Alexandria Governor Hany El-Messiry announced Sunday the decision to put public beaches in the Mediterranean city up for auction for investors to utilise.
Nineteen public beaches and casinos, including Borg Al-Arab, Hanovil, Sidi Bishr, Asafra, Saraya and Stanley, will be used by investors for a period of three years as per the governor’s decision.
Auction sessions will start on 22 March and will finish no later than 9 April, according to the governor’s decision, state-run newspaper Al-Akhbar reported.
“Beaches are public property, putting them up for investors to utilise means that the poor will find no beaches for them,” Susanne Nada, a rights lawyer at the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR), told Daily News Egypt.
The Alexandria-based lawyer said the constitution stated that Egypt’s beaches are the property of the people not the state, and the latter is compelled to preserve both that and people’s right to enjoy it.
Article 45 of Egypt’s constitution says: “The State is committed to protecting its shores, seas, waterways, lakes and nature reserves. It is forbidden to encroach upon, pollute, or use these areas in a way against its nature. All citizens have a right to these resources.”
Nada added that some of the proposed sites to be put up for auction are already used by investors. Taking the rest, she said, means restricting low-income citizens from the chance to enjoy the city’s beaches.
