Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree Jan. 25, handing over possession of 37 islands to the Egyptian armed forces. The transfer consists of 36 islands within the Nile River and one island off the Mediterranean coast.
In response to the Egyptian official gazette, the decree and a portfolio of associated paperwork shall element the scale and areas of these islands, and the decree will probably be deposited with the competent actual property registration workplace with out charges. The deposition could have the authorized results of an official proclamation.
The decree was issued primarily based on Prime Minister Decree No. 1383 of 2005 relating to the safety of the Nile River and its shores, and pursuant to the approval of the Council of Ministers and the presentation made by the Nationwide Middle for Planning State Land Makes use of.
In 1998, then-Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri’s authorities issued Decree No. 1969 of 1998 stating, “All of the islands situated inside the course of the Nile River within the north, central and south of the valley, the Delta barrages, and the Rashid and Damietta branches are deemed nature reserves in accordance with the Environmental Regulation.”
This decree prohibited finishing up “acts, disposals, actions or procedures that might destroy, injury or deteriorate the pure setting, or hurt wildlife, water or crops, or prejudice their aesthetic degree in reserves areas.”
Particularly, it prohibited setting up buildings, amenities or roads, driving automobiles or finishing up any agricultural, industrial, business or vacationer actions within the reserves and adjoining areas, besides with a allow from the prime minister.
In response to Al-Bawaba news website, there may be conflicting knowledge on the precise variety of Nile islands in Egypt. Official authorities information estimate their quantity at round 144 islands with an general space of round 37,150 acres. In the meantime, the Nile Analysis Institute estimates the quantity at 128 islands, the Normal Survey Authority acknowledges the existence of 181 islands, the Institute of Land and Water Analysis says there are 209 islands, the Central Company for Public Mobilization and Statistics counts 163 islands, whereas the Ministry of Water Sources confirms that the variety of Nile islands in Egypt stands at 197.
Mohammed Salem, head of the Nature Conservation Division on the Ministry of Setting, stresses the environmental significance of the Nile River islands reserves. “The character of the islands in some areas has modified over time because of inhabitants development and concrete enlargement in a number of the inhabited islands within the governorates of Cairo and Giza, whose nature is considerably completely different from the Nile islands situated in southern Egypt. This requires a reassessment of the environmental scenario and a overview of the sources on some islands by a committee of scientists in numerous environmental fields,” Salem informed Al-Monitor.
He stated that the setting of the Nile River and its islands, particularly in southern Egypt, offers meals and shelter for migratory birds. “Tens of millions of birds cross Egypt yearly in the course of the two migration seasons. The primary in winter, when birds flock from northern, central and jap Europe and western Asia, reaching Egypt from the east within the Sinai Peninsula, the place they take a number of paths to finish their journey to South Africa. The second within the spring season, when birds return from Africa to Europe through the identical paths.”
In June 2017, Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper reported that the Presidency of the Republic commissioned the Ministry of Housing and the Normal Authority for City Planning to reactivate the Nile islands development plan drafted again in 2010. This plan included a venture to show Al-Warraq Island in Giza right into a finance and enterprise hub, as a part of a wider growth plan for the Nile Corniche and the Nile islands.
The newspaper quoted high-ranking authorities sources as saying that the Normal Authority for City Planning is within the means of elaborating a imaginative and prescient for a whole plan for the island to be submitted to the Presidency of the Republic. The sources added that the situations of residents on the island will probably be regularized and a few residential communities for residents will probably be constructed, with primary utilities corresponding to ample sanitation and water.
The Nile islands have all the time stirred controversy in Egypt, because of their political and financial significance. They’re principally situated in the midst of the Nile River within the heart of Cairo, close to all private and non-private enterprise quarters, which raised the costs of their actual property heaps.
Nevertheless, since 2012, the residents of the Nile islands have been dwelling in a state of constant fear of being displaced amid repeated makes an attempt of expropriation of their land.
In November 2012, the armed forces raided Qorsaya Island and demanded its folks to vacate. Clashes erupted, inflicting the loss of life of 1 resident and the damage and arrest of many.
This additionally occurred on Al-Warraq Island in 2017, when clashes between residents and safety forces resulted within the loss of life of a resident and the damage and arrest of dozens, following protests by residents in opposition to makes an attempt to deport them from the island.
Wael Zaki, city planning advisor and lecturer in growth initiatives, known as for not antagonizing the islanders, as occurred on Al-Warraq.
“A brand new concept to learn from the islands could be to ascertain a world-class park that may appeal to extra tourism,” he informed Al-Monitor. “Egypt has stunning nature that have to be tapped on. There is no such thing as a exhibition of fish or marine creatures in Egypt. The one one in your entire Arab area is the Scientific Center in Kuwait. As a vacationer nation, we must always have such initiatives.”
He famous, “The purpose of building a nature reserve is to preserve the setting. In Kenya, all forests are nature reserves, but they’re a essential vacationer attraction and the state spends hundreds of thousands to protect them. There are dozens of environmental initiatives which may be established on our personal islands.”
