CAIRO: In an effort to address the shortage of drinking water in some of Egypt s governorates, the Ministry of Housing and Utilities and Urban Communities suggested effective solutions to the problem in a meeting with the heads of the National Organization of Potable Water and Sanitary Drainage and the Holding Water Company for Greater Cairo. The meeting comes on the heels of a water crisis in the Nile Delta town of Borg Al-Borollos, 300 kms north of Cairo, which saw citizens filling jerry cans with potable water. The potable water shortage has been going on for years in this area, forcing residents and local government to resort to water distribution and storage methods, outdated in modern life. Abdel Hamid El Shear, the media consultant of the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, told The Daily Star Egypt that Housing Minister Ahmed El Maghraby has prioritized the governorates most in need of drinking water and those whose access to water is based on a rotation schedule. In the meeting, officials suggested the establishment of 33 new water stations with a capacity of 10,000 cubic liters each. El Shear said this project will cost LE 2.1 billion. The project should be implemented in 2007/2008.By June 30, 2008 it should be ready for implementation, he said. He added that the ministry has also decided to increase the daily water production by 1.5 million cubic liters to provide the deprived governorates with a larger share of drinking water. The total daily water production would reach 21.5 million cubic liters instead of 20 million, said El Shear. According to Al Ahram daily newspaper, the ministry has developed a plan of temporary solutions that includes further drilling of wells and the expansion of the water pump networks that already exist. The plan also suggested a shorter implementation phase that would only take four months instead of six. However, according to an article written in the independent newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm, Magdy Rady, the spokesperson of the Prime Minister's office, said that the issue of drinking water is an important one that would require a large number of investment projects. With additional reporting by Khadiga Samir
