By Naguib Mahfouz The East Oweinat project, to which President Mubarak paid a recent visit, demonstrates that the right kinds of development projects are capable of improving the lives of a great many. The new agricultural projects in the East Oweinat district toured by the president last week supplement the nation's agricultural potential, which for millennia has been confined to the Delta. The work put in on this virgin soil has achieved returns many times those from the Nile valley, a fact of great significance to our future. The resulting profits will lead to increased development and help enlarge the amount of arable land -- land that in recent years has been subject to urban encroachment -- something that has happened only once before in Egypt's history, following the building of the High Dam. Equally important is that these new projects will provide job opportunities for young people. Unemployment is one of our greatest problems. Its effects are not only economic but also social. High levels of unemployment wreak moral havoc, leading to increased incidence of crime. Because of this, I'm completely in favour of such development projects. They are a source of new hope, offering the young the promise of a brighter tomorrow. And that is certainly needed given the despair and destruction that we see all around the region. Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
