Sunday, January 17, 2010

A Crack In The Greater Dam

On last 15th of January 2010 Egypt has celebrated shyly and quietly the 50th anniversary of Aswan High Dam construction start. A great anniversary which I waited for since last year , unfortunately it came and I was not prepared enough whether emotionally or professionally from a blogging perspective. This was a great shining moment in our history regardless of what you think about the dam , it was a moment when Egyptians were really Egyptians doing what they have been famous for , defying all odds , defying nature. Unfortunately the 50th anniversary comes when Egypt is falling apart on all levels. The 50th anniversary comes when the high dam does not suffer from serious cracks “according to those who built it” where as the Greater dam that is Egypt herself began to suffer from cracks in her body , her people themselves.

Anyhow Insh Allah I will write a post about the high Dam :)

7 comments:

  1. The mighty Egyptian people are the High Dam that needs maintenance.

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  2. As you write your piece on the High Dam, consider this:

    1. The High Dam was constructed to generate electricity, and irrigation.

    2. Today, most electricity comes from natural gas. The Dam is not essential for power generation anylonger, as Egypt has more than enough gas.

    3. Egyptian agriculture has been destroyed by the Dam. (a) We moved from 100% organic agriculture to dependance on chemical firtilizers; (b) Urban expansion of agricultural land was made possible by the Dam which stopped all annual flooding of land; (c) In the absence of annual floods which flushed the river, the Dam turned the Nile into one long polluted lake from Aswan to the Mediterranean; (d) The Dam is the cause of raising the water table, causing salinity on agricultural lands, and the slow destruction of our munuments.

    Conclusion: The High dam is now obsolete. It was a mistake. It should be taken down stone by stone, to save our sacred agricultureal lands that have been cultivated for thousands of years. Egypt should become self-sufficient again in food production. It is a fifty year project, to clear this mess up and move cities out onto the desert periphery.

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  3. The High Dam main benefit is saving Egypt from periodic floods and droughts. Those periodic floods and droughts known since Biblical times, caused devastating effect on the population in the Nile Delta. The dam mitigated the effects of these dangerous floods such as in 1964 and 1973 and the effects the droughts in 1972-73 and the drought of 1983-84 that devastated East Africa and Somalia. If it were not for the High Dam (and its enormous reservoir lake), there would have been a famine in Egypt in 1984. So claiming that building the dam was a mistake lacks objectivity.

    Concerning power generation, when the dam first reached its rated power output 30 years ago, it produced around half of Egypt's entire electricity production and allowed most Egyptian villages to use electricity for the first time.

    Moreover, it is a well known fact that:
    1) Electricty generation from hydropower such as the High Dam is more economical than fossil fuels (including natural gas).
    2)Hydropower is a renewable source of energy unlike the finite life of our natural gas (which we are accelerating its depletion by subsidizing it to foreign nations).
    3)Fossil fuels have adverse effects on pollution of the environment and global warming, which renewable energy sources such as hydropower do not.

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  4. There is another problem: the High Dam is a weakness, since Israel has often threaten to bomb it, an action that might kill 10 million Egyptians.
    But since it is unlikely that it happens (at least I hope), the project as a whole brought more benefits to Egypt than weaknesses

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  5. Sudanese Observer1/20/2010 10:38:00 AM

    The scope of the post was far narrower than the reality of the Aswan Dam.

    The Aswan Dam was and continues to be of benefit to Egypt and detrimental to Sudan.

    It was for the construction of the Aswan Dam that Egypt's government supported the first Military takeover of power in Khartoum in 1958. The Military administration negotiated poorly and acquiesced to Egyptian demands in the 1959 Agreement -
    Not one watt of electricity (benefit) from the Aswan Dam was received by Sudan (to this day),

    Not one international salvage operation was launched or facilitated for the archaeological treasures that were indundated by the Aswan Dam's lake,

    The displaced were and still are far worse off than they were on their lands which were inundated by the Dam and the compensation received was shamefully paltry.

    Nile Basin states are saying if this is the deal that Sudan, Egypt's 'closest neighbour' got then what hope is there for us?

    Perhaps officials were aware of these facts and that is why they let the bicentennial anniversary of the Dam pass by without fanfare.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for all your comments , this is not my main post about the dam

    About Sudan my dear Sudanese Observer actually the officials are celebrating it now in their own way , rumors say that the big celebration will be after 8 years. I do not know from you get your info because it is well known that the UNESCO launched a huge operation to save our treasures from drowning unlike the Pyramids in Sudan which are drowned in the North as I read in the national geographic website
    anyhow wait for my main post insh Allah

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  7. Sudanese Observer1/20/2010 01:58:00 PM

    You're welcome.

    Zeinobia - being the 'Sudanese Observer' I assumed it would be clear that I was referring to Sudan - the salvage operation was 'only' conducted on the Egyptian side and not on the Sudanese side which is yet another example of the inequity of the Aswan Dam.

    The pyramids in North Sudan were not flooded, but other temples and areas of archaeological inerest were.

    The North of Sudan still has more pyramids than any other country in the world - 213.

    I look forward to your main post on the Dam which is viewed unfavourably by Sudan and the rest of the Nile basin States.

    ReplyDelete

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