CAIRO: The District Attorney of the Public Prosecutor’s office has referred a complaint submitted by lawyer Essam Sultan concerning the Agrium plant in Damietta to the Public Finances Prosecutor’s office for investigation.
Sultan, affiliated with yet-to-be-licensed Wasat party, told Daily News Egypt that he submitted the complaint to the prosecutor’s office because permits and approvals were granted to the plant illegally.
Sultan had filed the complaint on Wednesday to the prosecutor’s office where he accused government entities of facilitating the paper work for the plant without undertaking the necessary procedures for this process. He also accused the company building the plant for being complicit in this.
“This factory received approvals and permits from different government entities in an illegal manner, Sultan said.
He added, “There was supposed to be an inspection by the General Authority for Industrial development, upon which later permits should have been given. This inspection was never carried out. The other bodies were not legally permitted to grant their approvals without this one, yet they did grant their approvals and permits.
Sultan accused, amongst others, Agrium Egypt, the Damietta Port Authority, the Petrochemical Holding Company, the General Authority for Industrial Development, the General Authority for Investment and the Ministry for Environmental Affairs.
“They all agreed on this. Sultan said, “After the other approvals were all are given, this was given a year later.
“I have submitted the necessary documentation to the District Attorney, Sultan said.
Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that the prosecutor’s office has requested the required documentation from the various concerned entities in preparation for questioning officials from each body.
The entire gamut of civil society in Damietta remains opposed to the construction of the Agrium fertilizer plant on the outskirts of the popular tourist destination Ras El Bar.
“All civil societies, MPs and local authorities are united against the construction of this project in Ras El Bar, Mohamed Khalil Kwaiteh, a member of parliament representing a Damietta district, previously told Daily News Egypt.
Residents of Damietta are angry about the plant being built so close to their homes, and a local movement has been organized to lobby for its relocation.
Aside from the environmental concerns, there is also a concern over the impact on tourism in the area, which is a vital source of revenue.
Yet Agrium had stated that the petrochemical plant it is building in Damietta will stay despite local opposition to the location.
“The company will not move from Damietta, and any talk about an alternative site in Ain Sokhna is not true, as it was the Egyptian partner, namely The Egyptian Company for Petrochemicals, that had suggested Damietta when the Canadian partner [Agrium] requested a proposed site in the initial stages of the project, Agrium’s Regional Adviser Mona Zaki previously told local papers.
