CAIRO - Successive governments have neglected Upper Egypt, where the mountains of the Eastern Desert have for long been a haven for prison escapees and other thugs, while investors have tended to concentrate on its coastal areas. Experts say that the deserts in Upper Egypt are home to much mineral wealth, that could make the country very rich. These deserts include 12 locations rich in gold, as well as vast quantities of marble and granite. The Red Sea coast, with its tourist cities and villages, is very popular with visitors from around the world. “But there has been a lot of bad planning,” says Esmat el-Raghi, manager of a gold factory at Mersa Allam. He refers to a map made from papyrus, now in Turin Museum in northern Italy, which highlights 125 locations in the Eastern Desert, where the Pharaohs mined gold. Today, only el-Sukari Mountain, thought to contain 20 million ounces of gold, is mined for this precious metal. Saad Eddin Amin, head of Ras Ghareb Local Council, stresses that the southern part of Ras Ghareb is rich in iron ore, in addition to large quantities of manganese, precious stones, and raw materials used in chemical industries and construction. Aish Al-Mollam, Elba Mountain and other mountains have the world's best marble and granite. “There are investments in these areas, but on a limited scale,” adds Amin, noting that, in the northern part of Red Sea Governorate, the pure white sand is ideal for making glass, while the salt in the seawater is perfect for domestic use. Professor Mahmoud Hanafi of the Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, who has much experience in the field of maritime and land wealth, stresses that we should really focus on developing Upper Egypt. “Urban centres could be built here, serving factories, especially in areas rich in oil and petrochemicals,” he suggests. “We could encourage international trade by constructing a railroad in this region, linking Egypt with the rest of the African continent.” This region would be ideal for establishing industrial centres, as 43 per cent of the nation's petroleum is produced there, while there is plentiful natural gas in Zaafarana and Ras Ghareb. There is also a lot of potential for wind energy. In fact, Ras Ghareb and Zaafarana were the first areas in the Middle East qualified to produce electricity from wind power. According to Hanafi, the Red Sea ports of Safaga and Hurghada are well developed, while other ports like Old Qusseir and Beranis need a lot of developing. Hurghada and Marsa Allam both have international airports, while Beranis has a military airport. “These airports should be developed to accommodate the large number of tourists flying to this region,” according to Hanafi.
