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Egyptian Presidential Directives to 'Make Use of Every Drop of Water'

A general view shows the River Nile with houses and farmland in Cairo, Egypt (Reuters)
A general view shows the River Nile with houses and farmland in Cairo, Egypt (Reuters)
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Egyptian Presidential Directives to 'Make Use of Every Drop of Water'

A general view shows the River Nile with houses and farmland in Cairo, Egypt (Reuters)
A general view shows the River Nile with houses and farmland in Cairo, Egypt (Reuters)

The Egyptian government aims to implement presidential directives to "make use of every drop of water," as the country suffers from a scarcity of freshwater resources, in addition to its dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said that the expansion of the sewage treatment plant in the Abu Rawash area in Giza governorate is part of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's directives to use “every single drop of water.”

Madbouly explained that the water could be used after treating it according to the Egyptian and the international code.

The Abu Rawash plant is the largest sewage project in the region, and the second largest in Egypt after the al-Gabal al-Asfar plant, with a production capacity of 1.6 million cubic meters per day, Madbouly indicated.

The project's first phase, which represents half of the plant's capacity, will begin in late November. It is scheduled to be fully operational in March 2022 to serve nine million people at the cost of EGP6.2 billion.

"The new project is carrying out primary treatment of 1.2 million cubic meters with an upgraded triple treatment, in addition to 400 thousand cubic meters of advanced dual treatment, and thus the treatment volume will reach 1.6 million cubic meters per day,” Madbouly said.

The PM pointed out that this giant project is financed by the Egyptian state and some foreign efforts.

He indicated that water treatment is an urgent requirement for Giza and the West Delta region.

Egypt suffers from a scarcity of freshwater resources. According to official statements, it has officially entered the "water poverty" era, in which the per capita share is less than 1,000 cubic meters annually. It relies on the Nile River for more than 90 percent of its water.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel-Aty, affirmed that work would continue to ensure the efficiency of all drainage departments in the country.

He asserted that authorities would monitor and follow up to guarantee the purification of riverbanks and the readiness of the sectors to confront any emergency.

Abdel-Aty directed the concerned departments to continue identifying and removing the infringements on all banks, noting that any violation will be reported to authorities for legal action.

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Arab World

How Did Iraq Survive ‘Existential Threat More Dangerous than ISIS’?

Iraqi sheikhs participate in a solidarity demonstration with Iran on a road leading to the Green Zone, where the US Embassy is located in Baghdad (AP). 
Iraqi sheikhs participate in a solidarity demonstration with Iran on a road leading to the Green Zone, where the US Embassy is located in Baghdad (AP). 
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How Did Iraq Survive ‘Existential Threat More Dangerous than ISIS’?

Iraqi sheikhs participate in a solidarity demonstration with Iran on a road leading to the Green Zone, where the US Embassy is located in Baghdad (AP). 
Iraqi sheikhs participate in a solidarity demonstration with Iran on a road leading to the Green Zone, where the US Embassy is located in Baghdad (AP). 

Diplomatic sources in Baghdad revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that Iraqi authorities were deeply concerned about sliding into the Israeli-Iranian war, which they considered “an existential threat to Iraq even more dangerous than that posed by ISIS when it overran a third of the country’s territory.”

The sources explained that “ISIS was a foreign body that inevitably had to be expelled by the Iraqi entity, especially given the international and regional support Baghdad enjoyed in confronting it... but the war (with Israel) threatened Iraq’s unity.”

They described this “existential threat” as follows:

-When the war broke out, Baghdad received messages from Israel, conveyed via Azerbaijan and other channels, stating that Israel would carry out “harsh and painful” strikes in response to any attacks launched against it from Iraqi territory. The messages held the Iraqi authorities responsible for any such attacks originating from their soil.

-Washington shifted from the language of prior advice to direct warnings, highlighting the grave consequences that could result from any attacks carried out by Iran-aligned factions.

-Iraqi authorities feared what they described as a “disaster scenario”: that Iraqi factions would launch attacks on Israel, prompting Israel to retaliate with a wave of assassinations similar to those it conducted against Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon or Iranian generals and scientists at the start of the war.

-The sources noted that delivering painful blows to these factions would inevitably inflame the Shiite street, potentially pushing the religious authority to take a strong stance. At that point, the crisis could take on the character of a Shiite confrontation with Israel.

-This scenario raised fears that other Iraqi components would then blame the Shiite component for dragging Iraq into a war that could have been avoided. In such circumstances, the divergence in choices between the Shiite and Sunni communities could resurface, reviving the threat to Iraq’s unity.

-Another risk was the possibility that the Kurds would declare that the Iraqi government was acting as if it only represented one component, and that the country was exhausted by wars, prompting the Kurdish region to prefer distancing itself from Baghdad to avoid being drawn into unwanted conflicts.

-Mohammed Shia Al Sudani’s government acted with a mix of firmness and prudence. It informed the factions it would not tolerate any attempt to drag the country into a conflict threatening its unity, while on the other hand keeping its channels open with regional and international powers, especially the US.

-Iraqi authorities also benefited from the position of Iranian authorities, who did not encourage the factions to engage in the war but instead urged them to remain calm. Some observers believed that Iran did not want to risk its relations with Iraq after losing Syria.

-Another significant factor was the factions’ realization that the war exceeded their capabilities, especially in light of what Hezbollah faced in Lebanon and the Israeli penetrations inside Iran itself, which demonstrated that Israel possessed precise intelligence on hostile organizations and was able to reach its targets thanks to its technological superiority and these infiltrations.

-The sources indicated that despite all the pressure and efforts, “rogue groups” tried to prepare three attacks, but the authorities succeeded in thwarting them before they were carried out.

The sources estimated that Iran suffered a deep wound because Israel moved the battle onto Iranian soil and encouraged the US to target its nuclear facilities. They did not rule out another round of fighting “if Iran does not make the necessary concessions on the nuclear issue.”