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Nadia Makram Ebeid, in coordination with the relevant governors, has conducted a study of the quantities of refuse generated every day in these governorates, the deficit in waste removal capacities and resources, and the quantities of refuse expected to be generated by December 2000. Based on the study, the committee said the waste removal project would cost an estimated LE80 million.
The project involves two phases. The first, lasting seven months, from December 1999 to June 2000, aims at eliminating existing tips and assorted debris from the nine governorates. Because it is anticipated that there will be continued shortages in manpower, equipment and resources, the second phase, lasting from July to December 2000, is to be a transitional period paving the way to the full implementation of the integrated solid waste management project by the beginning of 2001.
The project will provide technical and administrative support to local refuse disposal agencies, seek various channels to help defray costs, promote the establishment of recycling and organic fertiliser projects and furnish dumping sites that meet sanitary and environmental legal provisions.
According to Hamza, the Social Development Fund has agreed to allocate LE28 million to the project, while the Ministry of Finance has approved an immediate allocation of LE5 million. The committee has also appealed to the Ministry of Planning for an additional LE40 million from its new budget.
Tenders for the disposal system are currently being finalised. Hamza says those for Giza, Qalyubiya, Gharbiya, Luxor, South Sinai and Aswan are in the final stages of revision, while those for Alexandria and east Cairo have been approved. Because the cities of the Red Sea Governorate are relatively dispersed, tenders are being designed for each city individually.
