Sisi inspects Bahr el Baqar wastewater treatment plant
PORT SAID – President Abdel Fattah El Sisi inspected on Monday Bahr el Baqar wastewater treatment plant – the largest of its kind in the world.
The President stood on the mechanism of operating and monitoring it.
The president was also posted on the stages of treating water in the plant, located in northwest Egypt, with a treatment capacity of 5 millions m3/d.
The plant comprises four water treatment lines with a daily processing capacity of 1,250,000 cubic metres each.
President Sisi stood on the five stages under which the plant operates.
One of the officials responsible for implementing the project said there is continued cooperation with the Health and Population Ministry to take samples periodically to ensure the quality of water used in agriculture.
Sisi underlined the importance of having an archive for the results of testing these samples.
He highlighted the importance of ensuring that water treatment systems apply the highest international standards.
The plant is equipped with advanced processes for pumping raw water, coagulation, flocculation, decantation, filtration and disinfection to produce water of optimum quality for irrigating local crops.
Sisi speaks of pressing need for protecting Egypt’s water resources
Egypt is working on protecting its scarce water resources and achieving development all across the country, President El Sisi said on Monday following the inauguration ceremony of the water treatment plant of Bahr al Baqar, the largest of its kind worldwide.
The State has completed the first phase of the plant, by diverting the water that was being dumped into the sea to Sinai, and is now working on the second phase, he said.
The State aims at reclaiming 500,000 feddans to prepare the land for cultivation and spare the farmer any extra effort, he added.
The cost of reclaiming one feddan is 300,000 pounds, he said, wondering “who has the means to spend 300,000 pounds on one feddan that yields – at the very most – a profit of 15,000 pounds.”
The State is confronting encroachements on agricultural land to protect its resources, he added.
He said violators should remove the encroachements before the government’s intervention because they – the violators – will shoulder the cost of their removal.
Development plans are not limited to Sinai but are also implemented in new Delta, Toshka and the Egyptian countryside, he added.
The Bahr el Baqar plant comes at a cost of EGP 20 billion and with a production capacity of 5.6 million cubic metres per day.
The triple-treated water from the plant will be transferred to the lands of North Sinai to contribute to the reclamation of lands.
The plant is one in a series of national projects implemented to develop Sinai and enhance the optimum use of water resources in the country.
Halting encroachments on arable land “national security issue”
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said halting encroachments on arable land represents a “national security issue” as a large number of Egypt’s population work in the agricultural sector.
He said “If we fail to achieve self-sufficiency we will have to import the products we need with hard currency and this burdens the national economy.”
Sisi made the remarks on Monday while commenting on a speech delivered by Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Sayyed Quseir during the inauguration of a wastewater treatment plant in Bahr el Baqar
The plant is the largest of its kind in the world.
Sisi underlined the importance of improving the quality and efficiency of irrigation systems in view of the amount of water that reaches Egypt.
He said developing the agricultural sector will help in achieving self-sufficiency and reducing imports, adding that agricultural lands will increase if water was used wisely.
He referred to lining canals at a cost of about EGP 80 billion with the aim to improve the supply of water to agricultural lands.
He stressed “We all work to serve the nation’s interests,” adding that any negative practices would not be acceptable or condoned.
The president called on all officials, including governors and security chiefs, not to keep mum or inactive about any violations.
He added that building a state requires firmness, dedication and discipline.
President Sisi said the amount of water that reaches Egypt is limited and this amount will not be changed, hence there is a dire need for ensuring rational and efficient use of water.
He attributed the lack of water to the misuse of water resources, cautioning that this badly affects agricultural lands.
President stressed that he will not turn a deaf ear to any negative practices. He said anyone who does any thing wrong will be held accountable.
He noted that the wastewater treatment plant inaugurated today will operate at a 2 billion cubic meter production capacity annually.
He expounded that the treated water secured via this plant will go into an irrigation mechanism of about 500,000 feddans. The same applies to New Delta as 7 million cubic meters of water will be supplied to it daily.
It is unacceptable to encroach on bridges and agricultural lands, he said, promising that these encroachments will be removed within six months.
The president said things (the size of the country’s fertile lands) will go back to what they were 30 years ago.
He said about 100-kilometer canals will be lined in Sinai.
He urged people to join hands with the state, especially with regard to lining canals and modernizing irrigation systems, to serve the nation.
State shoulders high cost of land reclamation
President has said the state is ing a high cost for reclaiming more lands and providing the infrastructure necessary for cultivating them, a matter that requires protecting the existing arable lands and ending any infringements on them.
Commenting on statements by Maj. Gen. Ihab El Far, the head of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, during the inauguration of Bahr-el Baqar wastewater treatment plant, the president said the cost of treating water necessary for cultivating about 500,000 feddans reaches EGP 160 billion.
The president described the cost as very high calling for protecting the country’s old fertile lands and preventing any infringements on them.
He said cultivating about 500,000 feddans in Sinai requires the erection of networks of roads, water canals, electricity and irrigation systems as well as houses for farmers.
The president pointed out that some countries have vast swathes of cultivable lands reaching between 50 million feddans and 100 millions but they do not cultivate them due to the high cost.
He added that the cost of the current wastewater treatment project that aims to help cultivate the 500,000 feddans in Sinai reaches about EGP 160 billion, noting that the money came in the form of soft loans from Arab funds.
Sisi said the Armed Forces is responsible for securing all development projects in Sanai and protecting them from terrorists who do not want to see development in the peninsula.
The president said the new Al Hamam plant is being established but it does not need any out of regular security measures because it is not subjected to risks. In Sinai things are different for all projects there need extra security measures because terrorists hate to see any development and progress in that part of Egypt in particular, he added. That is why it is important to secure all development work in the peninsula until it is completed, he went on to say.
The president also said that the station being built in the New Delta aims at pumping 7 million cubic waters a day to cultivate 1 or 2 million feddans.
President Sisi said the challenge the government faces now lies in the cost of water transfer although there are now 15 operating water pumping stations.
He added that the building of these pumping stations was carried out in cooperation with companies that exported the pumps, indicating that the government negotiated with these companies to get the best price.
The president commended efforts exerted by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli which encouraged local companies to produce more equipment needed for national projects.
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