Letter to the editor: Development corridor, not a desert road Farouk El-Baz clarifies the nature of his proposals for development regeneration in Egypt My article entitled "Into the Sahara" appeared in the Spring 2006 edition of Beyond, followed by "Learning from past mistakes" by Dr Rushdi Said. In her thoughtful introductory comments in the same issue, Seheir Habib wrote: "we believe that Dr Said's words of caution are to be taken most seriously." Dr Said is the dean of Egyptian geologists. He has indeed trained some of the best, and his views deserve serious consideration. In this particular case, however, his thesis is not based on detailed knowledge of the proposal at hand. He assumes that it is a desert reclamation project. Furthermore, he is of the opinion that it recommends the "building of a road across the desert ... along a desolate, stony plateau that has no groundwater potential." My proposal is for initiating 12 axes of development that begin just west of the heavily populated centres along the Nile. Three of these begin in the Delta and the rest are from Fayoum southward, a region that has not received much attention by development projects in recent times. The 12 axes would extend -- for a total length of about 800 kilometres -- westward to the plateau bounding the Nile Valley. Development along these axes would be in housing, industry, agriculture, tourism, etc, depending on the characteristics of the terrain, needs of each region, and available natural resources. Once these east-west axes are developed and inhabited, after a number of years, they would be linked by a north- south corridor (about 1200 kilometres long) of a superhighway, a fast railroad, a water pipeline (to supply water for human use from Tushka) and a power line (with electricity from the national grid keeping in mind future use of solar and/or wind power). The flat nature of the plateau just west of the Nile Valley and its gentle northwards tilt serve that purpose very well. Thus, the "development corridor," from El-Alamein to the border with Sudan, would, among other benefits: make use of all available natural resources in and near the Nile Valley; alleviate many of the existing problems of over- population in the inhabited strip by gradually opening up nearby spaces just to the west; facilitate and upgrade transportation in Egypt; and open new vistas for innovative growth of the economy by future generations. In his concluding remarks, Dr Said states that what is needed is to open a new space for proper development in Egypt, namely to allow: industrial development, including transplanting existing industrial centres; affordable and attractive housing to encourage population settlement; and proper use of the groundwater potential and the local energy resources. I am certain that if Dr Said reads my proposal in its entirety he would agree that it would satisfy all these requirements, and much more. In the editorial comment on Dr Said's opinion, Seheir Habib added that: "We don't think, however, that this should deter policymakers from exploring the feasibility of Dr El-Baz's proposal without delay." Indeed, detailed studies by internationally accredited experts would judge its feasibility one way or the other. This is particularly true because the vast majority of the required funds would come from the private sector. Egyptian, Arab or international concerns would not invest unless the project proves to be feasible and profitable. If that turns out to be the case -- as I expect it to be -- then the proposed development corridor would provide new generations of Egyptians hope for a better future.
