Dig Days: Learn from the Damiettans By Zahi Hawass What took place in Damietta can be seen as a lesson that all of us -- governors, government officials -- can learn from. As we know, a Canadian company, Agrium, was pursuing with the construction of a fertiliser factory on the Ras Al-Barr peninsula, but because of the controversial issues it raised parliament appointed a committee to study the case. It was decided to move the factory away from Ras Al-Barr. First I would like to say that I come from Damietta, and I have always been proud of my origins. When National Geographic made a film about my life story and work, I took them to Ras Al-Barr and the seashore where I spent my childhood. I took them to a unique place where the red water washed down by the Nile from the fertile land upstream joined the Mediterranean Sea, a beautiful setting called Al-Lessan (the tongue). This area has been developed by the great man and architect Mohamed Fathi El-Bradei. If you go there at sunrise or sunset, you will see a remarkable shore that exists in no country in Europe. Many famous actors, writers and politicians used to spend their summers relaxing on this magnificent shore. After the 1973 war, the coast was ruined by immigrants who turned it into a town, but El-Bradei returned it to its former glory and turned it into a national park. No one could believe that the authorities would allow an industrial factory to be built on one of our treasured seashores, destroying the natural beauty, fish and wildlife and polluting our atmosphere. How could this happen? We also must ask ourselves why the Canadian company agreed to this. Would they have accepted this damage if it were being done in their own country? Would they destroy one of their national parks? I think not! This important case can teach us a lesson. First the governor, El-Bradei, stood with the people and spoke out against the government project. Normally in his position he should support government projects, but he put himself on the line and stood with the people of his district. He is a man with ethics and integrity. He felt that history would be his judge and that if he said nothing to help protect this area he would be blamed. He was not afraid of losing his position, instead he stood with courage and in a quite way, without resorting to an antagonistic tone, he analysed the project and concluded that the factory would ruin his dreams to make Ras Al-Barr a protected site; a contribution from him, a gifted architect, to the people of Damietta. The second lesson is how the people stood together as one against the government project. The people of Damietta did not stage violent protests or marches. They did not destroy cars or buses. To show that they opposed the project they put black flags above their houses to demonstrate that the factory would change their lives. All the political parties in Damietta, the Democratic Party and the opposition parties, as well as the members of parliament, rejected the project that would ruin the beautiful coastline. We can learn discipline and determination from the people of Damietta. On his last visit to the town, President Hosni Mubarak, announced that he would like to see all Egyptians being like the Damiettans. The third lesson is that we need town planning. Our towns and villages do not have town planning like other places in the world. For example, when the city of New York was originally planned more than 200 years ago they set certain restrictions that are still followed today. It is the duty of every governor to bring expertise and help establish plans for their towns and villages that designate specific locations for tourist and industrial activities. So when they retire and governors of the future take over -- even hundreds of years from now -- they will have a plan to work by. We need to keep areas that are considered national parks safe because these natural wonders cannot be replaced. We have a vast desert that can house factories, but these factories must still follow regulations so they do not destroy our atmosphere. We can look to the desert road in Upper Egypt to erect these types of industrial projects. El-Bradei should be seen as an example of man who taught all of us an important lesson.
