While relief efforts continue to help rebuild the lives of the victims of the floods accusations of negligence emerged, reports Mohamed El-Sayed Government efforts to help rebuild the lives of the victims of the flash floods that hit the governorates of North and South Sinai and Aswan accelerated this week against the backdrop of new revelations about the official failure to assess the dangers the floods posed. Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Nasreddin Allam dropped a bombshell when he revealed that the government had constructed major projects within watercourses dedicated to floods in the governorates of Aswan, Minya, Sohag and North Sinai. New Qena City, Sohag Airport, Minya Cement Factory and the Youth Village in North Sinai, it emerged, were all within the boundaries of watercourses dedicated to floods. In the case of New Qena City, precautions were taken in the form of flood barriers to protect new buildings from waters up to five metres high. But, said Allam, it is quite possible that flood waters could exceed this limit making it essential to find alternative ways to protect the new constructions. The Youth Village in North Sinai was destroyed by rising waters. "This village was built inside the watercourse, despite the fact that building it in this location was a risk," said Allam. He added that both individuals and government agencies resort to building inside watercourses "because they believe floods happen every 15 or 20 years". "We are trying now to correct the mistakes of the past and totally prohibit building around watercourses. Coordination between government agencies is much needed." Allam's revelations ruffled many parliamentary feathers. MP Mohamed Mustafa Sherdi called for investigations into the revelations. "These revelations reflect the extent of mismanagement in government circles and the lack of coordination between government agencies. A fact-finding committee should be formed to investigate how these buildings were constructed inside watercourses dedicated to floods and who was responsible for the planning decisions." Government and civil society efforts continued this week to help the victims of the floods. Mrs Suzanne Mubarak visited afflicted areas in the governorate of Aswan last week, and on Saturday arrived in North Sinai to assess the scale of the problems facing local people. "We will formulate an ambitious programme aimed at improving the quality of life in Sinai. We will make available all necessary funds through government and business institutions," she said. Murad Mowafi, governor of North Sinai, stressed that the final assessment of losses in the governorate amounted to LE137 million. Some 1,171 houses were destroyed and 27,000 olive trees uprooted. In South Sinai, Governor Abdel-Fadil Shousha ordered the removal of all houses built inside flood watercourses in the village of Abu Sweira, an area that had remained mostly unscathed following the torrential downpours of two weeks ago. "This decision was taken to protect the lives of people in the future," said Shousha. The final estimate of the extent of damage in Aswan has yet to be completed, to the dismay of victims who threatened to stage protests if they were not relocated to new houses. "The three committees formed to assess losses have not finished their work yet," said Mahmoud Maghawri, head of the Central Agency for Development which is responsible for re-settling flood victims. "The delay in announcing the extent of the damage is due to the fact that the committees want to reach a precise estimate of the losses incurred." Families affected by floods will be granted plots of lands in new areas to build houses, according to Aswan governorate officials. In an attempt to reduce the dangers of future floods, Allam said that a joint project with the EU was being implemented to put early warning systems in place in areas susceptible to flooding. "The Ministry of Irrigation is currently conducting studies on all watercourses in Aswan, North and South Sinai and the Red Sea in order to formulate a comprehensive preventative strategy," he said. The floods prompted the Council of Ministers to speed up infrastructure projects in Sinai, including developing East Arish and Al-Bardaweel Lake. Meanwhile, the Shura Council held a session to discuss the government's response to the crisis. It has formed a committee to follow up on official moves to minimise the dangers posed by floods though, ironically, the session was not attended by any of the concerned ministers.
