CAIRO: The National Regulatory Authority for Drinking Water and Sewage came under attack after an announcement that it was seeking the help of foreign experts to determine the value of water bills. An online forum called the move a waste of money that will be of no use to Egypt, and accused Egyptian ministries of making it a habit to hire foreign experts in different domains for no valid reason. Mohamed Abul Nasr, the National Authority's spokesperson, told Daily News Egypt that this move was necessary in order to preserve the huge sums that the government invests in water projects. The authority decided that the help of foreign experts was needed when water waste in Egypt reached an alarming 40 percent, endangering the large investments. Abul Nasr assured Daily News Egypt that expert help will be of great benefit to Egypt as it was to Japan, where water waste was cut down to four percent, thanks to the help of international expert Malcom Farley. The authority hopes that he will help generate the same kind of satisfactory results in Egypt. Abul Nasr refutes media allegations that these foreign experts will be a burden on Egypt's economy. "The experts will be provided by technical aid programs that some developed nations offer Egypt, he said. Abul Nasr also assures that hiring the experts is not, as suspected by the media, an attempt to raise water bills, since there are no such plans at this stage. Muslim Brotherhood MP Al Mohamady Abdel Maksoud, weighed in on the issue. He told Daily News Egypt that there are competent experts in Egypt that excel everywhere else in the world and that the government should have taken advantage of their talents instead of seeking the help of expensive foreign experts. "Foreign experts are not the answer to all our problems, he added. "Development will not occur unless the government has a genuine willingness to reform. Abdel Maksoud suggested other means of water preservation, like fixing the pipes which leak profusely due to the fact that they were built in the 1920s and are not strong enough to sustain the current population's usage levels.
