THOUGH he lived until age of 93, Egypt failed to make the best use of the great internationally recognised geologist Rushdi Said, who passed away this week in the US where he had chosen to live since 1981. Known as the father of Egyptian geology, Rushdi Said was the first Egyptian to receive a Doctorate from Harvard University, more than 60 years ago. After around 18 years of his academic career as a university professor, Said was chosen to direct Egypt's Mining and Geological Research Institute during which he led many mining surveys, which resulted in discoveries that compensated Egypt for its loss of the Sinai mines during the Israeli occupation. His great knowledge of the Egyptian geology enabled him to uncover its immeasurable wealth. He suggested some giant projects, through which, if they had been adopted by successive ruling regimes, Egypt could have moved to the ranks of the developed countries. In one such project, he proposed to link Egypt's Western Desert (the Libyan Desert of the Eastern Sahara) and the Nile Valley, so as to extend the latter, with a network of transport and communications and specified an area north of the Qattara Depression. Unfortunately, no one in authority considered implementing his project or even conducting a feasibility study for it or linking it with another suggested project for utilising the Qattara Depression. This proposed generating hydraulic energy by extending a canal southwards from the Mediterranean Sea on the North Coast to create waterfalls for generating energy. The cause might have been political in nature, as Said was arrested in 1981 on the orders of late president Anwar el-Sadat together with 1536 politicians and other noted personalities. On his release, Said emigrated to the US where he lived, although frequently visiting and retaining an interest in his home country and the welfare of its people, until his death this week. So, is it not time to consider exploiting the groundbreaking ideas of the renowned late scientist who was chosen by the US to head the American Association of Petroleum Geology in 2003. Is this not the time for Egypt to properly evaluate its scientists and their potential contributions, while needing to rebuild its economy at such a critical stage of the country's history? The government should review the visionary suggestions made by Said and other noted Egyptian scientists during the last few decades before launching any development projects. It would be a grave mistake to continue following the same random policy of creating projects without carrying out appropriate nation-wide planning. Qandil's government has recently announced the start of a project of land reclamation of some 300,000 feddans at Qattara Depression. So the question is how far could this project accommodate the other suggestions made over this strategic region including the proposal of Said and the generating energy project, at a time when Egypt has a major energy shortage? Has the government conducted feasibility studies and environmental impact assessments for the project before coming up with this decision of utilising the region for cultivation only? If we failed to benefit from Said's intelligent ideas and sound recommendations during his lifetime because of living under corrupt dictatorship, it is high time to consider benefiting from them while rebuilding post-revolution Egypt.
