The fate of E Agrium's proposed plant in Damietta has yet to be sealed, reports Mohamed El-Sayed The ongoing battle between the Canadian Company E Agrium and local residents over the construction of a fertiliser plant on Ras Al-Barr, Damietta, was reignited last week with the submission of a strongly-worded report by a group of leading environmentalists to the People's Assembly's fact-finding commission. "Construction of the plant on Ras Al Bar Island is impossible," the report concluded. Written mainly by Mustafa Kamal Tolba, head of the International Centre for the Environment and Development and a former executive director of the United Nations' Environmental Programme, the report said that "after carefully studying the situation of the plant experts unanimously agreed that the selection of the site had considered only the interests of the company and ignored the fact that the project borders residential areas". Nor, the report continues, "was it taken into consideration that Damietta is already home to a large number of factories that cause environmental and health problems". Tolba pointed out that the pollutant load in the area of the plant is already heavy and could only be made worse by additional waste generated by the project. "Ras Al-Barr is a very promising tourist destination, and tourist projects are the most suitable activity for the island." A number of proposals were offered to avoid the possibility that the government pay compensation to E Agrium. "First, it could try to convince the company to relocate the plant to the industrial zone in southern Suez, which is far from residential areas and adjacent to Port Sokhna." Should E Agrium reject such a move and insist on building the plant in Ras Al-Barr the report suggests "earmarking a one kilometre belt to be planted with tall trees to surround the plant in order to minimise any hazards and enhanced plans by the company to deal with waste". In yet another blow to E Agrium, the State Council rejected its contract with Damietta Port under which the company had planned to construct a special terminal to export its products. The council judged the contract in violation of the ports law. The State Council's rejection of the contract followed an earlier report issued by the Administrative Monitoring Authority which said E Agrium had not conducted the required environmental impact study for the terminal. In an interview with the weekly magazine Al-Musawwar Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, who met with the chairman of E Agrium last week, stressed that the fact-finding committee would issue a final decision on the plant before the end of the current parliamentary sessions. "I told the chairman of E Agrium that the company should take responsibility for convincing the people of Damietta of the benefits of this project," he was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, E Agrium continued its public relations campaign defending the plant, highlighting the benefits of the LE10 billion project and its compatibility with the surrounding environment. Philip Mackinnon, the Canadian ambassador in Egypt, has insisted the plant received all the necessary approvals and abides by environment laws. But in an interview with the daily Al-Masry Al-Yom Mackinnon was quoted as saying that the company would not go ahead with the project if civil society continued to oppose construction. In that case, he said, both the Egyptian and Canadian sides would have to sustain losses.
