Civil Society, Development & Aid, Environment, Headlines, Health, Middle East & North Africa

EGYPT: Locals Step Up Fight Against Factory

Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani

CAIRO, Jul 21 2008 (IPS) - Controversy continues to rise over the fate of a Canadian fertiliser plant currently under construction in Egypt’s coastal province Damietta. Residents fear it could adversely affect the environment.

Despite a recommendation by parliament for relocating the factory, recent official statements suggest the issue is far from settled.

“The government ought to implement the parliamentary recommendation and move the factory,” Hamdi Hassan, prominent MP for the Muslim Brotherhood opposition movement told IPS. “But a final decision on the matter has yet to be issued.”

Last year, Canadian petrochemical giant E Agrium received the approval of the Egyptian government to build a fertiliser plant on Damietta’s Ras al-Barr island, about 200 km from Cairo. Construction of the factory, at an estimated cost of 2.5 billion dollars, began shortly afterwards.

In April, however, residents began voicing concern over the plant’s potentially negative impact on public health and the environment. Local civil society groups expressed fears that factory emissions could pose a danger to residents and adversely affect marine life.

“Projects that impact the environment, such as fertiliser plants, are forbidden in most fully industrialised countries,” Ibrahim Mansour, executive editor-in-chief of independent daily al-Dustour, told IPS. “Foreign companies come to developing nations – where environmental protection laws are less stringent – to build them.”

Growing public concern about the plant’s safety quickly led to a popular campaign against the project. Led by local activists, environmentalist groups and opposition figures, residents began staging large demonstrations in which they demanded the project be halted. In a dramatic show of popular opposition, Damietta households began draping their homes in massive black banners reading ‘No to the factory of death’.

Company officials, meanwhile, hastened to vouch for the project’s safety. “Our plant achieves the highest environmental safety levels,” E Agrium managing director Craig McGlown said at the time. “Emissions from the plant will be half the maximum stipulated in (Egyptian) environmental laws.”

E Agrium has already spent some 500 million dollars in the project’s initial phase of construction. Were the factory to be relocated, the firm would suffer significant financial losses, which economists fear would tarnish Egypt’s image as a safe destination for foreign investment.

Along with trade ‘liberalisation’ and the privatisation of state assets, attracting foreign investment to Egypt – with the ostensible aim of developing national infrastructure – remains a central pillar of government policy. Under the direction of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, whose cabinet includes a number of high-profile business tycoons, Egypt pulled in roughly 11 billion dollars in foreign investment in 2007.

Last month, however, popular pressure appeared to trump big business interests when parliament approved a recommendation – tabled by 59 MPs from both the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and the opposition – to relocate the plant. The move followed a parliamentary report that found that E Agrium had failed to observe environmental standards or secure the consent of the local population before starting construction.

“The plant will not be built in Damietta,” Zakaria Azmi, NDP parliamentarian and President Hosni Mubarak’s chief-of-staff, told the assembly Jun. 19. “The government should consider moving the plant to an area far from populated areas in order to avoid popular opposition to the project.”

Prime Minister Nazif declared that the government “welcomed and respected” the committee’s findings and was “currently negotiating with the company to discuss alternatives.” According to reports in the local press, proposed alternatives include relocation or allowing the company to purchase state-owned production facilities.

The news was greeted with jubilation in Damietta, where thousands congregated in public squares the following day to celebrate the decision. “This is a sweeping victory for civil society in Damietta,” Nasser al-Emari, coordinator of a popular committee that campaigned against the factory, was quoted as saying.

The celebrations, however, now appear to have been premature.

In the final days of June, the local press began reporting that negotiations between the government and E Agrium had failed to arrive at a mutually acceptable alternative. By early July, rumours were circulating that the factory would be moved to another location within Damietta province.

“The parliamentary report recommended the factory be relocated – but it didn’t specify relocation outside of Damietta,” Hassan noted.

The hopes of Damietta locals received another blow when Nazif, in a Jul. 13 public address, stated that the factory did not pose a danger to public health or the environment. “Opponents of the project told the families of Damietta that the factory would pollute the environment, but this is not the case,” Nazif was quoted as saying in the local press.

The issue remains in official limbo, with the government stuck between the will of the public and its commitment to foreign investment.

According to Hassan, both parties – the government and the petrochemical company – are to blame for the impasse. “The government erred when it first approved construction of the factory in Damietta,” said Hassan. “And the company was wrong not to obtain popular consent for the project before moving ahead.”

The people of Damietta, meanwhile, are stepping up moves to reject the plant. Since the beginning of July, large demonstrations have been held every Friday afternoon throughout the province, with protesters urging the government to issue a final decision against the contentious project.

“The people of Damietta – of all classes – remain unanimous in their rejection of the factory,” said Mansour. “And if the government tries to relocate the project to another province, it will run up against the same kind of popular opposition.”