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Egyptian President Declares Support for Crucial Toshka Mega-Agricultural Project
17 August 2014
(LPAC)—In his speech on August 5 announcing the construction of the "New Suez Canal" Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi also declared his government’s intention to complete the Toshka project, a mega-project launched in Egypt’s Western Desert by during the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak in which less than 10% has been accomplished during the last 15 years. On July 29, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab announced that the Toshka project was to be revitalized to become a national development project. Speaking during a tour of the Toshka region, Mahlab said a thorough study will be conducted to reassess the project which has cost more than $6 billion so far, and has a strong infrastructure and large road networks. Such a mega-project should not be neglected, said Mahlab. The project entails transferring water from Lake Nasser behind the Aswan Dam, to the western desert. The main pumping station has already been completed. The government has an emergency plan to reclaim 1 million feddans (more than 1 million acres), including 103,000 feddans in the Toshka region alone. The prime minister said that this would enable Toshka to become a real urban community, and help revitalize the whole region. The project includes the establishment of a hospital, as well as residential areas. More information has been released on the New Suez Canal project revealing new details on how it will be financed. Following a meeting between the President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and the governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), and the ministers of international cooperation, finance and investment it was decided to issue debt certificates to the general public (open only Egyptian citizens) in the local currency that will be offered in three categories: LE10 Egyptian pounds, LE100 and LE1,000 at a 12% interest rate. They will also be issued in U.S. dollars at multiples of $1,000 at a 3% interest rate. This would involve a coalition of local Egyptian banks, both private and state-run. According to Egypt’s Armed Forces spokesman Mohamed Samir, digging on the projected new Suez canal already began on August 6 and will be completed in 12 months. The Egyptian Armed Forces Engineering Authority has divided the digging process among 33 specialized Egyptian civilian companies and two army battalions. The canal is part of the Suez Canal Development mega project, which includes the development of several seaports in the three governorates bordering the canal — Suez, Ismailia, and Port Said — in addition to a seaport in the South Sinai city of Nuweiba and the development of Sharm El-Sheikh airport. The six tunnels will cost around $8 billion with four designated for road traffic and two for railways. Also a "Technology Valley" in Ismailia and a new industrial zone west of the Gulf of Suez are planned. The decisive shift in policy by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to bring his country into the new paradigm being created by the BRICS identifies Egypt as the only country in North Africa and Southwest Asia that can take the leadership to stop the Empire’s perpetual war and sectarian genocide policy now destroying the region. Support must be given to el-Sisi if the region is to be rescued. Key players in the region are expressing parallel ideas. In a commentary entitled "New Strategic Momentum?" appearing the Egyptian daily Al Ahram (Aug.13), former assistant Egyptian Foreign Minister Hussein Haridy identifies Egypt’s new leadership role. Written on the eve of el-Sisi’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the author identifies the challenge facing the region with the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL/ISIS) or now the Islamic State (IS) as one of the major threats, which demands a profound change in the political alignments in the region and only Egypt is capable of pulling it off. Identifying the beginning of this destructive process was the attempt to overthrow the Syrian government of President Bashar al Assad by some "regional powers" was "responsible for the current situation" which requires de-emphasizing the "sectarian aspect of the current confrontation raging from Lebanon to Syria and Iraq." "The role of Egypt in preparing the ground for the ultimate defeat of IS and other terrorist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda, whether operating in the Levant and Iraq or in North Africa, is of critical importance. In this respect, this role will be the balancer among various opposing forces in the region. "Cairo is capable of shouldering that responsibility, based on historical precedents as well as the absence of sectarian or religious considerations in Egyptian foreign policy. The new Egyptian leadership has probably the political will to play this role, to facilitate a new Arab core alliance, strong and cohesive enough to deal effectively with the new existential threats facing the Arab state system. "Of paramount importance in this endeavor is that Egypt and Saudi Arabia hold a common perception of what these threats are. This calls for a reordering of Arab foreign policy priorities in the region. A basic question is whether or not this can happen without the cooperation of the Syrian government." Egypt also played the key role in ending the genocidal conflict between Hamas in Gaza and Israel. The Egypt’s role was identified this week by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an interview in the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar. Nasrallah correctly identified the key problem as the current divide in the region between the "Qatari-Turkish axis and the Egyptian-Saudi-Emirati axis" which he said unfortunately was very sharp and should be overcome. He had in fact suggested to the Iranians to get in touch with all of these players. He said the Egyptian efforts were undermined when "Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attacked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi personally," and pointed to the attacks on el-Sisi by Qatar through Al-Jazeera as negative. If you want to help Gaza, then you should talk to Egypt. "The Palestinians themselves say that any solution or compromise is not possible without Egypt. This requires the two competing axes to give priority to Gaza over all the other discussions and conflicts, which has still not happened in an appropriate manner." These developments have not gone unnoticed in Israel where Ynetnews Middle East editor Smadar Perry writes that el-Sisi might not be a friend of Israel, he certainly is a partner. Perry writes that el-Sisi dislikes Hamas probably more than the Israelis. But Hamas is only one issue for el-Sisi. The main issue is the economy and "He knows time is not in his favor, he has two years to present the Egyptians with achievements, mainly economic ones.... El-Sisi has no interest in being anyone’s puppet ... he is now busy with the ambitious project of building the second Suez canal. He has promised. He has promised to create millions of new workplaces for Egypt’s unemployed." |