Mubarak tour in Toshka
Egypt, Economics, 10/4/2000

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak Tuesday made a tour in Lake Nasser inspect th flow of water from the Lake into the Toshka spillway to three courses and branches of the canal and their connection to the main pumping station.

The President inspected the farms which have already been planted with experimental crops.

During the tour,President Mubarak discussed with Youssef wali, Deputy Premier and Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, and Mahmoud Abu Zeid, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, the method of distributing land which have already been planted using subterranean water.

The two Ministers explained that one well is sufficient to irrigate 100 feddans. In compliance with directives of President Mubarak during his previous visit to the area, a number of plots of land have been distributed.Water is provided for every 10 feddans and every beneficiary is given a house.

Priority was given to workers in the project in accordance with the directives of President Mubarak. Abu Zeid said that 7000 persons are working at the site now.

Abu Zeid said that 130,000 feddans will be irrigated from subterranean water.It is planned to dig 86 wells of which 46 have already been dug and pumps have been installed on them.

The Armed Forces have begun to recalim an agricultural area of 10,000 feddans.

President Mubarak said that planting land in the Toshki area, which is giving its fruit now, heralds the beginning of new housing and urban communities.

New cities snd villages will be set up and railways will be built to connect the project and the new valley.

The first stretch of railways will be to the Paris oasis. In press statements at Toshki Tuesday, President Mubarak urged agricultural industrialization, in the sense that the new society which will be set up in this area will be an agro-industrial society.

Locations in the area are being equipped to ensure that crops are planted, and processed.

President Mubarak said that the basic trend is to plant high-value, export-oriented crops, free of chemicals or pesticides.

"Three major agricultural companies will play leading role in planting land of big areas ranging between 100,000 and 200,000 feddans," President Mubarak said.

These will be distributed to small farmers under the umbrella of these big groupings or companies. The big companies will provide the infrastructure for picking crops, their preservation, processing and marketing.

Big companies can undertake these operations because of their financial ability.

During the inspection tour he made Tuesday of the Toshka project, President Hosni Mubarak enquired about the quality of food served to workers at the project and expressed satisfaction that its quality has improved.

One worker told President Mubarak: you have given us a big push, president.

President Mubarak replied: and you raise our hopes. President Mubarak greeted the workers who shouted: "Mubarak, Mubarak" amid applause.

President Mubarak left the site of the project amid the acclamation of workers. The President's tour lasted about three hours.

President Hosni Mubarak said that Libyans and Sudanese are welcome to cultivate land. During his inspection tour of the Toshka project President Mubarak said he had been approached by Libyan Leader Muamar Gaddafi, who is currently on a four-day visit to Egypt, asking that the Libyans be allowed to plant an area at Wadi Halfa.

The President enquired form Youssef Wali Deputy Premier and Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation and Dr. Mahmoud Abu Zeid, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, whether those areas were arable.

Wali said that there are very vast arable areas which do not receive water from the Nile and are irrigated from subterranean water wells.

He put the area at about 2 million feddans -- 650,000 feddans in Egypt and the rest in Sudan. The area is included in studies at the Ministry in Egypt.

President Mubarak said: "We welcome the Libyans and the Sudanese".

Abu Zeid said: This is the general plan of the project. We assert that the station and all the branches and the canal will be complete in the first quarter of 2002.

The station will be completed in September and water will be ready in September to flow in all the branches.

President Mubarak enquired from Wali about the crops expected to be planted.

Wali said that the Governor of Californian had brought in a big company ''from California, They began to plant and the result is very good".

President Mubarak made an inspection tour by helicopter of the Toshka project.

Previous Stories:
  Mubarak arrives in Toshka   (10/3/2000)
  Mubarak to visit Toshka, soon   (9/23/2000)
  Modern, Ancient Egypt displayed in Expo2000   (5/29/2000)

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