Al-Masry Al-Youm has obtained some pictures of the shipment of corrupt cement impounded and currently being kept at Adabia Port in Suez. In the pictures, the bundles of cement, most of which are torn, are close to the seawater. The committee formed by the Administrative Control Authority and other bodies asked the owner of the Red Sea Company not to destroy those 3,000 tons of cement and recommended that the cargo should be sent back to Pakistan. The 3,000 shipment – the first one of this kind - had been unloaded after the Sudanese authorities had denied access to the ship carrying it at the port of Suakin, as revealed by Al-Masry Al-Youm last week. Meanwhile, an official source at the Suez Canal Authority told Al-Masry Al-Youm that another 6,638 ton shipment of corrupt cement has been unloaded at Adabia Port by the ship Blue Star. The source said an official body had analyzed some samples of this second shipment and had proven its bad condition. However, according to the source, this body did not spread the news for fear this would create confusion after the unloading of the first shipment by a ship of the Red Sea Company for maritime transportation. The source revealed the Blue Star, which flies the Italian flag, is owned by an Egyptian called Khaled Ahmed Rahman Salim el-Awa. The source also affirmed that the 6,638 tons currently inside the port at Marsa Badr are being kept 30 meters away from the seawater and as most bundles are torn, the water has been contaminated. The source added that such water could spill into the Suez Gulf, thus breaking the environment law, which punishes water pollution with a fine from LE 150,000 to LE 500,000. The law also forces the ship owner to remove all violations within the date set by the Ministry of Environment. The source added that procès-verbals have already been filed against the company owner, thus putting him in an impasse because of financial burdens.
