Egypt: Preparing for disasters, media and industry also have roles to play

When a natural disaster occurs, after the human and financial costs have been assessed, it’s time to work out just how such losses could have been prevented. A concern of many in Egypt is the apparent disinclination of the authorities to mitigate the effects of disasters like the Duweiqa rockslide of September 6 last year, and the potential effects of global warming.

“Natural disasters risk management is everybody’s business,” argues Tine Ramstad of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) Secretariat for West Asia and North Africa.

Ramstad and other experts at a recent UNISDR conference on natural disaster risk management warn that the Middle East will be one of the regions most threatened by natural disasters arising from global climate change, despite its minimal contribution (5-6%) to the accumulation of greenhouse gases that could cause the warming of the atmosphere.

Due to the region’s low-lying geography, high population densities in urban centers and the vulnerability of resources such as water, agriculture and fisheries, it will be one of the most exposed regions to the impacts of climate change, including rising sea levels.

Flooding already accounts for 40% of natural disasters in the region, and drought for 12%, says Ramstad.

The major threat will be to coastal areas vulnerable to flooding and an increase in the salinity of groundwater. The developments of the North Coast and agricultural land in the north Delta are particularly at risk of major flooding.

Mohamed Mahmoud El Sayed, deputy director of the Arab Network for Environmental and Development Studies, says that based on UN estimates and research he has supervised, there is a high possibility that global warming might lead to total flooding of the Nile Delta. He predicts that the level of the Mediterranean Sea will rise by between 30 and 100 centimeters over the next 100 years, submerging low-lying coastal areas. If this happens, says El Sayed, some 6 million people living in these areas (including large parts of Alexandria and other coastal cities) will have to evacuate.

“Spending one dollar on disaster risk prevention saves seven dollars from the disasters recovery process,” says Brigitte Leoni, UNISDR media officer. The results of bad planning and a lack of risk prevention were made obvious with the rockslide in Duweiqa, just outside Nasr City.

On September 6, the lives of the Duweiqa slum’s residents were turned upside down when they lost family members, homes and belongings to a rockfall from a cliff that overlooks part of the slum. Over 100 people died.

Although Suzanne Mubarak, chair of the Egyptian Red Crescent, promised new housing to all families of Duweiqa victims, many are still homeless. The residents of Duweiqa have suffered physically, emotionally and mentally, while around them accusations are being thrown at real estate developer Emaar Misr. Misr’s construction work building Uptown Cairo, a settlement on the Moqattam hills overlooking the slum, is being blamed for the collapse of the cliff, along with the Cairo govenorate for allowing sewage to seep into the cliff, weakening it.

Cairo Governor Abdel-Azeem Wazir admitted on daily TV show Al-Qahira Al-Youm that residents should have been evacuated after the disaster. But he denied that authorities bore any responsibility for the loss of life.

Another theory for the cause of the rockslide put forward at the conference is that badly planned traffic movement in the area over the years had made the rocks more fragile.

The most well-known natural disaster in recent times is the earthquake of 1992. The quake, which centered on Dahshour and registered 5.3 on the Richter scale, caused damage to buildings and monuments estimated at $1 billion (LE 5.6 billion).

The places that were hit hardest suffered from poorly-constructed housing and lacked the infrastructure to facilitate rescue efforts, like Duweiqa, where a railway line and narrow streets hindered rescue teams after the rockslide.

In an indebted country like Egypt, finding the means to save the money and resources of the country for future development is essential. But without investment in preventing disasters now, the country stands to lose money in the long run. Managing the risk is not the business of one person, one ministry or one industry. It has to be a collaborative effort.

The government could implement better urban planning and poverty alleviation measures, but business is playing a role. In the village of Ezbet Yacoub, Beni Sueif, EFG-Hermes provided LE 25 million to rebuild housing for 17 families. The new houses replaced makeshift, unsafe homes.

Media can also play a part, as can education, by informing people about the need to be prepared for natural disasters. But it is political efforts, along with media cooperation, that are crucial in promoting natural disaster risk reduction, says Leoni.

The government recently imposed several new road safety regulations, including imposing fines on people who use their phones while driving and those who don’t use their seatbelts. Motorists were frustrated at the beginning, but people have taken notice, if only for fear of incurring a fine. The same attitude would apply to introducing construction and health and safety regulations to mitigate the effects of disasters, as well as measures to reduce pollution that might avert disasters in the long term.

In December 2007, ministers of Arab League countries agreed to endorse the Abu Dhabi Declaration on Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Cleaner Production of November, 2007. The declaration is a commitment by business leaders in the Arab world to adhere to the principles of environmental responsibility and cleaner production, and to reduce the consumption of energy and water in their operations by 20% by the year 2012.

There are numerous ways of mitigating the damage caused by natural disasters, but the most important factor is commitment. Whether it’s industry, government, media, or personal responsibility, risk management needs to be taken into account in all areas. Natural disasters will always occur, but the human and financial cost need not be so high. bt