Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hany Sweilam, said on Sunday that the ongoing shore protection project in Port Said was part of the ministry's efforts to confront the effects of climate change. The project aims to protect citizens and facilities, work to stabilize residential and industrial areas and new cities and protect some villages and low-lying areas from the dangers of seawater inundation. Swailam explained that these projects had a significant impact in halting the increasing decline in the shoreline and protecting the real estate wealth of Port Said and the suburb of El-Gamil, west of Port Said, as well as acquiring new lands with an area of more than 2 million square meters in the area west of Port Said. These projects also provided protection for a number of vital installations, such as El-Gamil airport, the main "Port Said-Damietta" road, important industrial and petroleum facilities in western Port Said, protection of low coastal areas in the Diba region, as well as protection of the navigation lake and vital installations east of the Suez Canal. The minister had received a report from Ahmed Rashad, chairman of the Egyptian General Authority For Shores Protection, regarding work to protect the shores in Port Said. According to the report, the protection projects implemented in Port Said governorate include the construction of 6 separate breakwaters to protect the suburb of El-Gamil, west of Port Said, the construction of the new El-Gamil Strait, and the extension of the strait to a length of about 850 meters. Protection measures also included the construction of the sea wall in front of the airport in West Port Said, the protection and dredging works of El Gamil Strait for the development of Lake Manzala, and the coastal strip protection works for Al-Mallaha Lake east of the Suez Canal.
