Nevine El-Aref followed President Hosni Mubarak as he inaugurated several major infrastructure projects in Upper Egypt early this week President Hosni Mubarak resumed the inauguration of infrastructure and production projects in Upper Egypt on Saturday. His first stop was the newly constructed long barrage at Naga Hammadi, 360 kilometres downstream from the Aswan Dam and just 3,500m away from the pit, dug in the 1930s to a depth of 25m below the surface of the river, that has provided water for agricultural use for more than half a century. The Naga Hammadi Barrage (NHB), which will eventually have a hydroelectric plant connected to the national grid, will irrigate over 750,000 feddans of agricultural land across the governorates of Qena, Sohag and Assiut. "It is one of the largest projects in terms of developing the water supply infrastructure in the Nile Valley," and has cost about LE1.5 billion, said Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mahmoud Abu Zeid. By replacing the 1930 barrage, the NHB will allow year-round cropping of 320,000 hectares. The concrete structure has been erected in a single construction pit that spans the width of the river with foundation levels up to 25m below the surface of the water. The weir with seven gates will eventually raise the water level by eight metres and drive a 64 megawatt hydroelectric plant. It includes two 170m-long navigation locks, each 17m in width, to allow for the smooth passage of boats, and a 330m- long road bridge over the dam. The barrage was built by an Egyptian- European consortium including German, French and Swiss contractors. During construction work the river was diverted into a 1,100m canal. Some LE18.9 million was paid in compensation to people affected by the construction of the barrage. Houses, a club and a social unit were built for the 500 workers and engineers employed on the project. President Mubarak then headed towards Naga Hammadi's water station which he inspected alongside Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and several members of the cabinet. The water station has been upgraded at a cost of LE35 million and has a daily capacity of 68,000 cubic metres of potable water. Via video link, Mubarak also gave the go-ahead for two new drainage water stations in Al-Qoss and Abu Tesht to begin operations. The delegation then headed to Assiut where Mubarak spent four hours to inaugurate the 356 kilometres long Cairo- Assiut Western Desert road. Mubarak also inspected the first village to be built within the framework of government plans to construct new villages in the desert. Minister of Transportation Mohamed Mansour said the new Cairo-Assiut road was integral to further develop Upper Egypt and will reduce traffic congestion in the towns it circumvents as well as on the Cairo-Aswan agricultural road. It will eventually connect urban centres with the villages planned in the desert and is central to schemes to revive agricultural and industrial trade between Upper and Lower Egypt. Mansour outlined ambitious transport plans for Upper Egypt. Among those are the plans to connect Upper Egypt to the Delta and Red Sea governorates. He also pointed out that in the past 25 years, seven new bridges were constructed across the Nile in Upper Egypt, and that six more are slated for completion by 2012. Minister of Housing Ahmed El-Maghrabi revealed that a target of 400 new villages in the desert has been set, covering 13 governorates and accompanied by the reclamation of one million feddans for agriculture that will provide 420,000 new jobs as well as help stem the flow of rural migrants to already overcrowded urban centres. Mubarak told the gathering that his top priority was to facilitate development in the south of Egypt, a region that has been neglected for far too long. "We have to compensate for what people have been suffering here," the president said, asserting that putting Upper Egypt in the limelight will not come at the expense of northern governorates. "We are not distinguishing one part of Egypt from another," he told the assembled dignitaries, while stressing that it was the responsibility of the government to provide the infrastructure necessary to secure a more prosperous future for the country.
