Cairo - The quarries in Fayyoum Governorate have been suffering from mismanagement for decades, and millions of pounds have been wasted. Fayyoum is home to more than 100 quarries, but only 20 of them are currently being worked; the others have either become exhausted or they're located in the wrong place. Most of these quarries are in the west of Fayyoum, but sandstone and limestone are also found in the south of the Governorate. The quarrying is funded by the Development and Services Fund; according to one report, the DSF wasted LE4.5 million in fiscal year 2010-11 on this work. According to other reports, the whole process of quarrying is not properly controlled, technically speaking. They add that the number of quarries is decreasing annually, because the official authorities refuse to renew their licences. “The extraction of stone from quarries should depend on a contract between the project management and the contractor, while the quarries should be licensed,” says el-Zeini Eid Maabad, a geological expert in Fayyoum. “The People's Assembly should determine the length of the contracts and the contractor should pay insurance before starting quarrying.” He adds that the management should pinpoint exactly where exactly the quarrying will take place. “That way, the number of contractors will be fixed precisely, so there'll no longer be hundreds of them. This will help make the projects more financially viable. If the contractors pay tax and insurance, this will also help,” he comments. El-Zeini would also like to see the duties and responsibilities of the management clearly defined. Maps of the quarries should be drawn up and the number of technical officials on the projects reviewed. “The Government should form a committee to review the desert land available, before extraction starts,” he stresses.
