At long last a remote village in Sinai is getting its fair share of clean water, writes Mahmoud Bakr Two million euros have been earmarked for the development of the Gafgafa village in the governorate of North Sinai. Shortages of water resources have become an impediment to the development and urbanisation of the Sinai, which is why this village has been selected for a pioneering project aiming to ensure a permanent supply of fresh water. Gafgafa, near the town of Al-Hosn in northern Sinai, until recently lacked any regular supply of clean water, but it was chosen as part of a pilot project to provide Sinai Bedouin, many of whom are switching from herding to settled agriculture, with sustainable water resources. The project involves a range of methods to increase water resources, and it is being carried out as part of cooperation between Egypt and Italy. Maged George, Egyptian minister of state for environmental affairs, said that the Italians had pledged to contribute 1.5 million euros to the project, while Egypt had pledged to provide labour and materials valued at some half a million euros. The latter in-kind contribution included the wages of the workers, the value of the land on which the project is being built, the cost of building an electricity network to serve the project, a reservoir to cultivate some 10 feddans of land surrounding the project, the cost of extending a drip irrigation network, and the provision of saplings, George said. The Egyptian and Italian ministries of environment are jointly supervising each stage of the project, with the Egyptian government financing aspects of the project and the Italians offering expertise and technical assistance. The contract for building the installations related to the project has been awarded to the Water Department of the Engineering Agency of the Egyptian Ministry of Defence, George said, adding that the agency has a solid track record in the field. "Egyptian and Italian environmentalists have been looking for ways to use the accumulated experience of our two countries in promoting sustainable resources," he said. "As partners in development, Italy and Egypt wish to promote environmentally-friendly projects to help vulnerable communities living in remote areas. It is hoped that the Gafgafa project will inspire similar actions in remote villages in Egypt and around the region." The Egyptian government is well aware that access to water resources is essential for social and economic development, and it has implemented many major projects aiming at agricultural expansion and development in desert areas. Wells are being dug and canals extended to supply remote areas with sustainable water resources, with examples of such projects being the Salam Canal, the Sharq Al-Uwaynat, and the Toshka development. However, while these projects are bringing much- needed water resources to many parts of Egypt, the Sinai and some other parts of the Egyptian desert are still in need of comprehensive and sustainable plans for water resources if they are to achieve their full potential. "The Gafgafa project is a pioneering project for the environmentally-safe use of water resources and a valuable addition for the development of North Sinai," George said. The Ministry of Defence and Military Production, the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, the National Research Centre, and the governorate of North Sinai had all taken part in the project, he said. As part of the project, underground water is pumped out and purified to national standards for drinking. The project is one of several designed to help desert communities meet their water needs in unconventional ways and is part of a drive to create new urban settlements and raise living standards for remote communities through the recycling or desalination of water. Under the project, land will also be given to young people living in the village to irrigate with recycled water, which it is hoped will help raise living standards and encourage environmentally-friendly agriculture. "The project is being widely seen as a valuable addition to the government's plans to develop Sinai and remote areas in an attempt to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals, one of which is to provide clean drinking water to the population as a whole," George said.
