Toshka project approaches its final stages

"The total of different development projects carried out in Toshka area, located in Upper Egypt, has so far reached some LE 3.7 billion," Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mahmoud Abu Zeid said.

"The projects included digging and lining works in Sheikh Zayed Canal, in addition to industrial works in the huge Mubarak pumping station," Mahmoud Abu Zeid said.

"We can say that Toshka project is now in its final stages after 60 per cent of the work has been completed," he said, adding that the Nile water would be channeled into an area of many thousands of feddans in October 2002.

"Day by day," Abu Zeid said, "We become more convinced that getting out of the narrow (Nile) valley is a pressing necessity, and this can be achieved through large caliber projects such as Toshka and the development of Sinai."