Much of the world has put a pause on its projects but Egypt just inaugurated the Mahsamma water treatment plant on Wednesday. The project was developed by Metito and Hassan Allan in a joint venture, under the supervision of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority. And for the record, this is no small project.
The Al Mahsamma water treatment plant is for agricultural drainage, recycling and reusing and is located in the Ismailia governorate. Interestingly, the project was built on an area of 42,000 m² making it the largest in the world, and has a capacity of 1 million m³ per day.
According to Egypt Today Magazine, this is part of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s plan to open up a number of national projects in Ismailia and the Suez. The Mahsamma project would actually be treating and delivering “wastewater from Ismailia on the west bank of the Suez Canal to the east of the Suez Canal.”
True that COVID-19 had some people work from home, but some things can’t be ‘work from home’. This water plant project is part of Egypt’s approach in ensuring the country’s water security via treatment, desalination, and preservation of natural water resources.
This water plant project is part of Egypt’s approach in ensuring the country’s water security.
“In this project, we made use of the latest technologies for the treatment of agricultural drainage to produce suitable water for irrigation and land reclamation, following the highest quality standard and specs set by the Egyptian government,” said Eng. Karim Madwar, managing director at Metito Africa.
Chairman at Hassan Allam Construction, Hassan Allam expressed that this plant will contribute to water scarcity issues in Egypt. “We are extending our efforts to provide the latest solutions that solve water poverty, one of the major regional and global concerns,” he said.
Egypt & The Fight For Water
Egypt has generally struggled with water issues and as Ethiopia starts filling its reservoir behind a giant dam upriver, the country is at risk of major water shortages. Hence, with or without COVID-19, some projects need to continue. This Mahsamma project marks significant achievements for Egypt’s government and symbolizes its continued perseverance in combating issues in the water sector.
Back in early 2018, Cairo was listed by the BBC as one of the countries that will run out of drinking water. And in 2017, Egypt Independent reported that the country entered a ‘water poverty phase’ as the annual amount of water supply per person had fallen from 1,000 cubic meters to 700 cubic meters.
From then on, the decision to focus on desalination and water treatment was put forth. And here we are today with the Mahsamma project that may completely change Egypt’s future when it comes to water.
COVID-19 Vs. Egypt’s Life Changing, Necessary Projects
An article also by Egypt Independent titled “Sisi: Nearly LE600 bn invested in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula”, showed that the president had invested in major projects in the Sinai Peninsula that absolutely could not be put on hold.
Sisi explained that for these projects to be completed on time, that the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Defense and various private companies would cooperate to ensure necessary health and safety measures for workers on all construction sites due to the threat of COVID-19.
Moreover, it is interesting to note that while many countries are watching their economic growth drop, Sisi shared that there are many job opportunities in the New Administrative Capital, New Mansoura city, and New Alamein city. The president is “calling on jobless workers to seek employment there so that economic growth rates can continue to rise”.
While COVID-19 hit the tourism and hospitality industries hard, other industries operating online, e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, industries that sell sanitization products, and the medical sector rose, according to Egypt Today Magazine.
