Sisi directs gov’t to expedite Lake Bardawil Development

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi directed the government to start implementing the development of Lake Bardawil as part of the Sinai Bardawil initiative, through which the Suez Canal Authority contributes to the efforts of developing Sinai in co-operation with Belgian company DEME, which aims to increase Lake Bardawil production of the high-quality fish from 4,000 tons to 11,000 tons annually in the short term, and up to 50,000 tons in the medium term.

The President’s remarks came as he met Thursday with Head of the Suez Canal Authority Osama Rabie, Presidency Spokesman Ambassador Bassam Radi said.

During the meeting, President Sisi directed the government to expedite the development of the lake, deepen and expand the waterways that connect them to the Mediterranean Sea. He noted that this project would contribute to the reclamation of agricultural lands and increase vegetation and afforestation in Sinai covering an area of ​​​​15,000 square kilometres.

In this context, the President was also briefed on the rates shipping traffic in the Suez Canal as the Head of the Suez Canal Authority said the new Suez Canal, which was inaugurated in 2015, helped to double the annual revenues of the canal to exceed $7 billion annually. He added that the number of ships transiting the canal increased to about 70 ships per day. This, Rabie said, contributed to efforts to support the national economy and boost foreign currency reserves.

The new Suez Canal also contributed to reducing carbon emissions from transiting ships by a total of 53 million tons due to the increase in the capacity of the canal and the reduction in the transit time, which supports efforts to make it a green canal by 2030.

This comes by reusing lake sediments after treatment and purification. Then, the sediments are pumped them into the soil of Sinai, which would have a great developmental and environmental impact in North Sinai.

The Head of Suez Canal Authority also reviewed the indicators of the activity of navigation in the canal since the beginning of this year until date, including the number of passing and transiting ships and the volume of cargo and containers, which achieved record increase compared to the same period last year.