Ebeid defends feasibility of national projects

Egypt yesterday denied intentions to reconsider any of the giant projects taking place in Upper Egypt, Sinai or around the Suez Canal.

"There is no intention to halt any of these projects. These national projects are meant to stay and the government will make every possible effort to guarantee their continuation," said Prime Minister Atef Ebeid.

He was speaking to reporters in Sharm el-Sheikh after attending two separate meetings between President Hosni Mubarak and a delegation of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and a US Congress team. The two meetings were also attended by Planning Minister Ahmed al-Darsh.

Ebeid said the Toshka project, which aims at reclaiming vast areas of land to the south of the Western Desert, would "make use of the Nile water which was squandered in vain in the past." The project, he said, would cultivate some 500,000 feddans in the area.

"With every pound the government pays in building infrastructure, the private sector will pay another pound on land reclamation and cultivation," he said, predicting that the project would create thousands of job opportunities for youth.

He added that the government would recover the hefty amounts of money it invested in building the infrastructure needed for the Sinai Development Project after selling the reclaimed lands to the private sector.

A third project, the Gulf of Suez Development Project, would build a container port and will include building new factories.

"The Port Said and Sharq el-Tafriea projects will attract more investments when they are fully completed. Factories will be built on the areas around the ports," he said.

He added that the government was preparing two programs to set the timetable and sources of finance for the two projects. "We are only trying to adjust the mechanisms of implementing the projects," he said.