Oil spills poison the Red Sea

Frequent oil spills in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt kill marine life and damage the environment.
By Joseph Mayton | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor/ November 5, 2009 edition

CAIRO

Egyptian tourism commercials present the Red Sea as an untouched paradise where “the sun shines 365 days a year” and the water is full of exuberant marine life. But the reality is that the beaches and marine life are being destroyed as a result of offshore oil drilling and spills.

On May 20, oil spilled onto the shores just north of the popular resort town of Hurghada, some five hours southeast of Cairo. Although small in comparison with spills elsewhere, more than two-thirds of a mile of sandy beach was covered with crude oil.

According to the country’s environment ministry, workers “moved immediately to the northern coastal region of Hurghada, where they met [oil] company officials to inspect the beach and they found large quantities of crude oil in the form of small pieces along the beach.”

Mahmoud Ismail, the head of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), is proud of the work his organization does during what he termed “routine oil spills.”

“Our organization is there so we can monitor and help to connect oil companies with the necessary means of clean-up during the routine oil spills that occur in the Red Sea,” he says. “Just look at the most recent one, the beaches were completely cleaned in less than one week.”

But environmentalists point to continuing damage to the Red Sea from frequent “routine” oil spills.

Mr. Ismail says that around the 26 oil fields in the Red Sea, marine life is non-existent due to the almost constant leakage from the antiquated equipment used by oil companies, including such giants as British Petroleum (BP), and ExxonMobil. “Unfortunately, around these major centers of oil exploration, sea life is gone,” he says.

Ahmed al-Droubi, an environmental consultant in Cairo, argues that the situation is much worse than the government is willing to admit. He says that along the coastal region, in addition to the central oil areas, the environmental impact has been near catastrophic.

“If you look at the area along the Red Sea, from Ismailia to Hurghada, these beaches are almost entirely destroyed,” Mr. Droubi says. “What you have are hotels hauling in sand in order to make it appear that this is pristine land, but reality is much different: In and around Hurghada, as a result of the oil, there is no marine life.”

Droubi says that the EEAA does exceptional work, considering what they are up against, but action needs to be taken in order to prevent more damage. “We must see efforts to document and help renew the marine life and the coastal areas, because this is part of our future.”

In 2006, two major oil spills occurred in the Red Sea and inside the Suez Canal at Bitter Lake, where passing ships wait before continuing through the one-lane canal. At least 3,300 tons of heavy fuel oil spilled into the Red Sea on Feb. 20 that year. And in September, 1,100 tons of crude oil poured into Bitter Lake.

Smaller spills, similar to the one in Hurghada in May, occur almost monthly, both Ismail and Droubi confirm.

Ismail concedes that Bitter Lake’s ecosystem is no longer functioning. “Fisheries have died, fishermen can no longer work, but the government has compensated them for their losses,” he adds.

“We have nowhere to go,” says Ahmed al-Zayed, a local fisherman whose family once made a living scouring the depths of Bitter Lake. “When I was a child, my father and I used to go out into the lake and we could catch a lot of fish, but now, because of the oil, there is nothing. I haven’t been out in years and when I talk to friends [about] the Red Sea, they tell me the same thing.”

Droubi argues that there needs to be a law requiring pipes and drilling equipment in the Red Sea to be updated. Ismail concurs, saying that much of the machinery is more than 25 years old.

Although the EEAA now concentrates its efforts mostly on cleaning up after spills, that may change. In early May, Environment Minister George Maged established an advisory committee to look into the pollution caused by oil in the Red Sea and its coastal region.

Source: http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/11/05/oil-spills-poison-the-red-sea/

Real Estate Tax

Do you own property in the Red Sea? Can someone please send us the translated English version of this tax law.
When are the deadlines, what has to be done and to whom should we pay.
Do all home owners have to pay, who evaluates the value of the home (and therefore the tax due?)
Many questions....

Your comments, news, information is welcome! Share your info with your neighbor (no pun intended :)

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More info:
New property tax for Egypt

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Catherine Deshayes



Egypt plans to introduce new residential and commercial property taxes in January next year as part of a series of plans to help modernise the country's outdated taxation system and boost the economy - but the tax stands to have a negative impact on international investors as it may put them off buying property in the country...

Up until now, property tax in Egypt has been extremely favourable. There is no capital gains tax, no inheritance tax and no stamp duty. But now, the Egyptian Government is trying out various methods in their bid to reform the economy and they see overhauling the taxation system in the country as one way in which to do this.

Tarek Farag, Head of Egypt's Real Estate Tax Authority, said that Egypt properties valued at 1 million Egyptian pounds (£109,000) will be taxed a small tax of just under one per cent, while homes valued at £45,000 or less will be exempt from the tax altogether.

But of course the number of international investors buying properties worth under the low £45,000 threshold will be minimal, so it is likely that this new tax will affect the majority of them.

Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali said that individuals and corporations should submit real estate assets by the end of the year for valuation.

Valuations will take into account location, quality of construction, provision of basic services and proximity to public parks, health and education facilities.

If property owners feel that their homes have been valued incorrectly and they feel the taxes levied against them are unfair, then they can apply to appeal against the taxes within sixty days of the valuation and their home will be revalued within 30 days.

Properties will be re-evaluated every five years.

Taxes on industrial real estate would be deducted from the overall income tax paid by the owners.
Source: http://www.themovechannel.com/news/ee8fd660-1d59/

A shot in the blue?

Experts and health officials expect an increase in incidents of swine flu as the cooler months approach, with possibly more severe symptoms. Yet doubts have been expressed over the safety of the swine flu vaccine, 150,000 courses of which arrived in Egypt days ago. An estimated 30,000 pilgrims have already been vaccinated and, in an attempt to reassure the public, both Minister of Health Hatem El-Gabali and the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Mohamed Sayed Tantawi have received the shots.

Housewife Rabab Harhash is far from atypical. "No member of my family, not my husband, my two children, or myself, will be taking the vaccine. Some doctors say it is perfectly safe, others say there are potential side-effects. I will not take the risk," she says.

Dalia Nayer, a university professor, insists that she will wait until already inoculated pilgrims return from the hajj before she makes a decision: "The testing of the swine flu vaccine has been rushed and I feel there might be a danger. After watching the health minister taking it on TV I thought I might change my mind but I have decided to wait and see."

Vaccination campaigns have long played an important role in protecting the health of individuals, says Abdel-Rahman Shahin, official spokesman at the Health Ministry. "But a group of factors around the swine flu vaccine, including confusion over how it is made and widespread speculation about whether it might be more dangerous than the virus itself has given the anti-vaccine movement a fresh airing."

Rumour and misinformation, he says, are making it difficult to persuade an already wary public to line up for shots. "I wonder if the people disseminating this false information about this vaccine realise that what they are doing could result in people losing their lives."

Websites, weblog feeds and even elevator chatter are replete with criticisms of the vaccine, often with no factual or scientific basis. The most common complaint is that the vaccine has been developed and distributed without adequate clinical trials. Nasr El-Sayed, deputy minister of health for preventive affairs, points out that the swine flu vaccine is made using the same techniques that have been employed for two decades to produce seasonal flu shots and that clinical trials were conducted earlier this year to determine dosage. The most pervasive fear, however, is that widespread vaccination may see an increase in the extremely rare Guillain-Barré syndrome, as happened in 1976 in the US following an immunisation campaign.

"Flu vaccines are now much purer than they were, minimising the risk, and Guillain-Barré is far rarer," says El-Sayed.

A press release issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) points out that manufacturers had conducted advance studies using a "mock-up" vaccine to "expedite regulatory approval" and that potential long-term side effects, including cancer and other life threatening diseases, had yet to be determined.

While questions remain around the vaccine, the public has been turning to other flu-related products, including vitamin supplements, in large numbers. Pharmacist Mustafa Mohamed reports that sales of such items tripled in September.

Manal Masoud, the mother of two university students, argues that she prefers "to boost immunity rather than risk the vaccine as long as there are questions over its safety".

Amid the controversy over the vaccine Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif announced on 7 November that the five-day Eid Al-Adha vacation, beginning on 26 November, would be extended until 5 December in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus at educational institutions. And in a press conference on 8 November Health Minister El-Gabali said that starting Saturday, 14 November, private and public hospitals will all be required to reserve five per cent of their beds for swine flu patients.

The ministry will also issue a list of private laboratories licenced to test people for the H1N1 virus and is beginning training courses to help health workers identify swine flu patients.

"Hospitals and private laboratories that do not abide by the ministry's decree will be closed down. To protect the public against exploitation the price of the swine flu test will be fixed by the ministry," said El-Gabali.

During the press conference El-Gabali revealed that an additional 72 swine flu cases were reported on Friday, including 52 in schools; on Saturday 98 new cases were reported, including 60 among pupils and on Sunday 128 new cases, 69 of them children. By print time the health ministry announced Egypt's sixth swine flu fatality. The deceased is a pregnant woman who was suffering heart problems. The number of swine flu cases reached 2078 cases until Tuesday.

ref. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/972/eg6.htm

DIRTY NEWS - ILLEGAL DUMP IN THE NATIONAL PARK!

An illegal dump site was discovered within the boundaries of the St. Catherine National Park, in an exceptional beautiful enclosure close to the Dahab road.
What makes that even worse: These tons of garbage come exclusively from the airport!
The Government set up strict environmental laws, which forbid illegal dumping and special laws to protect the National Parks. And a garbage disposal company working for a governmental institution is dumping wild, just to get it done cheap? That cannot be true… Unfortunately it is, as these pictures proof.

The whole ‘raison d'être’ of the airport is the tourism, and tourists come because of our precious and unique environment. Spoiling it means destroying the source of income of nearly everybody in South Sinai.
pic: airport dump, 12.11.09
That whole pile consists mainly of catering leftovers: 1000nds of empty plastic trays and food leftovers....

While Clean Sharm members, called to the scene by a phone call from a Bedouin, made photos from the dump, a truck came and unloaded more trash. That was actually good luck, as we got a license number and thus a solid proof. Plus the kind of garbage proofs 100% that it comes from the airport, as one can easily see…
This is an intentional criminal act by the company responsible for the dumping, and we can only hope that it gets treated as that!

We called General Ahmed Saleh, Sharm’s mayor with these news and he asked us immediately to come and bring the photos as much needed proof. He said that he already had suspicions about that company, but that he was until now not able to proof that they violate the law.

That's how this beautiful place looks now (500 m to the left starts the new dump, which will soon spread thanks to wind and animals...)

Even kilometers before the dump, airport trash is littering the desert, fallen off the simple trucks, which are not at all equipped to transport garbage....

Now that there is proof (General Ahmed got a CD with many more pictures) we hope that this company will be heavily fined, the dump cleaned, and that the airport employ from now legal and proper operating companies.
However - Trust, but verify.....: We will follow up on this, watch this space…. Or go and check yourself: Coming from Sharm, exacty 14km behind the check point, you will find a barrel at the left side of the street, marking an offroad track (easy to drive on with every car). Follow this track, always keeping to the left, when the track splits, and after app. 500m you will reach the dump site.....

Ref: http://www.cleansharm.org/news.html

Red Sea: the first plastic bag free governorate in Egypt

November 05 2009
HEPCA is pleased to announce the success of the campaign to make the Red Sea the first plastic bag free governorate in Egypt. Following the decree issued earlier this year by HE General Magdi Kubeissi, Governor of the Red Sea, the ban on plastic bags has been overwhelmingly supported by businesses and individuals in the region. This is a great accomplishment of which we can all be proud.

Paper bags are currently being supplied by the large majority of retailers including supermarkets, restaurants and other businesses. Paper has a significantly lower impact on the environment than plastic but we need to minimise the use of ALL bags.

By far the most environmentally friendly solution is for bag users to REUSE existing bags, and switch to cloth bags where possible. So far HEPCA has distributed 50,000 cloth bags for free in the Red Sea area to support the decree.

HEPCA would like to thank everyone who has contributed in support of this campaign. Special thanks are due to HE the Governor and all our partners and sponsors including Egyptian Resorts Company (Developer of Sahl Hasheesh) and Barclays Bank. In addition, HEPCA would like to thank those working in the vocational training centres in Hurghada, Safaga and Ras Gharib, where many additional job opportunities were created for women manufacturing the cloth bags for this campaign.

Please continue to support this campaign and add pressure to those who do not comply with the ban. Each and every one of us has a responsibility to help keep the Red Sea plastic bag free.

Tel: +20 65 344 5035
Fax: +20 65 344 6674
Email: info@hepca.com

Daily Buzz: Beyoncé Violates Islamic Religious Law

I love (fine, worship) Beyoncé. She’s just so...ferocious, enlivening—not to mention talented. And, apparently, I’m not the only one who feels that way. Not just any musician can successfully embark on a world tour, which she’s in the midst of. But now it seems some of her Egyptian fans—who dreamed of one day seeing “Single Ladies” live and in all its glorious action—might not get the complete experience: glitter, bodysuits, big hair, cleavage, makeup and unapologetic hip thrusts.

According to CNN.com, Knowles—who’s set to perform at the Red Sea resort of Port Ghalib as part of her world tour—is already shaking some feathers. Recently, Islamist Egyptian Member of Parliament Hamdi Hassan, said the singer, "who appears naked in her clips," is violating the Islamic religious law Sharia—which, as CNN says, "covers many aspects of daily life, including family, sexuality, hygiene and social issues." Hassan also slammed the government for its double standard, having refused permission to an Islamic band that sings religious songs for children.

Beyonce_sd1260070But religious law and dress code is something American performers have always had to consider. In fact, Beyoncé canceled a 2007 show in Malaysia, where government rules require female entertainers to cover up (shoulder to knees; no cleavage). And, last year, Shakira was attacked by Egyptian conservative cleric Khaled-al-Gindi, who compared her to a prostitute. What will—and what should—the western pop star do? Cancel the show if she can’t be herself or give her fans what they’ve been waiting for—just a toned-down version of it? Speak!

Photo: Retna

Posted by WomansDay.com Editors on October 30, 2009 at 11:00 AM in Daily Buzz |
http://dailywd.womansday.com/blog/2009/10/daily-buzz-beyonc%C3%A9-violates-islamic-religious-law.html