Land of promise
Water has begun flowing through the main arteries of the mega land reclamation project in the south. Nevine Khalil reports from Toshka
On his seventh trip to the ambitious Toshka development project, President Hosni Mubarak gave the signal on Sunday for water to flow from Lake Nasser to irrigate over half a million feddans of scorched desert land. Work began at Toshka on 9 January 1997, and despite cyclical controversies about the viability of the project, it continues to push ahead.
A briefing by Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mahmoud Abu-Zeid served to update Mubarak and a large entourage of officials and investors on the project's latest facts and figures. Using maps and graphs, Abu-Zeid went through the accomplishments made so far, admitting that work has fallen "slightly" behind the schedule outlined in 1997. "We are making progress," said Abu-Zeid, "although there have been delays in some areas."
Walid Bin Talal, the Saudi Arabian billionaire who is one of the project's biggest investors, in charge of developing 100,000 feddans, accompanied Mubarak on the tour. "Undoubtedly, Toshka is a successful project," proclaimed Bin Talal, whose fruit and vegetable crops harvested on the site are already being exported. Some 60,000 feddans of the south valley development project have also been allocated for smaller investors.
"There are many job opportunities in construction, agriculture and services available here for the younger generations," Mubarak told reporters. So far, no fewer than 10,000 people are working at Toshka. "There will be a large boost in production which will encourage many to leave the narrow valley and come to Toshka," the president said.
Toshka is expected to increase Egypt's agricultural land area by 540,000 feddans across several southern governorates. Along with satellite cities and other land reclamation projects, Toshka and other development projects aim to populate an ambitious 25 per cent of the country, instead of the current five per cent of the land on which the entire population currently lives.
As well as expanding inhabited areas, Toshka is expected to boost both the quantity and quality of Egypt's agricultural produce, as well as its exports in that sector. "Toshka's products are ideal for exporting to Europe," noted Mubarak, "because they are organic crops grown in healthy, unpolluted soil."
The visit was Mubarak's first in two years. This time, the president pushed a button which inaugurated the operation of two of the giant water pumping station's 21 units. He then drove along the Sheikh Zayed Canal to watch the water slowly flowing through a 50- km waterway. The Mubarak water pump station, one of the largest concrete construction sites in the world, cost LE1.48 billion to build, and will service over half a million feddans of desert land. While each of the 21 units has a maximum pumping capacity of 25 million cubic metres per day, the two in operation are currently running at 14.5 cubic metres per day. The project relies on both water from Lake Nasser, as well as subterranean water being accessed via some 114 wells dug so far.
During Sunday's festive ceremony, the Toshka Folklore Troupe presented a brief performance celebrating the Nile, rural life and development. Singing the praises of Toshka, they declared in chorus: "Let's populate a promising desert; and build a new civilisation."
