Orders that a controversial fertiliser plant in Damietta be closed are being taken with a pinch of salt by local residents, reports Ahmed Kotb Following a week of protests Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said on Sunday that the Mobco fertiliser factory in Damietta had been ordered to close. The announcement did little to reassure local residents, who have been protesting against pollution produced by the plant which they claim is harming the environment, depleting local fish stocks and contaminating agricultural produce. Tens of Mobco workers started on Tuesday a sit-in at Egypt's cabinet headquarters in Cairo demanding the cancellation of the government decision to close down the factory. Military forces attempted to clear protesters last Wednesday after they blocked roads leading to New Damietta harbour. In the ensuing clashes at least one protester was killed and 10 injured, according to the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA). "No one here is convinced by the government's decision to shut down the factory. The same decision was taken in 2008. What happened was that there was a temporary lull in activity and then the plant resumed operations," says Adel Hussein, a member of Damietta's Coalition of Citizens against Dangerous Factories. The dispute goes back to 2008 when the Canadian Company E Agrium began construction of a fertiliser plant on the island of Ras Al-Barr, adjacent to Damietta's sea port. As health and environmental concerns were raised local opposition to the project grew. The issue eventually reached the People's Assembly, which ordered the plant to be relocated away from residential districts. The dispute reignited when residents noticed construction work at the site of what had now become the Egyptian-Canadian company Mobco. Extensions to the factory had begun despite a report issued by a Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs committee on 7 September recommending all work at the plant stop until environment-friendly procedures are agreed and put in place. On 26 October the cabinet endorsed the committee's report but took no action to halt building work extending the existing factory. "We were told by the former regime that E Agrium's plant would be relocated beyond Damietta but it was a pack of lies," says Hussein. Protesters closed all roads heading to Damietta harbour and Ras Al-Barr, leading to millions of pounds of losses daily. Twenty ships were stranded inside the harbour, unable to land their cargos. Others remained queuing out at sea. Until Al-Ahram Weekly went to print, protests by residents were continuing and the factory's chimneys were billowing smoke. Hussein says demonstrators will not leave the streets until the decision to remove the plant is implemented.
