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South Valley Development Project (Toshka &
East Oweinat)
Seeking to relieve population congestion in the Nile
Valley, the Egyptian government has embarked on
large-scale horizontal expansion projects since the early 1980s.
Planning to increase habitable land from the current 5 percent to 25
percent, a comprehensive scheme for developing desert areas was put into
motion. The scheme was based on increasing the cultivable land area from
the current 8 million feddans to 11.4 million feddans by the year 2017 as
an urgent and necessary condition for development. The projected increase
is planned through a series of mass land-reclamation projects of which the
South Valley Development Project ranks on top in terms of size and goals.
With a huge LE 300 billion in investment requirements, this project is
the government’s most ambitious development initiative yet.
The
South Valley Development Project aims at reclaiming an area of around 1
million feddans in the New Valley governorate in three regions: around the
Toshka depression, in East Oweinat and in the New Valley governorate oases.
Toshka and East Oweinat are considered the most important phases of the
project since, combined, they count for over 750,000 feddans of the total
targeted area. With regard to the Toshka project, water will be supplied
through a concrete-lined canal connected to Lake Nasser. Due to varying
topography, a large pumping station will be installed 8 kilometers north of
Khor
Toshka, on the western shore of Lake Nasser, to pump an average of 5 BCM
per annum at a rate of 300 CM per second into the Sheikh Zayed Canal.
Inaugurated in January 1997, all mechanical and construction activities
are scheduled to end by 2001. East Oweinat, on the other hand, targets an
area of 200,000 feddans in the extreme south of the Western Desert as the
stage of large-scale reclamation activities relying solely on abundant
underground water. The major objectives of both projects are to develop an
agriculture-for-export scheme, create job opportunities and divert
investment pools outside the Old Valley to new regions.
Total
investment required for developing the region is estimated at LE 300
billion over the coming 20 years until 2017. The government will finance up to
20-25 percent of the total expenses of digging the canal, installing the
pumping station and setting up a convenient infrastructure network. The
rest will be financed by local and foreign private sector direct
investment in five major sectors: infrastructure, construction, industry,
agriculture, and tourism.
Overall, the large size of investment in both projects and
their unique nature, especially pertaining to their remoteness from
the Old Valley, requires policymakers to undertake extensive studies
in several interrelated issues. This requires flexible coordination
between the government, the private sector, and both Arab and international
funding agencies. Such policy coordination is crucial to effectively
attain the social and economic objectives of the project and ensure
its sustainability.
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