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Cairo & Giza Governers Have Announced Harsh Fines for Littering & Water Wastage

The attempt to curb street pollution and water wastage comes as part of a new wave of campaigns and initiatives.

Staff Writer

Cairo & Giza Governers Have Announced Harsh Fines for Littering & Water Wastage

Cairo Governor Atef Abdel Hamid announced on Friday that the governorate will be imposing fines between EGP 200 and EGP 5,000 on anyone found guilty of littering and dumping garbage on the streets. In an effort to tackle the growing issue of street pollution, local authorities are initiating and backing anti-pollution campaigns, starting with the most recent one, “Khalik Zay Adam”.

According to Al Ahram Weekly, a 2011 report done by the World Bank estimated that only 60% of the waste produced by Egypt was actually being collected.

In a similar effort, Giza Governor Mohammed Kamal Al Daly has announced that a fine of EGP 500 to anyone committing any form of water wastage is also being implemented. This includes keeping hoses or taps running and excess water usage when cleaning.

How exactly this will be implemented is yet to be seen, but the announcement of the fines comes as part of several campaigns and initiatives that are being launched simultaneously. Al Daly announced on Tuesday that he is in the process of launching a strategy to raise awareness of water pollution and preservation, deeming it an issue of national security. According to the BBC, with 97% of Egypt’s water coming from the Nile, it is subject to high amounts of untreated agriculture and residential waste. With Egypt reaching high water pollution-related death-rates, many, including the UN, foresee critical water shortages in Egypt within the coming years.

The Ministries of Agriculture, Endowments, Water Resources, and Irrigation are said to be throwing their support behind the governors’ initiatives, in addition to developing an action plan to be applied nationwide, in an attempt to better allocate water resources. Dividing the initiative into four sections, purification, rationalizing, development, and awareness, the plan will be implemented over 20 years, according to Minister of Agriculture, Abd El Atti. 

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